While coaches rankings for the 2009-10 high school track and field season have yet to be posted, the Otay Ranch Mustangs boys and girls squads got an inkling they have to be considered one of the region’s better teams after recording first (boys) and second (girls) team place-finishes at the Mt. Miguel Elite 8 Invitational April 3 in Spring Valley.
Otay Ranch won the boys team title with 140.25 points to finish ahead of Ramona (114 points) and Morse (107 points).
The Mustangs were narrowly out-pointed 119.5-106.5 by defending San Diego Section Division II champion Steele Canyon in the girls team standings. Morse placed third with 102 points.
The invitational format featured two teams each from the Grossmont Conference (Mt. Miguel and Steele Canyon), Metro Conference (Otay Ranch, Sweetwater), City Conference (Morse, Mira Mesa) and North County Conference (Torrey Pines, Ramona).
Rounding out the girls field were Torrey Pines (fourth, 72 points), Mira Mesa (fifth, 71 points), Ramona (sixth, 58 points), Mt. Miguel (seventh, 53 points) and Sweetwater (eighth, 36 points).
The remainder of the boys field included Mira Mesa (fourth, 87.75 points), Mt. Miguel (fifth, 77.75 points), Steele Canyon (sixth, 64.75 points), Torrey Pines (seventh, 20.5 points) and Sweetwater (eighth, nine points).
Sixteen events were scored in the meet.
The supposedly low-key event produced its share of eye-popping performances. Mt. Miguel’s Walfrido Rodriguez set the new section-leading mark in the boys 400-meter dash by timing 49.38 seconds.
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Otay Ranch junior Marques Roberts set the new state leading mark in the boys triple jump (47 feet, 5.25 inches) by out-dueling previous state leader Travis Johnson of Morse.
The boys 300 intermediate hurdles final came down to six-hundredths of a second as Otay Ranch’s Isaac Mallet out-leaned Morse’s William Charlton at the finish line.
An all-around effort propelled the Mustangs to the top of the team standings. Head coach Ian Cumming was understandably pleased by the effort.
“The coaching staff is very happy with the student-athletes we are fortunate to coach,” Cumming said. “We have so many great kids who work very hard to be great people and athletes. There is a very nice mix of experienced leaders and very talented young team members. This combination is helping us to have a very good season this year and bodes well for the seasons ahead.”
Cumming isn’t kidding about having a talented bunch to coach.
Freshman Donald Molton, an AAU regional champion at the youth level, continued his outstanding introduction to high school competition by winning the boys 100-meter dash (11.05) and 200 dash (22.32). Molton’s fast times moved him up to fourth in the section rankings in the 200 dash and fifth in the 100 dash.
Jacob Roach also helped lead Otay Ranch to the boys title by winning the 1,600-meter run (4:24.21) while Ryan Vasquez won the boys pole vault event by clearing 12 feet, six inches and Jon Bajet captured the boys discus throw with a mark of 138-0.
Roach ranks fifth in the 1,600 even in the section while Bajet has taken aim at the school’s shot put record, an event he won last year with a mark of 50-9.25.
Otay Ranch’s Mallett timed 39.84 to edge Morse’s Charlton in the boys 300 IH. Mallet’s time stands third-best in the event on the section leaderboard.
Roberts, who also finished third in the long jump (20-4), notched his state-leading triple jump on his final of three attempts. Johnson had entered the meet as the state leader at 47-4, but the Mustang jumper beat that mark by 1.5 inches in out-distancing the Morse standout overall on the day by a four-inch mark.
In boys running events, Otay Ranch’s Carlos Hernandez finished third in the boys 3,200 run (9:55.94) while teammates J’Vion Johnson (16.19) and Oscar Zuniga (16.85) finished third and fifth, respectively in the 110 high hurdles. Johnson also finished third in the high jump (5-8) while Zuniga also finished fifth in the 110 high hurdles (42.23).
Also for Otay Ranch, Paul Tatoy (2:04.12) and Michael Barker (2:05.41) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, for Otay Ranch in the boys 800 run while Keyhanti Henry was sixth in the triple jump (41-6).
Otay Ranch’s Bryant Haro (42-7.25) and Kasey Hernandez (42-6.75) finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the boys shot put. Haro also placed sixth in the discus throw (124-5).
The Mustang girls squad was no less impressive. Carina Gillespie (2:24.04 in the 800 run) and Tiffany Smith (9-0 in the girls high jump) both paced Otay Ranch with a first-place finishes in their respective events.
Gillespie ranks seventh in the section in the 800 with a season-best time of 2:20.62.
Nicole Crutchfield, a two-time defending Mesa League sprint champion, blazed to a second-place finish in the girls 100 dash with a time of 12.93. She also finished third in the long jump (15-7).
In the girls shot put, Otay Ranch teammates Kaycee Osadolor (31-4) and Carolina Toledo (30-11) finished second and third, respectively. Toledo also finished third in the discus throw (100-0).
Also for Otay Ranch, Catie Ledesma was third in the girls 1,600 run (5:23.38) while teammate Blanca DeLaRocha (5:42.00) was fifth. In the girls 100 hurdles, Otay Ranch’s Alyssa Chang (17.10) finished third while Otay Ranch’s Kiera Williams placed third in the girls 200 dash (26.29) and fourth in the girls 400 dash (1:02.30).
Otay Ranch’s Tiana Wood (13.23) finished fifth in the girls 100 dash while teammate Briana Patricio finished fifth in the girls 800 run (2:31.39). Otay Ranch’s Andie Ledesma finished sixth in the girls 3,200 run (12:38.89) while teammate Shan Kristananjootha (82-8) finished sixth in the girls discus throw.
In relay events, Otay Ranch finished third in the boys 4×400 relay (3:28.51) and fourth in the girls 4×100 relay (51.02).
Aylin Mejia was Sweetwater’s lone event champion, timing 5:20.40 in the girls 1,600 run. Mejia also finished fourth in the girls 3,200 run (12:34.82).
Also for Sweetwater, Maila Lucht finished second in the girls 400 dash (1:01.38) while Prisma Mendoza finished fourth in the girls 800 run (2:30.50).
Lucht ranks sixth in the section in the 400 dash at 59.67.
The prep track season reaches its midpoint with this weekend’s Mustang/Phair Co. Relays at Otay Ranch High School, the Grizzly Invitational at Mission Hills High School and Triton Invitational at UC San Diego.
The Metro Conference finals are scheduled May 14 at Otay Ranch High School, followed by the San Diego Section prelims May 22 and section finals May 29, both at Mt. Carmel High School. The state championship meet is scheduled June 4-5 at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
Mustang/Phair Co. Relays
Blue Division: Bonita Vista, Calexico, Eastlake, Monte Vista, Mt. Miguel, Otay Ranch, Poway, San Diego, Serra, Steele Canyon.
Silver Division: Central Union, Clairemont, Hilltop, Imperial, La Jolla, Mar Vista, Olympian, Our Lady of Peace (girls), Point Loma, St. Augustine (boys), Southwest, Sweetwater.
Start time: 8:30 a.m. (field events); 9:30 a.m. (running events)
Sundevil Invitational
South County track and field athletes displayed their prowess at the preceding Sundevil Invitational, held March 27 at Mt. Carmel High School.
Eastlake finished first in its division in the boys 4×100 relay (44.25) while Otay Ranch finished first in its division in the girls 4×100 relay (51.14). Bonita Vista placed third in the girls 4×100 relay (52.73).
Otay Ranch’s Gillespie finished second in her division in the girls 800 (2:20.62) while Sweetwater’s Lucht placed second in her division in the girls 400 dash (59.67).
Otay Ranch’s Zuniga finished second in the boys 300 hurdles (41.20) while Bonita Vista’s Jade Palm finished third in the girls 300 hurdles (47.91).
Otay Ranch’s Roberts placed third in the boys triple jump (45-0) while teammate David Turner placed third in the boys long jump (21-9.5).
Eastlake’s Roshawn Brock finished fourth in the boys high jump (5-10).
In relay events:
¥Otay Ranch finished third in the girls 4×400 relay (4:19.40).
¥Sweetwater finished fourth in the girls 4×800 relay (9:55.54) while Bonita Vista finished fourth in the boys 4×800 relay (8:24.19).
Visit the Web site at http://crowncity.com/sdtrackmag for complete results.
Elite 8 top marks
For girls team champion Steele Canyon, Tia Knight (100 hurdles, 15.82), Paige Neville (100-and 200-meter dashes) and Mt. Miguel’s Charity Lyons (long jump, 17-4) all turned in first-place finishes in their respective events.
Neville timed 12.49 to win the 100 dash and 25.71 to win the 200 dash. Her 200 time ranks second in the section.
Knight (15.82) and Kim Gossmeyer (16.23) finished first and second, respectively, in the girls 100 hurdles while Gossmeyer sped to a second-place finish in the girls 300 hurdles (47.62).
In girls running events, Steele Canyon’s Monique Van finished second in the 800-meter run (2:25.44), while Cougar teammate Madison Nocon was second in the 3,200 run (11:53.92).
In girls field events, Mt. Miguel’s Danielle Miller was second in the high jump (4-10) and third in the triple jump (33-11.5), Steele Canyon’s Samantha Vernon was second in the girls discus throw (109-0).
Steele Canyon finished first in both the girls 4×100-meter relay (49.59 seconds) and boys 4×100 relay (43.06) to jump-start the eight-team invitational. The girls mark ranks second best in the section.
On the boys side, Mt. Miguel’s Rodriguez (400 dash), Brandon Hille (800 run, 2:01.02) and Dylan Marx (3, 200 run, 9:41.34) all won their respective events.
Hille and Matador teammate O’Neal Stidum (2:02.12) finished first and second, respectively, in the boys 800 run.
Marx also finished third in the 1,600 run (4:26.63).
Mt. Miguel’s Robert Hall (20-7.5) and Patrick Arizmendi (20-7) finished second and third, respectively, in the boys long jump.
For Steele Canyon, Mario Yakoo was second in the boys shot put (44-5.75).
To round out the running events, Mt. Miguel placed second in the boys 4×400 relay (3:25.40).
