Mission Viejo boys, Mater Dei girls still reign in O.C.

Mater Dei senior Curtis Godin placed first in the Varsity Boys 100 Meter Dash with a time of 10.53, at the Orange County Championship at Mission Viejo High School.
Matt Hurst of Corona del Mar, left, who placed first, and Gabe Warner, who placed second, run in the varsity boys 400 meter dash during Orange County Track Championship at Mission Viejo High School.
Woodbridge senior Madeline Bradford competes in the varsity girls high jump during the Orange County Track Championship.
Los Alamitos junior Sara Limp, left, pulls ahead of her teammate Madison Carney in the varsity girls 100 meter dash during the Orange County Track Championship. Limp placed first in the event.
Irvine senior Tyler Courtney gets ready to release the discus during the varsity boys discus event.
Beckman junior Michelle Chuang runs in the third section of varsity girls 400 meter dash during the Orange County Track Championships.
Corona del Mar senior Asha Hardy competes in the varsity girls high jump during the Orange County Track Championship held at Mission Viejo High school.
Canyon senior Garrett Burrow winds up during the varsity boys discus event.
Mater Dei senior Diana Fujii competes in the varsity girls pole vault during the Orange County Track Championship.
Santa Margarita junior Kaitlyn Merritt releases her pole and breaks the tournament record. She vaulted 13 feet 9 inches.
Santa Margarita junior Kaitlyn Merritt smiles after breaking the tournament record for the varsity girls pole vault.

By Antonio Morales | Orange County Register

April 27, 2014 at 1:41 a.m.

MISSION VIEJO – The annual meeting between some of the county’s best athletes produced records along with similar results Saturday.

Mission Viejo’s boys track and field team won its second consecutive county championship, while Mater Dei’s girls claimed their fourth consecutive county crown at the Orange County Championships at Mission Viejo.

“I knew we were going to nickel and dime it today. I knew that if everybody scored, third place here, fourth place there, we’d have a chance,” Diablos coach Mike Hoffman said. “They’re unbelievable. They all came together. They knew what they needed to do.”

Diego Courbis spearheaded the Mission Viejo title effort. Courbis is a transfer from Spain and started competing recently after sitting because of CIF transfer rules.

Courbis was the Diablos’ lone boys winner, as he pulled away from good competition in the 300-meter hurdles, which featured Los Alamitos’ Tyler Rios and Edison’s AJ Beynon. Courbis ran a 38.03.

Mission Viejo outscored Mater Dei, 58-47, for the boys title.

The Monarchs dominated the girls side, outscoring Los Alamitos, 115.83-69. Emma Radan held off Dana Hills’ Michaela King and set a meet and school record in the 300-meter hurdles with a 43.32. Radan also set a school record in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.48.

Ashlyn Rambo blazed her way to a state-best 2:09.01 in the 800, also a school and meet record. Rambo and Radan, along with Tara Radan and Angie Carreras, were a part of Mater Dei’s 1,600 relay team, which ran a 3:49.06, a meet record and the fifth best mark in county history.

“The girls team just ran exactly what we expected,” Monarchs coach Rick Martinez said. “They’re a really exceptional group of competitors, and they understand the significance of today, individually, as well as the team.”

Northwood star Bethan Knights shined bright in her distance races. She ran away from the pack in the 1,600 and finished with a time of 4:50.21.

Knights followed that by unleashing a dominant performance in the 3,200. She blew away the competition and set an all-time county record with a run of 9:59.20.

“I did not expect to break it. Even this season I didn’t plan on breaking 10 (minutes),” Knights said. “Just looking at the clock just motivated me those last few steps.”

Knights has signed with Cal, as has Villa Park’s Garrett Corcoran, who enjoyed success, too.

Corcoran won the boys 1,600 for the second consecutive year. On the final lap, he took the lead from Brea Olinda’s Austin Tamagno and finished with a state-best time of 4:06.00, nearly four seconds ahead of Tamagno, who barely lost to Corcoran in the event last year.

In girls field events, Santa Margarita’s Kaitlyn Merritt finished first and set a meet record in girls pole vault with a clearance of 13-9, but fell short when she attempted 14-1 1/4.

Los Alamitos’ Mackenna Howard set a meet record in the shot put with a throw of 46-03. She also won the discus with a mark of 135-11.

Mater Dei standout Curtis Godin was named Boys Speed MVP of the Meet for his 10.53 in the 100, which is tied for the meet record, and he set a meet record with a 21.09 in the 200.

JSerra’s Dante Pettis set a meet record with a long jump of 23-6.

Contact the writer: amorales@ocregister.com