HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS : Carrigan Stays Unbeaten, Powers Compton to Title

Sprinter Ricky Carrigan completed an undefeated season with three winning stretch runs to lead Compton High to its first outright team title in the State track and field championships Saturday before 10,510 at Cerritos College.

Carrigan overcame slow starts to win the 100 and 200 meters, and anchored Compton from fourth to first in the 400-meter relay to help account for all of his team’s points. Compton, which tied Manual Arts for the team title in 1958, finished with 30 points to runner-up Anaheim Esperanza’s 24 1/2.

“We all talked about winning the team title all (Friday) night,” Carrigan said, who finished his senior season undefeated with wind-aided times of 10.33 in the 100 and 20.84 in the 200. “Today, it was time for us to prove that we had the best team.”

The key moment for Compton came in the 400-meter relay--the meet’s first running event--when Edwin Hervey ran despite a hamstring injury he suffered in Friday’s preliminaries. It was his impressive second leg that helped set up Carrigan’s finish.

“I told (Hervey) that he had to go,” said Carrigan, who caught Hawthorne’s Erik Allen in the last five meters to give Compton the victory in 41.68. “Because I knew if we were close to the pack, we’d pull it out.”

Esperanza was led by Mark Parlin, who won the shotput with a toss of 61 feet 5 1/2 inches and finished second in the discus in 181-7.

In the girls’ competition, sophomore Marion Jones of Oxnard Rio Mesa broke her national 100-meter record with a time of 11.17.

“I thought that (the 100 meters) was something special because I heard the crowd,” Jones said, who had a wind-aided mark of 11.12 in Friday’s preliminary heat. “I didn’t try to worry about the wind even though I felt it more today compared to (Friday).”

For the second consecutive year, Jones, who has not lost a race this season, swept the girls’ sprint titles. In the 200 meters, she set a State meet record with a wind-aided time of 22.91.

In the girls’ team competition, Inglewood Morningside’s sprint depth was too much for Jones and Rio Mesa, as the Monarchs scored 28 points to win their first championship.

Morningside only won one event--the 400-meter relay in 46.38--but the points of Santisha Arnold (fourth in the 200 meters and fifth in the 100); Tai-Ne Gibson (fourth in the 100 and fifth in the 200); and Lashawn Stringer (third in the 400) was enough to outscore Rio Mesa, which finished with 26 points.

Juliana Yendork of Walnut, who broke her national record in the triple jump Friday, won the long and triple jump championships for the third consecutive year. Yendork went 20-7 1/2 in the long jump and 43-6 1/2 in the triple jump.

Track Notes

Phetima Woods of La Puente Duarte won the girls’ 100-meter low hurdles with a wind-aided time of 14.08. Alycia Burnham of Rio Mesa finished third in 14.27. . . . Deena Drossin of Agoura won the 3,200 meters in 10:30.71.

Steve Stanley of Gardena won the long jump at 25-1 1/4. Avery Anderson of Riverside North won the high jump at 7-2. . . . Mike Terry of El Modena won the 800 meters in 1:53.99. . . . Dave Hartman of Canyon Country Canyon won the 3,200 meters in 8:58.38. . . . Louie Quintana of Arroyo Grande was upset in the 1,600 meters, finishing fourth in 4:14.43. Daniel DasNeves of San Diego Helix won in 4:13.85, ahead of Todd Tresler of Santa Barbara San Marcos’ 4:13.02. . . . Desmond Smith was the big scorer for Hawthorne, finishing second in the 300-meter low hurdles and fourth in the 110-meter high hurdles.