Southern Section finals await 19 local athletes

Steve Virgen

It seems OK to be focused on your own accomplishments for most of the

Newport-Mesa District athletes who will be competing in the CIF

Southern Section finals at Cerritos College. “I” won’t be such a

selfish word for them today.

The CIF finals will begin with the boys pole vault, which features

Corona del Mar High sophomore Andrew Wong, at 10:30 a.m. All other

field events begin at 11 a.m. and running events start at 1 p.m.

The top nine in each event, regardless of division, will advance

to the Masters Meet Friday at 3:30 p.m. at Cerritos College.

Ten local athletes will be competing in individual events,

including Costa Mesa senior Sharon Day, who will be attempting to win

her fourth straight CIF title in the girls high jump, this time in

Division III. Day, who is the top seed in the high jump (5 feet, 4

inches), will also compete in the 200 meters, after qualifying eighth

(25.83) last week at Veterans Stadium.

Day set the Orange County record in the high jump with a 6-2

clearance at the Trabuco Hills Invitational April 5. She will also

run anchor for Mesa’s 1,600 relay team, which qualified eighth

(4:02.51) and also includes Rhondi Naff, Toshia Bryant and Stacy

Krikorian.

Day, who will play soccer in the fall and compete in track and

field next year at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, won’t be the only local

girl taking on three events today. In Division II, Newport Harbor

senior Amy Burlingham will attempt to lower her personal record in

the 400, and she will also run anchor in the 400 and 1,600 relays.

Burlingham, bound for the University of Texas on a soccer

scholarship, ran a personal-best 58.19 to qualify fourth in the 400.

She was also important to the Sailors’ season-best times in the 400

and 1,600 relays, which feature the same four in both events,

including Elda Hernandez, Kiley Hall and Amy Klippert.

The four girls qualified first in the 1,600 relay, finishing in

3:58.81. The Newport quartet qualified eighth in the 400 relay

(49.83).

In Division III, Corona del Mar will be in the 1,600 relay

represented by Melissa Swigert, Kelly Morgan, Sara Claster and

Lindsey Manning. They finished ahead of Costa Mesa last week,

qualifying fourth in 4:02.27.

The girls 3,200 will also include two athletes from different

schools. Costa Mesa junior Christine Bjelland qualified eighth in

11:29.99 last week, while CdM senior Becky Cummins qualified ninth

(11:32.91). As opposed to all other events, the top 12, regardless of

division, in the 3,200 will advance to the Masters Meet.

CdM will also feature freshman Anne St. Geme, who is set to make

her debut in the 800 and 1,600. She finished third in the CIF

preliminaries in 5:11.5, and her personal record is a 5:07. She

qualified eighth in the 800 (2:20.99).

For Costa Mesa, freshman Jasmin Day will also make her first

appearance in the CIF finals. She will compete in the high jump, in

which she had a 5-2 clearance last week.

On the boys side, Estancia senior Humberto Rojas, a state finalist

last year, will compete in the 800 and 1,600. He is seeded second in

both, as he achieved 1:55.52 in the 800 and 4:19.97 in the 1,600.

Estancia senior Zack Novak, a first-time CIF finals qualifier,

will also represent the Eagles. He will be in the high jump. He tied

for the first seed with a 6-2 clearance.

For CdM, junior Chris Ringstrom will compete in the 200. The

Pacific Coast League champion qualified sixth in 22.58 last week.