CIF-Southern
Section
Divisional Finals Recap
13 meet
records fall!
Three U.S. leaders,
an unprecedented distance double
and record-like team distance depth highlight Southland meet
By Rich Gonzalez
Editor, DyeStatCal
(NORWALK) -- A
series of "firsts" prevailed at the 95th annual CIF-Southern
Section Divisional Track and Field Championships at Cerritos College
on Saturday. Consider:
For the first time since in
seven years and only the second time since 1991, a Long Beach-based
school did not win the Division I girls team title. (Either Poly
or Wilson had captured the major division plaque in 14 of the last
15 years.)
For the first time in national
postseason history, four teammates dipped under 5 minutes in the
1600 in the very same race.
For the first time in state
history, a girl recorded an incredible single-day sub-4:43/sub-10:16.00
double.
For perhaps the first time
in the modern era, divisional records were broken in three consecutive
races!
For the first time ever, the
state's largest section competed on an ultra-fast Mondo track surface
during postseason competition.
And for the very first time,
we finally caught a brief glimpse into the ultra-greatness of Bryshon
Nellum that Poly Coach Don Norford forewarned us about years ago.
In fact once the highlight
reel had finally stopped spinning, the overall results produced
by Southern Section athletes were nothing short of staggering:
*** Thirteen divisional records
were shattered, with one being absolutely crushed and by two athletes!
*** The fastest wind legal
boys 200 in the state in the last 14 years , the fourth-fastest
in state history, and the fastest in Southern Section history was
unleashed.
*** A sophomore class state
record was set in the boys 300-meter intermediate hurdles.
*** Five yearly state-leading
marks were established; two others were nullified by facility shortcomings.
*** Three yearly nation-leading
marks were achieved.
*** A fourth California girl
with current high school eligibility in 2007 moved into the state's
all-time Top 10 list for the 1600/mile.
*** An amazing five athletes
were tied at 10.73 for the last two spots into next Friday's CIF-SS
Masters Meet, with the photo-timing system then going to thousandths
of a second to separate the combatants. After additional analysis,
two were determined in a dead heat for the last spot, with a post-meet
"run-off" determining the final qualifier.
Heck, this meet had more developing
storylines than an episode of Fox TV's "24"!
"We're getting either
pretty good or pretty lucky when it counts," smiled Corona
del Mar coach Bill Sumner, whose girls claimed an unprecedented
sixth consecutive seasonal "crossover" team championship
(three straight in both cross-country and track & field) with
their Division III triumph.
Sumner's girls were hardly
lucky, sweeping the top three spots in the 1600 and having a fourth
girl finish in just under 5 minutes. His Sea Kings are the only
team in U.S. history to achieve the "Fab Four in Sub-Five"
feat, also doing it at its league final two weeks ago. But this
was a first in postseason competition in any state. Their mind-boggling
cumulative time of 19:37.31 (4:48.69/4:53.84/4:54.95/4:59.83) bettered
their previous record sum by a stunning 18.15 seconds! It is also
more than 10 seconds better than the converted (from 4 x mile) 4
x 1600m national record!
The Sea Kings scored 58 of
their 80 points in the distance events under the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1
scoring system utilized through eight places while runner-up Notre
Dame of Sherman Oaks amassed 52 points.
While Corona del Mar dominated
in the distances -- including qualifying five multi-lap entries
into this Friday's CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet -- Rancho Verde
was busy turning heads in the speed-based challenges.
The Mustangs racked up nearly
all of their points in bunches, scoring 18 in the long jump, 15
in the 100, and 12 in the 200. The only events they were entered
in which did not result in double-digit points were second-place
showings in both relays (8 points apiece) and a fifth place (four
points) in the 400.
"We're just looking
to be ready for the challenge," said Mustangs coach Chris Drescher
the day before the meet. "If we are, there's a definite shot.
The girls want it."
Did they ever. While slightly
favored Long Beach Poly won both relays, Rancho Verde outscored
the Jackrabbits head-on in the 100 and 200 by a decisive 27-to-8
scoring margin.
The team battle was not decided
until one dramatic twist and a separate dose of controversy played
out. Poly appeared to still be in the driver's seat with two-thirds
of the events having already been concluded and major forecasted
points waiting in the wings, but then disaster struck.
Poly's Turquoise Thompson,
the premier long hurdler in the state, said she felt a sudden pull
in the area of her right hamstring as she cleared the third barrier
in the 300-meter low hurdles, crumpling to the ground in pain. Unable
to finish the race with the projected 10 points, the score remained
45-36 in favor of RV, rather than a 46-45 advantage for Poly.
Then, in perhaps the meet's
most intriguing development, It appeared that Rancho Verde was about
to be DQ'ed when its third leg on the 4x400-meter relay abruptly
cut off Poly's athlete, drawing a yellow flag from officials on
the backstretch. With Poly already in position to score big in the
ongoing final field event (high jump), a DQ of the Mustangs would
have netted Poly the title. Instead, after a review by the officials,
no infraction was determined. A few wondered aloud if the no-call
was made since Poly still won the race.
"What happened there?"
Poly coach Don Norford asked. "We don't mind losing, but if
a team should have been disqualified, then it needs to be ruled
that way. It affects (the scoring picture in) the state meet down
the road."
While drama enveloped the meet-ending
long relay, excitement permeated the girls' 1600m races, where meet
records were set in Divisions III, II and I. Corona del Mar's Shelby
Buckley kick-started the records-fest with a 4:48.69 win in D3,
snipping 3.69 seconds off Karen Hecox's 17-year-old record. Hecox
(the former All-American at UCLA), now known as Karen Candaele,
is on the coaching staff at Vista Murrieta High and was in attendance
at the meet.
Then it was Christine Babcock's turn
as the defending state 1600m champion from Woodbridge HS out-dueled
a determined Anna Sperry to win the Division II crown in a record
4:42.42, a robust 5.30 seconds better than Amber Steen's previous
record. Babcock then came back with another stunner, rocketing to
a 10:15.54 win over Sperry (another great effort for her, this time
in 10:17.22) hat left the Orange County 1600m record holder just
1.07 seconds short of claiming the County 3200m record outright
as well. Both Babcock and Sperry annihilated the previous meet record
of 10:32.89 sent 18 years ago! Babcock's double was the first time
a California girl (and perhaps any U.S. prep) had ever run faster
than 4:43.00 and 10.16.00 on the same day. The only California with
perhaps a better statistical double was Thousand Oaks' Kim Mortensen,
who achieved a then unfathomable 4:46.28/10:03.11 double at the
1996 CIF-SS Divisional Finals. Mortensen then went on to set the
national 3200m record (9:48.59) at the Masters Meet six days later!
Minutes after Babcock's Division
II 1600 win, Saugus senior Shannon Murakami continued her sparkling
prep career with a title-winning 4:42.50 effort to claim the Division
I crown and break the record by 3.78 seconds, moving into 9th-place
on the all-time state list. Murakami's performance blotted out of
the legendary names in the record books, as Thousand Oaks' Mortensen
held the previous Division I standard from 1996.
The three consecutive 1600m records
were part of 13 divisoonal meet records on the day -- eight in girls
events and 5 in boys events.
With athletes competing on a popular
and very fast Mondo surface in CIF-SS postseason competition for
the very first time, U.S leading marks for the year were set in
the boys 200 (Poly's Bryshon Nellum, 20.58), the girls 4x100 (Long
Beach Poly, 45.58) and the girls 800 (Esperanza's Emily Dunn, 2:07.49).
Five-state-leading marks were achieved, with new seasonal bests
in the girls high jump and the boys 300-meter intermediates joining
those three that were also U.S. leaders. Long Beach Millikan's Ashley
Smith glided 5-09 to assume the state lead outright in the Division
I HJ and J.W North's Reggie Wyatt motored to a 36.57 Division II
win to break his own state sophomore record in the 300m IH.
Two other performance marks
bettered the 2007 state leader in their respective events, but those
marks (and several others in those events) have been classified
into the "downhill pit" category as the sand levels were
insufficient in the landing pits. The dropoff from the extended
imaginary from the takeoff board to the sand levels in the pits
exceeded what is allowed in the national rule book, thus negating
the marks from record consideration.
CIF-SS meet officials were
made aware of the situation early into the competition, with event
officials and volunteer associate workers also notified. it wasn't
until nearly an hour later that more and was retrieved from the
rear of the pit toward the "landing zone", but after a
trials the situation re-occurred. All marks achieved in the south
pit (boys LJ and boys TJ) fell into this quandary. The north pit
for girls jumping events was in compliance for the Division IV competition,
but had also fallen out of compliance by the time the Division III
event had started. No marks from 7 of the 8 divisional competitions
(with Division IV girls long jump being the lone exception) will
be carried on the EPI/DyeStatCal state lists.
(Editor's note: CIF-SS meet management
indicated that it had contacted Cerritos College about having suitable
facilities for all events, but with the portable and pit cover inserts
used at the new facility (to cover the pits when soccer/football
activities are in season), it means additional sand must be brought
in for meets, a step the CIF-SS says Cerritos College did not undertake.
Any marks achieved under such conditions will not be considered
legal (keep in mind that the CIF-SS Masters meet will be at this
same venue, and such meets as next year's California Relays would
also fall short of compliance without addressing the situation.)
And finally there was Nellum.
The modest man-child from the Long
Beach area first dazzled with a remarkably smooth-looking 20.58
clocking in the Division I finals that broke Pasadena Muir's Sultan
McCullough's divisional record by .04 and moved him into fourth-place
on the all-time state list, trailing only Oympians Quicky Watts
(20.50) and Calvin Harrison (20.57) as well as Bryan Bridgewater
(20.53).
But even THAT flash of brilliance
wasn't quite unexpected. After all, it was in a 2005 interview with
DyeStatCal that Coach Norford was asked just how good Nellum was.
Norford only replied that Nellum would race "only as fast as
he needs to" on meet day, but stated was always amazed by what
he could do in practice. Norford went on to say that if Nellum ever
decided to let it all out in a race, "jaws would drop."
That premonition instance FINALLY
came with the meet's last running event.
With at least one member of the Jackrabbits'
best quarter for the 4x400 already departed for the school prom
and the team title already clinched, Poly perhaps would be lacking
extra motivation and could be vulnerable to an upset. Sure enough,
Rancho Cucamonga stepped up to challenge Poly in the race, with
Bobby Collins then striving to close in on Nellum down the backstretch.
Then, with a half lap to go, Collins moved into the lead and the
crowd let out a shocked gasp.
After a few years without peer and
never losing a lead, Nellum had to answer the bell. Three strides
later, Collins probably felt his eardrums pop from the thunderous
ringing.
In a flash, Nellum's form perked
up, the stride extended, the cadence churned, the race was over.
It wasn't about the split (Nellum was caught in "only"
46.8, but ran over a second faster in relay duty at last month's
Penn Relay's), but rather the few seconds it took for "The
Man" to transform from an oustanding quarter miler to an untouchable
one. It was electric!
"He wanted to play with me on the
backstretch and then he showed me his gear," Nellum said. "Then
I showed him mine."
As Norford had foretold, jaws did drop.
But there was more. Soooooo much
more. Westlake's Cory Primm unleashing another 1:50-point effort
(1:50.90) to win the Division II 800, Big Bear's Chad Hall "coming
down from the mountain" to post the leading time of the day
in winning the Division IV 3200 (9:03.09, after a cruise win in
4:14.00 at 1600m), Palm Desert's Joe Canavan unleashing a 65-10.50
bomb to set a Division III shot put record, Agoura's Derek Johnson
'going long' to rip a 196-04 winnnig fling in the Division II discus...
To be continued next Friday at Cerritos
College....
Coming Monday night:
Divisional recaps and over 200 photos.
Message
board! Message board!
