Split is good enough

With a big crowd on hand at Guyer Field and energetic music used as a backdrop, Laguna Beach and University competed Wednesday in a nonleague track and field meet.

The teams split, with Laguna’s boys beating University, 79-48, while the Breakers’ girls’ squad was edged by the visiting Trojans, 63 1/2 -58 1/2 .

The Breaker boys won both the 4 x 100 relay (44.81 seconds) and the 4 x 400 relay (3:41).

Individual winners for Laguna included Sheldon Eaton in the 110 (16.23) and 300 (42.32) hurdles, EJ Gomez in the 100 (11.16) and 200 (23.68) meters, Andrew Raub in the 3,200 meters (10:43), Nick Newell in the long (19 feet 5), triple (39-0) and high jumps (5-10) and Eric Bostwick in the shot put (34-11).

Girls winners for Laguna were Alex Crawley in the 1,600 (5:26) and 3,200 (12:20), Stephanie Pearson in the 400 (1:05), Brittany Clark in the 100 (13.1) and 200 (26.12), and Emily LaRose in the long jump (15-2). In just its second meet of the year, Laguna turned in a collection of outstanding performances Saturday at the San Clemente Invitational.

Clark broke her own school record in the girls’ 200 meters with a time of 25.94. She had set the record last year.

Gomez also came close to establishing a school record in the boys’ 200, but his time of 22.60 just missed eclipsing the record time of 22.24.

“This was a tremendous improvement from him and very encouraging coming this early in the season,” Laguna Coach Dave Brobeck said.

Other key performances included Jonathon Martinez turning in another strong effort in the 400 (52.9), Newell clearing 5 feet 10 in the high jump and Eaton — who Brobeck said was converted from middle distance to hurdles — ran a 41.5 in the 300-meter hurdles after just three weeks of practice.

Laguna will next compete at the Arcadia Invitational on April 7.

In boys’ volleyball:

Laguna, which hasn’t played since defeating San Clemente on March 21, opens Orange Coast League play at 4:45 p.m. today with a match at Costa Mesa.

The Breakers have played several top teams during nonleague and tournament action leading up to league.

They figure to be the odds-on favorite to win the league title as the first Orange Coast League race gets underway.

“I don’t expect us to be challenged in league and so, we have to get better in practice,” Laguna Coach Lance Stewart said. “We’re pretty athletic on the court, but what it boils down to is consistency.

“Our biggest thing is to learn how to be consistent throughout an entire game and in an entire match. Another key for us is to keep unforced errors to a minimum.”

Having taken on top-ranked teams such as Edison, Huntington Beach, Harvard-Westlake, Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar in nonleague play — in addition to competing at the talent-laden Best of the West and Orange County tournaments — all the Breakers have left on their schedule is league play before the CIF playoffs begin in May.

Shawn Merz leads the Breakers in kills with 119 and also has 14 aces leading up to today’s league opener. Blair Bigelow has 118 kills and a team-best 18 blocks, Cooper Gwaltney has 107 kills and a team-high 79 digs, Clay Knapp has 417 set assists and 11 aces and Michael Kahl has 11 aces.

Following today’s game at Costa Mesa, Laguna will host Estancia at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.