Boys track and field: CdM handles Mesa

Tony Altobelli

CORONA DEL MAR - It’s not often that a school the size of Corona

del Mar can use depth as a reason for winning a boys dual track meet, but

in Wednesday’s clash with visiting Costa Mesa, more was indeed better in

a 79-52 win.

“It’s kind of funny for a school our size to say that it was our depth

that was the difference, but it really was,” Sea Kings Coach Bill Sumner

said. “First of all, though, I’ve got to hand it to Mesa because they

came over here and did a pretty good job against us. They really took it

to us today.”

Leading the way for CdM (8-0, 4-0 in league) were Josh Yelsey, Reid Glyer

and Travis Beardslee.

Yelsey, a junior, was a double-winner in the 800- (2:02.9) and

1,600-meter runs (4:03.1.), while Glyer, a senior, took the top spot both

the 110 high (16.1) and 300 intermediate hurdles events (44.3).

Beardslee helped CdM’s depth stand out with three second-place marks in

the 800 (2:09.5), 1,600 (4:36.1) and 3,200 (10:33.5).

“Pound for pound, that might be the toughest team we’ve faced all year,”

Sumner said. “They just might be a tad thin in some events and that’s

where the difference was.”

The Mustangs’ threesome of senior Greg Stewart, junior Louis Day and

junior Robert Hulliger were the big weapons for Mesa, winning seven

events.

Stewart was strong in the 100 (11.0), 200 (22.6) and 400 (50.8), taking

first place in all three events.

“Greg was awesome for us out there today,” Mustangs Coach John Carney

said. “I kind of tested his manhood during the week and today he really

stepped it up for us.”

Day dominated the high jump (5-8) and long jump (19-9), while Hulliger,

in the big showdown with Sea King standout Sean Fenton, won both the shot

put (54-4 34) and discus throw (133-11 1/2).

“I thought Robert would do well in the shot put,” Carney said. “But I was

surprised to hear that he won the discus as well. Sean’s been throwing

close to 160 feet, but it appeared that neither guy seemed to throw real

well today. It was a nice surprise to hear about.”

Despite the wins, Hulliger was less than ecstatic about the results.

“I didn’t feel good out there at all today,” Hulliger said. “Neither one

of us threw our best at all. I’m going to Utah for choir and when I get

back, I’ve got to set it in high gear for the PCL meets.”

Also winning for the Sea Kings were junior Daniel Marshall in the triple

jump (35-9) and Erik Knuppel with a strong mark in the pole vault (12-8).

For the Mustangs, Remi Ghebrekidus was a winner in the 3,200 (10:17.0).

The PCL preliminaries and finals await both schools. The preliminaries

are Tuesday at 2 p.m., while the finals are Friday at 2:45 p.m. Both

meets will take place at Irvine High.