Boys track and field: Yelsey, McMillen, Rojas fare well

Tony Altobelli

NORWALK - Newport Harbor High boys track and field standout Chris

McMillen prepared for the CIF Southern Section Division II 1,600-meter

finals and all of a sudden, it became a hurdles event.

Less than a 100 yards into the race, Paso Robles runner Joel Martinez

attempted to sneak through a wall of runners and cut right in front of

McMillen. His leg hit McMillen’s leg and sent the Martinez on a one-way

trip to the Cerritos College track, causing some serious track rash.

“I nearly stepped on him with my spikes,” McMillen described

afterward. “He tried to take it outside and he cut right in front of me.

I felt bad and wanted to make sure he was all right.”

The race was stopped and restarted. McMillen regained his focus and

managed to finish second with a 4:15.76, shattering his previous personal

best by nearly eight seconds. He was edged out for a CIF title by

Tustin’s Alonso Smith (4:15.44), but qualified fourth for next week’s CIF

Master’s Meet, set for Friday night at Cerritos College.

“If I would have whipped around turn two a little tighter on the final

lap, I might have caught him,” McMillen said. “The second start actually

relaxed me a little bit. I wasn’t quite as nervous. I just wanted to make

sure the coaches didn’t think I was disqualified or anything.”

In addition to flying bodies, McMillen also had to overcome a tinge of

the flu heading into the finals.

“The day before, he wasn’t feeling too well,” Newport Coach Bim Barry

said. “It was nice to see him step up and run well.”

It will be a local-heavy 1,600 at Friday’s Master’s Meet. Joining

McMillen is Corona del Mar standout Josh Yelsey and Estancia High

sophomore Humberto Rojas.

Yelsey hung tough with Big Bear sensation Ryan Hall and finished

second for the second straight year in Division III with a personal-best

4:14.54. Only Hall’s 4:11.13 bettered Yelsey in all the divisions.

“Josh got clogged in the middle of the pack and I was worried he was

going to do something risky,” CdM Coach Bill Sumner said. “But he stayed

patient and with 300 yards to go, he made his move to the outside and

hung tough with Hall. It was nice to see.”

Rojas, also in Division III, qualified seventh for the Master’s with a

4:17.81, shattering his personal-best time by nearly six seconds.

Converted to a one-mile time of 4:19.41, Rojas broke Mike McCaa’s

25-year-old school record of 4:20.9.

“For Humberto, it’s been there waiting for him,” Estancia Coach

Charlie Appell said. “Today, he just put it all together.”

Yelsey’s strong run in the 1,600 did come with a price, however, as

his gas tank emptied during the 3,200. He finished the Division III race

seventh with a 9:44.98.

“I think he left everything in the 1,600,” Sumner said. “The pack went

out pretty fast and you could see Josh try to stay with them, but he

faded down the stretch.”

CdM teammate Taumata Grey finished ninth in the discus throw with a

mark of 129-feet-10.

Newport’s John Peschelt advanced to the Master’s as a second

alternate. He finished third in Division II with a 1:56.40.

Saliors’ senior Dan Moyer finished seventh in Division II’s 300

intermediate hurdles with a 40.01, before helping Peschelt, Dede Johnson

and Peter Bas in the Sailors’ 1,600 relay, which finished seventh with a

3:25.98.

Coach Barry was also pleased with the performance of Bas, who ran the

anchor leg of the 1,600 relay. “His 51.0 split was just as fast as

Peschelt’s and that’s very encouraging,” Barry said. “I’m looking for

bigger things from him next year.”