Boys track and field: Bass comes back and wins 400

Steve Virgen

CORONA DEL MAR - Officially, a three-way high school track meet

including Newport Harbor, Corona del Mar and Marina resulted in a

non-scoring affair Wednesday at CdM, but don’t tell that to Newport’s

Pete Bass.

Bass, a senior who went to CdM as a freshman, was certainly keeping

score in the 400-meter race, which he won in 52.9. He also finished

second in the long jump (19-3 1/4) and second in the 300 hurdles (43.8),

just three-tenths of a second behind first place. To end his day, Bass

ran the third leg in Newport’s victorious 1,600 relay (3:34.1).

The Sailors finished with five first-place finishes, while Back Bay

rival CdM had three.

“I like being over here and I like being on this track,” Bass said of

his former stomping grounds. “I went (to CdM) my freshman year, so I know

all their coaches and their (stop-watch officials) timers. Most of their

timers were people like my basketball coach, health teacher and

counselor. It’s pretty fun being here.”

“We have higher expectations for him this season,” Newport Coach Bim

Barry said of Bass, who displayed noteworthy improvement after the

Sailors’ spring break last season. “We’re looking for him to improve some

more this season.”

Corona del Mar senior Joe Barber led the Sea Kings with personal-best

marks and first-place finishes in the shot put (49-8 1/2) and discus

(143-7). Chris Ringstrom had the other first place for CdM with his

5-foot-8 clearance in the high jump.

But, it was the Sailors who got the better of their rivals, yet Marina

completed a solid showing itself with eight first-place finishes. The

Vikings took control in the sprints and hurdles.

Newport Harbor’s David Sprenger led a Sailor sweep in the long jump,

in which Bass and Adam Kerns followed, respectively. Sprenger also took

top honors in the triple jump (40-6), while Kerns came in second (39-5

1/2).

Newport junior Alec Urtusuastegui finished ahead of the pack in the

3,200 (10:44.0). After that event, the Newport boys grabbed first in the

1,600 relay, which included Zach Zarnow, Matt Tracy, Bass and the anchor,

Dartangan Johnson, who finished second in the 100 (11.2). The Sailors’

1,600 relay time was 11 seconds faster than second-place Marina.

CdM sophomore Kevin Artz, who went to Newport as a freshman, finished

third in the 800 (2:06.0) and ran in the 1,600 relay.