Prep track and field: Morse runs national-best 800
Joseph Boo
GLENDORA - Even during a meet in which records and fast times
popped up everywhere, Liz Morse’s finish in the girls 800 meters stood
out.
The Princeton-bound senior from Corona del Mar High set this year’s
fastest national high school time in the Flo Jo Memorial Arcadia
Invitational track meet at Citrus College Saturday night. She won the
race in 2:09.40, the first time she has run under the 2:10 mark.
“It feels incredible,” Morse said. “I’ve never ran fast here. I wanted to
run a good race here in my senior year. To win the race and run a 2:09
tonight is very special.”
Morse came in as the favorite in the event, boasting the fastest personal
record in the field with a 2:10.09. For the first 600 meters, she ran
second, right behind surprise pacesetter Heather Hennessey of Los Gatos.
“I just went off of her and took charge in the final 200,” Morse said. “I
ran past her and never looked back.”
She sprinted down the final stretch and finished more than a second
better than Hennessey, who was the runner-up.
“Liz ran a great race,” CdM track and field coach Bill Sumner said. “In
the Trabuco Hills Invitational (where she ran the previous state best of
2:12.85), she came out too fast. Here, she came out fast and finished
even faster.”
Newport Harbor senior Trevor Jones had PRs in both hurdles events. His
second-place time of 14.21 in the seeded 110 high hurdles is the new
school record, bettering his old PR of 14.5, which had been the fastest
time in Orange County this year. Jones was one-hundredth of a second
behind winner Ben Gardner of Utah’s Davis High and posted the
sixth-fastest time at the meet.
In the invitational 300 intermediate hurdles, Jones’ PR was 37.16, the
fastest time in the state this year. He was second in the race to Jake
Garlick of West Jordan (Utah), who finished in 36.82.
“I’m very happy with two PRs,” Jones said. “To me, it’s not winning that
is important. It’s doing your best. I was just running against my own
times.”
Newport Harbor’s Amber Steen had a PR in the girls 1,600 with a 4:58.38,
the second fastest time in the county this year and a half-second better
than her old PR. She finished fourth in the race. San Lorenzo Valley’s
Alejandra Barrientos was the winner with a state-best 4:46.60.
CdM’s girls distance medley relay team was third with a time of 12:12.26.
Morse opened the race for the Sea Kings by running the 1,200. She then
handed off to freshman Becky Cummins in the 400. Her sister, junior Jenny
Cummins was next in the 800 and junior Diana Hossfeld broke open a tight
race between CdM and Peninsula for third place in the final 1,600.
Hossfeld and the Cummins sisters all ran PRs in their respective legs.
San Lorenzo Valley won the race with a state-best 11:55.68.
Newport Harbor’s boys distance medley relay team, which ran the event for
the first time without one practice, finished 10th with a time of
10:32.61. Chris McMillen led off for the Sailors in the 1,200. Jones then
ran the 400, John Peschelt the 800 and Doug Dukes anchored with a 1,600.
CdM junior Josh Yelsey finished 18th in the boys 1,600 with a time of
4:23.18.
Newport Harbor’s Krista Dill was 12th in the girls discus with a throw of
125-10. She was 17th in the shot put with a mark of 38-3.
The Sailors’ April Ross tied for 11th with a leap of 5-2 in the girls
high jump.
Flo Jo Memorial Arcadia Invitational
Boys
110 HH (seeded) - 1. Gardner (Davis, UT), 14.20; 2. Jones (Newport
Harbor), 14.21; 3. Salimi (Rancho Bernardo), 14.28.
300 IH (invitational) - 1. Garlick (West Jordan, UT), 36.82; 2. Jones
(Newport Harbor), 37.16; 3. Raines (Littlerock), 38.63.
1,600 - 1. Bousquet (Esperanza), 4:09.37; 2. Rankin (Monte Vista),
4:10.08; 3. Paulson (Cascade, OR), 4:12.35. Others - 18. Yelsey (Corona
del Mar), 4:23.18.
Distance medley relay - 1. West Hills, 10:04.12; 2. Don Lugo, 10:15.08;
3. Jesuit, 10:21.88. Others - 10. Newport Harbor (McMillen, Jones,
Peschelt, Dukes), 10:32.61.
Girls
800 - 1. L. Morse (Corona del Mar), 2:09.40; 2. Hennessey (Los Gatos),
2:10.53. 3. Garcia (Buchanan), 2:11.39.
1,600 - 1. Barrientos (San Lorenzo Valley), 4:46.60; 2. Craig (Campbell
County), 4:49.59; 3. Zeigle (Bingham, UT), 4:50.14. Others - 4. Steen
(Newport Harbor), 4:58.38.
Distance medley relay - 1. San Lorenzo Valley, 11:55.68; 2. Mira Costa,
12:03.55; 3. Corona del Mar (L. Morse, B. Cummins, J. Cummins, Hossfeld)
12:12.26.
HJ - 1. Brignac (Taft), 5-8; 2. R. Ziemann (Edison), 5-6; 2. B. Ziemann
(Edison), 5-6. Others - 11. Ross (Newport Harbor), 5-2.
SP - 1. Camarena (Woodlands), 49-11 1/2; 2. Cosby (Cleveland), 48-06; 3.
Freberg (San Luis Obispo), 47-03. Others - 17. Dill (Newport Harbor),
39-03.
DT - 1. Camarena (Woodlands), 160-6; 2. Saye (Silverado, NV), 152-10; 3.
Daggs (Bishop O’Dowd), 149-4. Others - 12. Dill (Newport Harbor), 125-10.
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