Bound for state

Steve Virgen

For four Newport-Mesa District athletes, Cerritos College has become

more of a second home the past two weekends. The quartet will attempt

to use their familiarity with Falcon Stadium today at the CIF State

preliminaries at Cerritos College.

The stadium opens at 1 p.m. Estancia High senior Zack Novak will

compete in the high jump at 4 p.m. and Costa Mesa senior Sharon Day

will attempt to defend her state title in the girls high jump at

6:30. Corona del Mar freshman Anne St. Geme will run in the 1,600

meters in the first of two heats at 5:24 p.m. Senior Humberto Rojas,

Estancia’s record holder in the 1,600, returns to the CIF state

prelims and will be in the first of two heats at 5:38 p.m.

The top nine in each event will qualify for Saturday’s

championships, also at Cerritos College.

Novak, the Golden West League and CIF Southern Section Division

III champion in the boys high jump, has a personal record of 6 feet,

6 inches. Last week, Novak cleared 6-3 on his first attempt to become

the fifth and final qualifier for the state prelims.

Estancia will also be represented by Rojas, who solidified himself

as one of the premier runners in the section after completing a

personal- and school-record 4:12.73 to finish third at the Masters

Meet last week.

On the girls side, St. Geme has a 5:00.44 seeded time, yet her

personal record is 5:00.10.

Day, who owns the nation’s best mark in the jump this season after

clearing 6-2 at the Trabuco Hills Invitational April 5, will be the

last local athlete competing today. Day, a four-time CIF Southern

Section division-title winner, won a Masters Meet title after

clearing 5-10 last week.