Pleasant surprises for Tars

There are usually two kinds of surprises that go with high school

track and field preliminaries and the Newport Harbor High boys and

girls teams managed to avoid the bad ones Monday at Irvine High.

Perhaps the best surprise came from sophomore Hannah Bearden, who

made her way into the eight-runner final in the 100 meters, as well

as the 200. She ran 13.8 seconds in the 100 and 27.77 in the 200,

qualifying eighth in each event.

“It was good for her to qualify in both,” Newport Harbor girls

coach Eric Tweit said. “She was probably right on the bubble.”

Another pleasant surprise was the return of junior Lauren Cohen in

the girls 300 hurdles. In her first effort since spraining an ankle

two weeks ago, she qualified sixth with a time of 50.94.

Sophomore sprinter Keith Eldridge qualified first in the boys 200

in 23.07 and second in the 100 in 11.56, while senior Elizabeth

Clayton qualified second in the 100 hurdles in 16.22, a personal

best.

Freshman Jessica Robson was another surprise qualifier in the 100

hurdles. In only the second time she ran the event in competition,

she clocked a time of 17.20, sixth fastest.

Nick St. Andre (fifth in 2:07.77) and Mike Donald (2:08.15)

qualified in the boys 400, an event the Sailors will miss Joel

Walker. Walker is sidelined by a knee injury sustained in a soccer

tournament.

Sailors boys coach Nowell Kay said he is hopeful that sophomore

Sean Campos, who missed the final three league dual meets with a

cracked bone in his foot, will get clearance to compete. He could add

valuable points in the 110 high hurdles, the long jump and triple

jump, if cleared by a doctor.

Top boys performers to look for at Thursday’s finals (field events

start at 3 p.m. an running events at 4, also at Irvine High), include

Newport senior Nick Miller, the defending Sea View champion in the

3,200.

Kay believes Miller, as well as freshman Kenny Rakestraw, have a

chance to place well in both the 3,200 and 1,600.

Kay also believes sophomore Bo Taylor and junior Trevor Theriot

may fare well in the shot put, while Taylor and junior Kurt Kalanz

are contenders in the discus throw.

Tweit views freshman Whitney Blue and senior Lauren Paul as title

contenders in the girls distance events, while Clayton (long jump)

and junior Jennifer Ryder (high jump) are also potential league

champions.