Clearing the hurdles

Mike Sciacca

If anything, Justin Rovin thought his other event, was his event.

But the Laguna Beach High junior not only surprised himself at the

CIF-Southern Section Division IV Track and Field Championships at

Cerritos College in Norwalk, he surprised coaches and teammates, too.

Carrying “no expectations” in this event all season long, he said,

Rovin ran a personal best time of 14.83 to win the 110-meter hurdles and the CIF title that went with it.

“Expecting” to be a favorite for the 300 hurdles title -- which he

was -- Rovin had a mishap which left him with a third-place finish.

“It just goes to show you that you never know what can happen,” he

said. “My goal before the season began was to win the CIF title in

the 300 hurdles. I had absolutely no expectations for a title in the

110 hurdles.”

The 110-meter hurdles was his first event.

Rovin was neck-and-neck right in the middle of the race -- the

fifth hurdle -- with Randy Rense of St. Margaret’s, when he started

to pull away.

Rense had entered the final as the top seed in the event, with

Rovin a close second.

“At that point I starting pulling away and he left my vision,”

Rovin recalled. “I didn’t even hear his footsteps any more, so I knew

I was on my way.”

Rovin said he had been working the week prior to the CIF meet with

his hurdles coach, Fred Pichay, on getting his technique down.

“Coach worked with me to bring out my true potential,” Rovin said.

“All season long, I never seemed to run my fastest in the 110

hurdles. But I ran pretty well at finals.”

Rovin’s final event was the 300-meter hurdles, and he appeared

headed for another CIF crown. He was running so fast, he said, that

he was running just 15 steps between hurdles, down from his usual

15-to-17 steps.

But then he tagged the fifth hurdle, and went down on the track.

“It was the first time all season that I have hit a hurdle during

a race,” he said. “But, I got right back up and ran as fast as I

could again.”

Although he didn’t win the event, Rovin stormed back to claim a

third-place finish.

Rovin’s win in the 110-meter hurdles thrilled Dave Brobeck, the

boys’ track and field head coach at Laguna.

“I was not really expecting this,” Brobeck said of Rovin’s win in

the 110. “I knew he would be competitive, but I didn’t see him

dominating the way he did. I thought he had a chance to really

dominate the 300 hurdles and he would have, had he not kicked and

fallen down. He had a commanding lead in the race, as well.

“Although he didn’t quite get the school record in the 300 this

year, I am amazed at his progress in just one year of hurdling. I

expect that next year he will break several school records.”

Rovin was one of eight Laguna athletes to qualify for the CIF-SS

meet.

“I have been very pleased with how our athletes have done during

this championship phase of track,” Brobeck said. “Qualifying eight

athletes to the finals was unprecedented. Last year, only one of our

athletes qualified.”

Below is a listing of other performances turned in at the CIF-SS

meet by Laguna athletes:

Jeremy Eaton, fourth-place, boys’ 800: Eaton ran the fastest

school time (1:58.5) in the 800 in the last 15 years. “It absolutely

stunned me,” Brobeck said. “I think he was running a bit scared, and

it worked. Just a sophomore, this guy will have colleges lining up to

recruit him in a few years.”

Shane Riehl, sixth-place, boys’ 800: His time of 2:00.66 was a

personal record. “A great race and tremendous season improvement for

a senior and one of my favorite kids I have ever coached,” Brobeck

said. “He will be running at Orange Coast next year.”

Sean Fuszard, fourth-place, boys’ 1600: His 4:28.1 is the fastest mile at the school in 15 years. “Runs with grit and intellect,”

Brobeck said of Fuszard, who will run at UC Irvine next year.

Aman Bhatia, eighth-place, boys’ 1600: The Pacific Coast League

champion with a time of 4:29, he ran a 4:37 at CIF. “He was run down

throughout the week from sickness. Aman is just a junior and will be

a major player next year in CIF.”

Addison Doud, sixth-place, girls’ discus: Doud, who swims and

plays water polo concurrently with track and field, was the discus

leader after prelims.

Brittany Clark, seventh-place, girls’ 100 meters: Ran the race in

12.55. “Just a sophomore who has unlimited potential,” Brobeck said.

“I am very happy that she gained big race experience and look for her

to assert herself as a team leader next year.”

Alex Crawley: second-place, girls’ 3200: Finished runner-up in the

division with a time of 11:37. Although Brobeck did not see the race,

he said she lost a shoe in the last lap.