Day leads the way to titles in track, soccer

The Costa Mesa High girls’ athletic program experienced a fantastic finish, courtesy of senior Jasmin Day, who also contributed to a solid beginning and middle in her other competitive endeavors.

First the finish.

Day was the only Newport-Mesa athlete to win a CIF State championship, topping the field in the high jump in the state meet at Cerritos College.

Day led the Mustangs to a team championship at the Golden West League finals, winning the high jump (5 feet, 8 inches), the 100-meter hurdles (16.22 seconds) and the 300 hurdles (47.81). She was also on the winning 1,600 relay team Costa Mesa won the title by a 24.5-point margin and had athletetes post 11 qualifying marks for the CIF Southern Section Division III preliminaries.

Freshman Cheyenne Lopez won the league shot put title (33-5 1/2 ) and junior Danielle Morton won the long jump (15-6 1/2 ).

After the section preliminaries, it became Day’s show as the Washington State University-bound standout tied for first and was the only Mustang to advance with a height of 5-8 in the high jump. Just as easily as Day breezed into the section finals she sailed out with a Division III title.

Day did the same at the Southern Section Master’s Meet (all divisions), winning for the third consecutive year. She then won the state title by clearing 5-9, bettering her second-place finish at the state meet as a junior.

Just as dominant was the soccer team, which finished undefeated in 12 league games.

Led by none other than Day, who along with senior Kyla Flores and junior Sharon Frazier (a team-high 19 goals) formed a potent offensive attack, Coach Dan Johnston’s Mustangs went 17-4-2.

Day, a forward, earned first-team All-CIF Division III honors, while Flores was a second-team honoree. Day and Flores finished their high school career with a 48-0-0 record in league matches.

Junior defender Caitlyn Duff was a third-team All-CIF selection.

For all the accolades and regular-season success, the season still came to a painful end. A 2-1, four-overtime loss to Bonita at home in the second round of the playoffs ended the season with the Mustangs within minutes of advancing to penalty kicks.

Costa Mesa finished the regular season ranked No. 5 in Division III.

While the soccer team was continuing its reign atop the league, the water polo team, with Annie Le as the lone returning starter, sneaked in the back door to finish tied for second in league with a record of 14-14, 4-2 in league and post a CIF Division VI playoff victory.

The Mustangs also defeated cross-town rival Estancia in the two teams’ only meeting.

The Mustangs scored seven goals in the third period and Le scored four in the fourth in a first-round playoff victory on the road against Colony.

Costa Mesa ended up losing in the quarterfinals to No. 1-seeded Downey, 15-5.

Le was named first-team All-CIF Division VI and was also a Newport-Mesa Dream Team honoree.

The swim team was strong in league under first-year coach Patty Smith. But, just like last season, it could not knock Estancia from the top of the Golden West League.

Costa Mesa finished 91 points behind its cross-town rival, but 77 ahead of third-place Saddleback at league finals.

Individually, several young Mustangs provided hope of knocking off Estancia next season.

Freshman Andrea Beyoaju won both the 200-yard individual medley (2:21.39) and the 100 breaststroke (1:12.43).

Sophomore Patricia Marty won the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:03.46.

The 400 freestyle relay team of Marty, Beyoaju, freshman Liz Simpson and senior Tu Nguyen also won in 3:54.61, one-third of a second ahead of Estancia.

At the Division III preliminaries, Marty, Beyoaju and the relay team all qualified for the consolation finals, comprised of the ninth- through 16th-best qualifiers. Marty was 15th in the 200 butterfly (1:03.68), Beyoaju was 15th in the 100 breastroke (1:14.55) and the 400 relay team was 12th (3:59.34).

The cross country team finished with a 4-2 league record, good enough for third place, , but finished fourth at league finals with 97 points, 37 behind third-place Estancia.

Individually, it was Day once again leading the pack. She finished fifth at the league meet with a time of 19:09 at Huntington Beach Central Park.

Day went on finish 10th at the Southern Section Division III preliminaries. But her time of 19:42 on the Mt. San Antonio College course did not qualify her for the CIF finals.

The season started out rough for the basketball team, which only won six of its first 13 games. Things changed in the heart of the league season, however, and the Mustangs closed out with a 6-1 record in the final seven league games. Included in that stretch was a two-game series sweep of Estancia by a combined 29 points to win the perpetual Bell Trophy.

The finish allowed Costa Mesa, which ended the season 12-14, 7-5 in league, to return to the playoffs after missing out the year before to break a 14-year streak.

Senior Tracy Bjelland led the turnaround for Coach Jim Weeks’ squad. With Costa Mesa on a four-game losing streak Bjelland, a Dream Team selection, helped kick start and continue a four-game winning streak.

She scored 15, 22 and 17 points in the first three wins of the streak, all of which were by at least a 10-point margin.

Bjelland, a slasher, led the team with 15 points in its 64-38 loss to Bishop Montgomery in the first round of the CIF Division III-A playoffs.

A 9-6 league record, resulting in a fourth-place finish, was good enough to put the tennis team into the CIF Division V playoffs.

Evelyn Wallace was Costa Mesa’s top singles player. She won two matches to advance to the semifinals of the league individual tournament as its No. 4 seed, but lost to top-seeded Melissa Cecil of Ocean View.

Costa Mesa was bounced from the playoffs with a 10-8 loss to California Academy of Math and Science in a wild-card match, despite Wallace winning two of her three singles sets.

Chris Komer became the fourth coach in five years for the volleyball team. But, despite the lack of consistency in coaches, the Mustangs were able to match the previous season’s success, finishing 15-7 and tied for second in league with Estancia.

Costa Mesa, with five returners, lost to Rosary in three games in the wild-card round of the CIF Division III-A playoffs.

Bjelland, an outside hitter, was also the top player on the volleyball team, leading the Mustangs in kills and earning Dream Team recognition. She was also named first-team all-league for the second year in a row.

Junior middle blocker Danielle Morton and senior middle blocker Heather Williams were named first-team all-league.

Defensive specialist Caitlyn Duffy was named to the second team.

Junior Christy Gregory was the Mustangs’ No. 1 golfer for the second straight year, but Melissa Pardue was the lone Costa Mesa golfer to advance to the final round of the league individual tournament. Pardue’s season ended with an 11th-place finish in league.

Mustangs’ first-year coach Tom Baldwin had 18 first-time golfers out of 25 in the program.

The good news for the softball team was it won two of its first three games and had three players named all-league.

Gregory, a second baseman, was a first-team all-league performer for the second consecutive year.

Senior shortstop Janae Rivera was also a first-team selection, while Morton earned second-team laurels.KENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOTMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Kyla Flores (8) and Jasmin Day (9) helped Costa Mesa High go 48-0-0 in Golden West League soccer during their four varsity seasons. Costa Mesa High’s Tracy Bjelland, shown here in triumph over Estancia, helped Mustangs finish strong to reach CIF playoffs.dpt-cmgirls11.IMGGraphicInfo8O1SQIUQ200607118O1SQIUQNo Captiondpt.11-jasmineday-CPhotoInfoBC1SQIA420060711j09jb9ncMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Jasmin Day won the CIF State high jump crown and also stood out in soccer and cross country for the Mustangs.

dpt.11-kylaflores-BPhotoInfoBC1SQIJ820060711hs4ulykfMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Jasmin Day won the CIF State high jump crown and also stood out in soccer and cross country for the Mustangs.

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