Boys track and field: Mesa just falls to Uni, 73-60

Joseph Boo

COSTA MESA - For the duration of Thursday’s meet with Pacific Coast

League rival University, Costa Mesa High’s boys track and field team kept

wondering, “what if.”

As in what if it had pole vaulters competing, what if Greg Stewart ran

the 300-meter high hurdles instead of doing the long jump, and what if

Robert Hulliger didn’t get distracted in the discus throw.

At the end, all the little things added up to a 73-60 Uni victory. The

final score was initially 64-60, but nine points were tacked on to the

Trojans’ side because the host Mustangs had no pole vaulters and had to

forfeit that event.

“It would have been nice to get the win,” Costa Mesa coach John Carney

said. “But they just had a little more depth than us.”

The Mustangs (1-1, 1-1 in league) kept the meet close by capturing eight

of 15 events, with three wins coming from Stewart, the defending PCL

champ in the 100 and 200 races. The speedy senior ran his personal best

in the 100 sprint, turning in a sizzling 10.88. Stewart finished first in

the 200 by almost a second over teammate Josh Strickland, finishing at

22.98.

“Stewart had a pr. He won three times. He had a good day,” Carney said.

Stewart also won the long jump with a leap of 20-4 in an event he rarely

competes in. He normally runs the 300 high hurdles, but Stewart had to

fill in at the last second in the long jump, an event Mesa expected to

place two jumpers in the top three without Stewart. With Stewart in the

long jump, Mesa had no one in the 300 hurdles.

Another personal record from Mesa came from senior Hulliger, the

defending PCL champion in the shotput. His throw of 53-4 1/2 was an inch

better than his previous pr.

Hulliger was distracted during the discus and “only” threw a 120-6, which

was still good enough for second place. His teammate, Eric Connaty,

earned points in the discus with a throw of 116-4, good for third place.

Besides the second-place finish in the 200, Strickland, took the 400 in

54.83.

“Strickland turned in some good performances,” Carney said.

Mesa’s Zack Powell was the winner in the triple jump with a hop of 37-7,

and the Mustangs’ 400 relay team of Stewart, Strickland, Louis Day and

Edwin Martinez was victorious with a time of 47.09.

After Mesa’s Remi Ghebredious and Irwin Salas took first and third place

in the 3,200, the Mustangs had a one-point lead in the scorebook, 60-59.

Ghebredious’ winning time was 10:23, while Salas’ time was 11:02.

But Uni’s 1,600 relay team broke open a close race at the start and won

by five seconds, with a time of 3:43. That made the score, 64-60 in Uni’s

favor, rendering Uni’s additional nine points from the pole vault a moot

point instead of a questionable one.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Boys

University 73, Costa Mesa 60

100 - 1. Stewart (CM), 10.88; 2. Abbati (U), 11.78; 3. Kimura (U), 11.82.

200 - 1. Stewart (CM), 22.98; 2. Strickland (CM), 23.68; 3. Kimura (U),

24.59. 400 - 1. Strickland (CM), 54.83; 2. Beshore (U), 55.65; 3. Wheeler

(U), 56.27. 800 - 1. Gatchel (U), 2:11; 2. Ghebredious (CM), 2:12.83; 3.

Salas (CM), 2:13. 1,600 - 1. Collins (U), 4:54; 2. Salas (CM), 4:55; 3.

Young (U), 5:21. 3,200 - 1. Ghebredious (CM), 10:23; 2. Collins (U),

10:32; 3. Salas (CM), 11:02. 100 relay - 1. Costa Mesa (Stewart, Day,

Strickland, Martinez), 54.66; 2. University, NT. 110 HH - 1. Wang (U),

17.54; 2. Arayama (U), 18.08; 3. Lien (U), 20.47. 300 IH - 1. Illingworth

(U), 44.27; 2. Wang (U), 45.44; 3. Arayama (U), 45.91. 400 relay - 1.

University, 3:43; 2. Costa Mesa, 3:48.

HJ - 1. Ballard (U), 5-6; 2. Day (CM), 5-4; 3. Bhatti (U), 5-4. LJ - 1.

Stewart (CM), 20-4; 2. Abbate (U), 19-4; 3. Day (C), 18-4. TJ - 1. Powell

(CM), 37-7; 2. Porter (U), 37-0; 3. Huang (U), 36-4. SP - 1. Hulliger

(CM), 53-4 1/2; 2. Galen (U), 40-1; 3. Donovan (U), 39-9 1/2. DT - 1.

Duckles (U), 132-10; 2. Hulliger (CM), 120-6; 3. Connaty (CM), 116-4.