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.