Track and field:

Joseph Boo

Two things were evident in Friday’s Pacific Coast League track and

field championships at Irvine High. First, Northwood High, which is about

to wrap up its first season, demonstrated it will be a force in the

coming years by capturing the girls junior varsity and boys frosh/soph

championships.

Second, the three Newport-Mesa schools showed they had quite a bit of

talent. Corona del Mar, Costa Mesa and Estancia should all roll out solid

athletes in the future, which will make PCL dual meets interesting.

Costa Mesa’s JV boys team were closest to winning a league title, losing

to Uni by seven points. The Mustangs got a huge boost from junior Bo

Iliesiu. He finished second in the 100-meter dash (12.54) by a hair, or

.03 seconds behind Yosuf Khan of Uni. But Iliesiu came back and beat two

Uni kids to win the 200 in 25.34.

Mesa also got big points from distance runners Gilbert Salas and Carlos

Ibarra. Salas won the 800 and 1,600, in 2:15.66 and 5:07.09,

respectively.

Ibarra, a freshman, was second in the 1,600 (5:10.65), but he won the

3,200 in 11:15.98. Mesa also got a win in the boys JV discus from Kato

Hiroyuki (87-11).

Estancia’s JV team placed third, thanks to its distance runners. In the

800, the Eagles had three of the five runners in the field, taking spots

two through four. Eric Heredia was second (2:25.56) and he added a fifth

place in the 3,200 (12:11.81).

Adrian Lopez was third in the 800 (2:27.11) and fourth in the 1,600

(5:20.51). Francisco Morales was fourth in the 800 (2:44.47). Estancia

also got points from freshman Sean Zich, who was fifth in the 1,600

(5:26.91) and fourth in the 3,200 (12:08.29).

On the JV girls side, CdM was the only team to get within shouting range

of Northwood. The Sea Kings were led by sophomore Jaclyn Thayer. She was

first in the 200 (28.52) and long jump (15-5) and added a second in the

100 (13.86).

CdM’s JV girls did well in the field events. In the high jump, the Sea

Kings were 1-2, with Marie Turner and Lindsay Fisher both leaping 4-10.

CdM also took the top two spots in the triple jump. Jessica Palermo (30-6

1/4) won, and Cassie Anido (30-3 3/4) was second.

Costa Mesa’s girls JV team earned a third-place finish. The Mustangs got

wins from sophomore Lisa Dunn and junior Kristen Rogers.

Dunn, who was part of Mesa’s frosh/soph 1,600 relay team that won the

event at the Orange County championships, captured the 400 in 1:03.93,

ahead of CdM Whitney Beer-Kerr (1:04.47). Dunn aso placed fifth in the

200 (29.19).

Rogers led a Mesa contingent in the 100 low hurdles. She won in 18.27

while teammate Thi Nguyen placed fourth (20.30). Ann Mai was fifth

(20.55) and Karleen Cluff sixth (20.57).

Rogers was also sixth in the long jump (12-11).

Northwood captured the boys frosh/soph crown going away, with CdM

finishing behind the Timberwolves. The Sea Kings benefited from two wins

in the field events.

Sophomore Spencer MacDonald captured the triple jump with a leap of 37-3,

and Dave Northrup took the shot put with a mark of 44-3.

The Sea Kings had three individual second-place finishes. Freshman Andrew

Pilsbury was the runner-up in the 400 (55.15), freshman Blake Dillon

placed second in the 800 (2:10.90), and sophomore Dustin Hodges finished

the 1,600 in 4:49.36.

Mesa got quite a performance from sophomore Irwin Salas. He barely held

Dillon off to capture the 800 (2:10.81). The 1,600 was slightly more

comfortable as he took that race in 4:48.29.

Northwood took the top three spots in the 110 high hurdles, and Estancia

was the only other school to pull off that feat in the boys frosh/soph

finals with a sweep in the 3,200.

Sophomore Erik Lopez won in 10:44.89, with freshman Abel Flores running

next to him for the entire race. Flores was second in 10:44.99, even

though he and Lopez crossed the finish line at roughly the same time.

Aaron Vongeem was third in 10:48.54.

Estancia sophomore Rolando Vivar continued to impress. He won the long

jump with an 18-9, a foot better than the runner-up. Vivar barely lost

the 100, placing second in 24.63.