__________________________________
By Loren Kopff
@LorenKopff on Twitter
June 5, 2107, 4:30 p.m.
ARCADIA- For the Gahr High track and field program, it’s a season to celebrate and the season isn’t quite over yet. The boys 4×100 relay team and senior high jumper Tony Crosby have advanced to the California Interscholastic Federation state preliminaries by virtue of their performances at the Southern Section Masters Meet last Friday at Arcadia High.
In the second event of the night, the relay team of seniors Anthony Mullins, Erik Renfroe, Alonzo Davis and junior Christian Shakir, in their race order, came in third out of nine teams with a time of 41.54. The mark is also the fourth best in the state. The team had advanced to the Masters Meet after running a 41.67 in the divisional championships six days earlier.
Gahr High junior Christian Shakir (middle) approaches the finish line in the 4×100 event at last Friday’s California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section Masters Meet. The relay team finished in third place with a time of 41.54. All photos by Armando Vargas.
“I believe we could have done better,” said Gahr coach Rob Godwin. “I don’t believe that was our best race. Our second to third leg, we kind of had a little problem there. I believe had we got the stick around clean, we might have actually won that race, or at least come in second.”
Crosby, who at 5’ 6”, was the smallest of the 15 jumpers to participate, won the event by clearing 6’ 7”, which is tied for the second in the state. The event began at 6’ 1” and Crosby cleared that mark, plus 6’ 3”, 6’ 5” and 6’ 7” on his first attempt. His previous personal record was 6’ 6”, which he accomplished in the divisional championships.
“Clearing 6’ 5” on the first try gave me a lot of confidence going into 6’ 7” and then I just got it and had a good day,” Crosby said. “I just wanted to keep going and continue and not end it at this level. I wanted to go as far as I can.”
Two other jumpers also cleared 6’ 7” but one passed on the first two jumps and was successful on his first attempt at 6’ 5” while the other passed on 6’ 1” before clearing the next three heights on his first attempt as well.
“I really proud of these kids,” Godwin said. “This year, we had an up and down season. So, I didn’t expect a lot out of them. But I saw towards the end once they did get together, they clicked as a team and they looked like last year’s [team]. They put in the work and they deserve what they’re getting right now.”
Also moving on to the state preliminaries tonight at Buchanan High in Clovis is Cerritos High junior Destin Flucas, who won a jump-off with two other jumpers. The top six jumpers had to advance but only nine had cleared at least 6’ 5” With Crosby and two others getting to 6’ 7” and two others clearing 6’ 5” on their first attempts, Flucas had a jump-off with Beau Allen of San Marcos High and Jack Wiseman of Huntington Beach High for the final spot. All three started at 6’ 6” and Flucas cleared that mark while the other two missed.
Another high jumper, Valley Christian High senior Michael Polk, was able to clear 6’ 1” and 6’ 3” on his first attempts but failed in three attempts at 6’ 5”.
Cerritos junior Destin Flucas clears on of his early jumps, then advanced to the California Interscholastic Federation State Preliminaries by winning a jump-off in last Friday’s Southern Section Masters Meet.
Elsewhere in the Masters Meet, Valley Christian junior Marian Ledesma finished in 11th place in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:16.34. Despite not moving on, she said she is still pleased with advancing this far and will take two weeks off before preparing for cross country and eventually the track and field season.
Valley Christian High junior Marian Ledesma (far left), approaches the halfway mark of the 800-meter run in last Friday’s California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section Master’s Meet.
“I’m really, really grateful to have made it here,” Ledesma said. “It was a tough race, but it actually went by really quickly. Last year I didn’t have a very good race at finals, so to have made Masters this year, I feel I was able to make up for it.”
In other track and field news, the seventh grade Carmenita Junior High tied the district record for the 4×100 that was set back in 2007. The relay team had a time of 56.50. Overall, the school won for the 11th year in a row.
Carmenita MS 4×100 relay team.
RECREATIONAL SOFTBALL
Three of the four Cerritos Girls Softball Association’s All-Star teams had a rough going in the San Clemente Memorial Day Tournament last weekend, losing their two pool play games plus their first single elimination game. The 14-Under All-Stars defeated Mission Viejo 4-2 and tied San Clemente 2-2 before falling to UC Del Sol this past Sunday in the playoffs. The other three Cerritos teams were outscored in pool play action by a combined 48-13. All four teams will participate in the South Huntington Beach Surf City Tournament this weekend.
