Junior High Track and Field: So many wins, so many stories

Steve Virgen

CORONA DEL MAR - Six years ago, they swam for the same club and

developed a friendship. But then Blair Zeiser and Ahlia Kattan went their

separate ways. Zeiser went to Ensign Intermediate and Kattan left for

Corona del Mar.

Their paths crossed again Thursday, at the Newport-Mesa Junior High

District Track and Field Championships at Corona del Mar High. And even

though they competed against each other in the eighth-grade division’s

1,600-meter race, they renewed their friendship.

Before their race, they agreed to attempt to finish in a tie and

during the run they rooted for one another.

Zeiser won by a leg, literally, after the two ran side-by-side, almost

as if they were holding hands. After the race, they shared a hug.

“I love you,” Kattan whispered into Zeiser’s ear, while officials

appeared puzzled, confused as to who won.

At the finish line, Kattan leaned forward, but Zeiser extended her leg

on her last stride. Zeiser finished in 6:00.7, her personal best, and

Kattan followed with her personal best, 6:00.8.

“It didn’t matter who won,” Kattan said. “Just as long as we both did

well.”

Said Zeiser, “We just wanted to push each other.”

The 1,600 race was just one of many story lines at the district

championships. In the seventh-grade high jump Costa Mesa High sophomore

Sharon Day’s “little” sister, Jazzy, came up big with a personal best,

5-0 clearance.

“I was just a little surprised,” Jazzy Day said. “I knew I could make

it.”

Afterward, her mother, Yolanda, gave the elder sister a playful

warning.

“I told Sharon, ‘you better look out you’re going to have some

competition,’ ” Yolanda Day said. “(Sharon) just rolled her eyes and

said, ‘Oooh 5-feet. Wow.’ ”

In the eighth-grade division, Harbor Day’s Melissa Swigert made a name

for herself, as the only triple-winner of the day. She won the 100

(13.19), 200 (28.35) and broke a 10-year-old record in the long jump

(15-0). The previous best was 14-8 1/2. She led Harbor Day to the

eighth-grade championship, yet Huntington Beach Dwyer won the overall

team title with 190.5 points. TeWinkle came in second with 164 and CdM

finished third at 161.5.

The only other record-breaking performance came in the eighth-grade

400 relay. CdM twins Alexa and Alycia McCarthy along with Vanessa Fallon

and Tanisha Senartne completed the relay in 54.51, besting the 54.97 set

in 1999 by CdM.

In the C Division, which is 5-foot-4 and under, Ensign’s Krystal

Wright tied the district record in the 1,600 (5:52.6).

In the seventh-grade division, TeWinkle’s Amanda Loera collected two

titles with victories in the 100 (12.44) and 200 (28.49).