Five aim for gold at state

Steve Virgen

There’s still one step that remains for five high school track and

field athletes from the Newport-Mesa School District as they compete

in the CIF State championships with the preliminaries starting today

at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento.

The Newport-Mesa quintet of Costa Mesa High’s Jasmin Day, Newport

Harbor’s Elizabeth Clayton and Allison Stokke, along with Corona del

Mar’s Anne St. Geme and Hilary May, will be vying to be among the top

nine in their respective events to advance to Saturday’s finals.

Clayton, the lone senior of the group, is shooting to top her

personal best of 38 feet, 4 1/2 inches, which is the school record.

Clayton’s goal is to jump 39 feet, which would result in having

half of her school tuition paid at Brigham Young University, as

promised to her by the coaches, she said. If she reaches 39-0, that

would put her tied for sixth, based on the season-best marks set by

the competitors entering the event.

“That is my main goal,” said Clayton, whose mark of 37-8 1/2 was

fourth in the Masters Meet last week at Cerritos College. “Last week,

I felt really stressed out. I have really been able to settle down. I

know, no matter what, my season is over this weekend. I just want to

end my season on a good note.”

Clayton, the Sea View League champion in the triple jump, has come

back from shin injuries that beset her junior season. Her teammate,

Stokke, a freshman, also won a Sea View League title, in the pole

vault.

Stokke cleared 11-8 to break the meet record at the Sea View

League finals May 6. She outdid herself at the Masters Meet last

week, going 12-7 and setting a national high school freshman record.

That mark is third in the state, and third in the Southern Section.

St. Geme, the Sea Kings’ sophomore sensation, also has a great

chance to advance to Saturday’s finals. She finished second in the

1,600 at the Masters Meet with a time of 4:56.87. But St. Geme’s

personal-best, 4:52.93, is fourth-best among the competitors in the

state meet.

She won the Pacific Coast League title and the CIF Southern

Section Division III championship in the 1,600. She was disappointed

to finish second at the Masters Meet and has been using that as

motivation for the state championships. St. Geme also qualified for

state in the 800, but dropped the event to focus just on the 1,600

Day is the only CIF Southern Section champion of the Newport-Mesa

quintet. Last week, the Costa Mesa sophomore cleared 5-6 to win the

gold at the Masters Meet. Her personal best of 5-8 resulted in the

CIF Southern Section Division III championship May 22. Day is also

expected to move on to Saturday, as her 5-8 mark is third in the

state. Five others have cleared 5-8, and two have gotten over 5-10.

May is the fastest freshman among today’s competitors in the

1,600. May advanced with a qualifying time of 4:59.91. The state-meet

qualifying time was 5:00.80. May’s personal best is 4:59.16.

The website, www.cifstate.org, will have real-time results. The

field events start at 2 p.m. and the running events at 5 p.m. On

Saturday, field events begin at 3 p.m. and the action on the track

starts at 5 p.m.