Fearsome foursome

Steve Virgen

So what if gymnastics didn’t quite work out for Newport Harbor High

freshman Allison Stokke. The pole vault has been going great.

Stokke, who competed in gymnastics for eight years, broke a meet

record and her own school record by clearing 11 feet, 8 inches to win

the girls pole vault title in the Sea View League track and field

championships at Irvine High Thursday.

Stokke (pronounced stock-ee) was one of four Newport Harbor

athletes to win a league title.

Senior Elizabeth Clayton, who had been runner-up to former

Woodbridge star Michelle Sanford for the past three years, broke

through with a season-best 36-5 1/4 to win the triple jump.

Sophomore Keith Eldridge continued his impressive season and won

the 200 meters in 22.93. Junior Jennifer Ryder became the high jump

champion with a 5-2 clearance.

“It was my decision to stop competing in gymnastics and it took a

lot of thought,” said Stokke, who helped lead the Newport girls to a

second-place finish. “But this has definitely made up for it. I’m

really happy to win it with the meet record. But I still want to get

12-0.”

Stokke will have an opportunity to break her school record -- her

previous best was 11-6 - once again at the CIF Southern Section

Division II preliminaries at Colony High in Ontario May 15. She is

included in a group of 13 who qualified with solid performances

Thursday.

Clayton, Eldridge, Ryder, Whitney Blue and Bo Taylor each advanced

to CIF in two events.

Blue finished second in the 1600 in a personal-best 5:06.33 and

third in the 3,200 (11:17.89). She will drop the 3,200 for CIF and

senior teammate Lauren Paul will take her place as she was an

alternate, finishing fourth in 11:19.54.

Eldridge finished second in the 100 in 11.42. Clayton, bound for

Brigham Young University, finished second in the 100 hurdles in

16.08, a personal best. Taylor finished second in the shot put (50-0)

and third in the discus (145-3). Ryder finished third in the long

jump (16-3 1/4).

Junior Megan Randall finished second in the 800 in 2:20.04 to

advance to CIF. Trevor Theriot was third in the shot put (49-10).

Nick St. Andre finished third in the 1,600 (4:36.52).

Jessica Robson was second in the high jump (5-0) and Ciara

Lawrence finished second in the shot put (34-11 1/4). Lauren Cohen

grabbed third place in the 300 hurdles in 48.8.

The Newport Harbor boys finished fourth. Aliso Niguel won the boys

and girls league titles. The Sailors girls junior varsity team won

the Sea View League title, which totally pleased Coach Eric Tweit.

“This has been a great meet for us,” he said. “This is the best

freshmen class we have ever had. We are real excited about where the

program is going.”

Newport boys coach Nowell Kay was impressed with Thibault

Palomares, who finished fifth in the pole vault (10-6), and Mike

Donald who took fourth in the 800 in 2:04.45.

Kenny Rakestraw finished fourth in the 3,200 in 9:58.0.