Sea Kings Win Division III Title

The Southern Section Division III girls’ team track and field title was expected to come down to the final relay Saturday at Cerritos College, but Corona del Mar wasn’t about to wait around.

The Sea Kings took the lead midway through the meet after Liz Morse and Jenny Cummins swept the top two positions in the 800 meters, then cemented the victory by winning the 1,600 relay. Corona del Mar finished with 60 points, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame was second at 50 and Santa Margarita and Atascadero tied for third at 45.

“About halfway through the meet we started saying, ‘Things are working a little better than we thought,’ ” Corona del Mar Coach Bill Sumner said. “Every single girl that came here today wearing a Corona del Mar uniform scored. And so that was the big difference.”

Corona del Mar relied heavily on Morse, who won the 400 in a personal-best 55.89 seconds, came back less than hour later to win the 800 in 2:14.14, placed third in the 200 (25.22) and then ran a strong anchor for the winning 1,600 relay team (3:55.34).

“I know somebody is going to say Liz Morse won this meet for you, and she’s wonderful,” Sumner said. “But she scored 37 points, the other kids scored 23. That’s what won the meet for us.”

In addition to Morse and Cummins, who was also on the 1,600 relay, sophomore Allison Brawner was second in the high jump (5-4), Diana Hossfeld was fourth in the 1,600 and Season Meservey fourth in the 3,200.

There were several noteworthy individual performances on both ends of the spectrum.

The biggest surprise was Villa Park senior Augie Escobar failing to qualify in the 3,200. Escobar, The Times’ Orange County athlete of the year in track and field after winning Division II and Masters titles last season, lost contact with the leaders in the sixth lap and faded badly.

“I’ve been sick all week and it has affected my training,” Escobar said. “I could tell on the second-to-last lap that I wasn’t going to make it.”

If that wasn’t bad enough, Escobar was escorted from the stadium by security guards after he took his shirt off while leaving the infield. The Southern Section implemented a rule this season stating that athletes were not to remove their jerseys until leaving the infield. The rule was aimed at curbing post-race celebrating.

“I was just hot,” Escobar said as he was led out by four security guards.

Esperanza’s Travis Pendleton and Cypress’ Clarence Moore and Newport Harbor’s Trevor Jones had the top marks among county athletes.

Pendleton won his third straight Division I title in the discus with a meet-record 199-2, which also improved his state-leading mark.

Moore, who was an early-season state leader in the triple jump before getting slowed for most of the year with an abdominal pull, won the Division II title with a jump of 48-3, seventh-best in county history.

Jones improved his state-leading time in the 300 hurdles, winning the Division II title in 37.08. Jones also took first in the 100 (10.89) when top qualifier Jabria Fields of San Gorgonio didn’t get to the starting line in time. Jones then anchored the 1,600 relay team to first place in 3:20.87.

Katella’s Kenny Vinh handed Jones his only loss of the day in the 110 hurdles. Vinh made up for his loss to Jones at the county championships, winning the race in a county-leading 14.16. Jones was second in 14.27, helping the Sailors tie Ventura for second with 40 points, behind Arroyo Grande (56).

Tustin’s Alonso Smith won the Division II title in the 800, tumbling across the finish line in 1:53.46 and bloodying his knee and shoulder in the process. Smith, who ran a state-leading 1:52.87 at the county championships last month, had the top time in the four divisions Saturday.

Notes

Esperanza’s Ryan Bousquet was a double winner in Division I, taking the 1,600 in 4:13.88 and the 3,200 in 9:16.16. . . . In the boys’ pole vault, Marina’s Logan Odden finished first in Division I, clearing 16-1, and Santa Margarita’s Pat Luke won in Division III at 15-0. . . . Newport Harbor’s Amber Steen won the 1,600 in Division II (5:04.67) and Santa Margarita’s Lori Mann won in Division III (5:05.24). Mater Dei’s Jenny Sears came back to defeat Mann in the 3,200 (11:06.00). . . . Fountain Valley’s Julie Allen was runner-up in Division I (10:46.30) and Newport Harbor’s Amber Steen was runner-up in Division II (10:58.40). . . . Mission Viejo’s Dana Bethel won the Division I long jump with a season-best 19-1 on her first attempt, and Katella’s Cortney Stafford beat Woodbridge’s Michelle Sanford in the triple jump with a mark of 38-11 1/4. Sanford was second at 38-4 1/2. . . . Esperanza’s discus throwers took four of the six scoring spots in Division I. Kristen Pendleton won the title with a throw of 132-1 and Ashley Parrish was second (121-7). . . . Edison sophomore Rachael Ziemann defended her Division I high jump title after clearing 5-8 for the first time this season. Her twin sister, Bianca, was third (5-7). . . . St. Margaret’s Jocelyn Parkinson, the top qualifier and county leader going into the 300 hurdles, was disqualified due to a false start. Santa Ana Valley’s Crystal Davis, the defending Division II champion in the 100 meters, was disqualified for a false start.