Krikorian vaults into the forefront

Ally Krikorian knows her family’s history in the Costa Mesa High track and field program.

Her older siblings — Danny, Stacy and Tony — all ran track for Mesa.

“Sometimes, that’s kind of hard,” said Ally Krikorian. “You’re expected to do a lot.”

But the youngest Krikorian, a sophomore, is up to the challenge as she nears the end of a hectic spring athletic season.

First, there is the Mesa track program, where the Mustangs are preparing for the Orange Coast League finals today at Orange Coast College.

Costa Mesa’s varsity girls finished 3-0 in league dual meets, and Krikorian, who ran the 200 meters, 400 and both the 400 and 1,600 relays, was a sizable part of the reason why.

In the Mustangs’ most recent win over Laguna Beach on Wednesday, Krikorian won the 200 in 27.85 seconds, finished third in the 400 and was on the winning 1,600 relay team.

“She’s a very valuable athlete,” said Costa Mesa Coach Diane Bjelland. “She’s probably the most well-rounded girl we have out there. She could do any event we ask her to do.”

But gymnastics is the sport where Krikorian probably excels even more. She qualified for the track and field Orange County Championships on April 21, but couldn’t go because she was in Utah competing at the USA Gymnastics Region 1 Championships.

“I think gymnastics is a unique sport,” said Krikorian, a Level 10 gymnast who has been competing since she was in Level 5 in the second grade. “You don’t hear about a lot of people doing it, but it takes a lot of determination. You have to overcome fears, and I think that helps me with life skills that I need.”

Krikorian trains at Gym-Max in Costa Mesa, with her coaches Howie and Jenny Liang.

She finished first in the vault at the regional championships with a 9.65 score at the competition, held at Utah Valley State College in Orem.

“It was a very good competition,” she said. “I just moved up from the juniors division to seniors, and there are some amazing gymnasts at that level. It was cool to see some things I hadn’t seen before.”

Krikorian tied for eighth in the floor exercise (9.20) at the competition, but she said vault is her favorite event.

“It’s probably the vault, just because I’m probably more a powerful gymnast because of the other sports I’ve played,” Krikorian said. “I think it’s a lot of fun, because I can do running and gymnastics [in that event]. I’m doing both sports I like to do.”

The meet marked the end of the gymnastics season for Krikorian, who said she’d probably start up again early next January.

So now she can focus on track, where she is part of a very strong sophomore class for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs’ Class of 2009 also includes standouts like sprinters Teagan LaBare, Whitney Crosby and Shelby Herbel, as well as Kim Bjelland and Cheyanne Lopez, who excels in the shotput and discus.

On the boys’ side, Costa Mesa has sophomore athletes like Antwon Byrd, who has run faster than 11 seconds in the 100 twice this season.

“We have some awesome seniors too, but this sophomore class, we’ve been working hard to build up the program,” Krikorian said. “Everyone has been putting in the extra effort and trying the best we can.”

Krikorian also has plenty of support from her siblings, who are all currently competing in athletics in college. Danny (class of 2003) plays basketball at Chapman University, Stacy (class of ‘04) plays soccer for Dominican University and Tony (class of ‘06) attends Willamette University in Oregon, where he plays baseball and football.

“They’re so supportive,” Ally Krikorian said. “From watching them, I’ve learned so much. That’s probably how I get through each day, from their example.”

And her coaches and teammates, in turn, appreciate her efforts.

“She’s a very busy young lady,” Costa Mesa Coach Diane Bjelland said. “We’re very thankful she does track, because she’s a very good gymnast.”

MATT SZABO can be reached at (714) 966-4614 or at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.