Boys and girls track and field: Day and Allen set to defend titles

Steve Virgen

CERRITOS - The defending champions of the Newport-Mesa District

will be coming out in full force for the CIF Southern Section Track Field

Finals at Cerritos College Saturday. In CIF Division III, Corona del Mar

High distance sensation Julie Allen and Costa Mesa’s versatile jumping

wonder, Sharon Day, will attempt to defend their titles at the CIF

Finals, where a handful of district athletes will be making their debut.

The Stanford-bound Allen will attempt to defend her titles in the

1,600-meter and 3,200, while Day, who was the Pacific Coast League

Co-Most Valuable Player in soccer, is on course to defend her title in

the high jump.

“Her big thing for Saturday is to win two titles,” CdM Coach Bill

Sumner said of Allen. “She won’t be happy if she doesn’t do that.”

The CIF Finals, which features all divisions, begins with the pole

vault at 10:30 a.m., when CdM senior Krisserin Canary, the two-time PCL

individual champion, will try to surpass her personal-best and

school-record 11-feet, 6-inch clearance. All other field events start at

11 a.m. and running events are slated to begin at 1 p.m.

The top nine in each event qualify for the Master’s Meet May 24, also

at Cerritos College.

In Division II, Newport Harbor senior David Sprenger will be making

his CIF Finals debut, along with Sailors’ girls teammates Elizabeth

Clayton and Jillianne Whitfield, who are both sophomores.

Sprenger, who has been nursing a sore ankle for the majority of the

season, completed a personal-best 22-3 to qualify fifth in the long jump

at the CIF Preliminaries at Mt. San Antonio College May 10.

Clayton also came up with a personal best in the triple jump, a 37-0

mark, that qualified fifth. Whitfield, who is aiming for Cara Heads’ 1995

school record of 149-5, will attempt to reach her goal of 130-0 in the

discus, in which she qualified seventh last week with a 121-11.

In Division III, Estancia junior Humberto Rojas qualified No. 2 in the

1,600, clocking a 4:23.40. His personal best is 4:17.67. His teammate and

best friend, senior Mike Casillas qualified ninth in the 3,200 with a

personal best 9:52.17 May 11 at the CIF Prelims at Long Beach City

College. Rojas finished sixth last year in the 1,600 at the Master’s Meet

and missed qualifying for the state meet by a second.

Estancia distance coach Charlie Appell said Rojas is “capable of

winning his race.”

CdM sophomore Chris Ringstrom, who started competing in his event only

one month ago, will be making his debut after qualifying eighth in the

200 with a personal-best 22.85.

On the girls side, Day will also be competing in the 400, as she

qualified fifth in the 400 (59.74). In the high jump, where she will

attempt for her goal of a 6-foot clearance, Day will be joined by CdM

senior Alison Brawner, who qualified No. 2.

Allen’s personal-best in the 1,600 is 4:58.37, and she will be

contested by No. 1 qualifier Lindsay Flacks of Harvard-Westlake, who

finished in 5:08.06 in the prelims.

In the 3,200, Allen’s personal record is 10:35.83, and in that event

she will be joined by her teammate, junior Becky Cummins (qualified

eighth), Estancia junior Diana Rosete (ninth) and Costa Mesa sophomore

Christine Bjelland, who are making their CIF Finals debut.

Bjelland also qualified third in the 1,600 (5:15.79) and qualified

sixth in the 3,200 (11:29.58). Bjelland qualified fifth in the 800

(2:24.13, but she will scratch that event to concentrate on the two

distance events.

In the 800, Estancia senior Hanni Geider, who qualified sixth, will

attempt to come in under her personal best of 2:23.76, while CdM freshman

Melissa Swigert will try to better her 58.1 time in the 400, in which she

is the ninth qualifier.

Mesa junior Beverly Aina, who finished seventh in CIF Division III in

the shot put last year, enters as the seventh qualifier (33-3 1/2).

The CdM 1,600 relay team enters with a switch, as senior Katherine

Morse will not attend the meet. Instead, sophomores Kinzie Kramer and

Sara Claster, along with Swigert will be joined by sophomore Whitney

Weidner.