Track and field: TeWinkle aims for 16th straight title

Joseph Boo

CORONA DEL MAR - TeWinkle Junior High’s boys track and field team

is aiming for an unprecedented 16th Newport-Mesa team title in a row. On

Tuesday, the Trojans started their quest in the Newport-Mesa Junior High

preliminariess at Corona del Mar High with all but two of their athletes

moving on to Thursday’s finals at 3 p.m.

In the boys 800-meter run, four Trojans broke meet records. In the

eighth-grade race, Hugo Porfirio posted the best time with a 2:18.6.

In the boy’s “C” Division (5-feet-4 and under) 800, TeWinkle’s Panfillio

Elias had a record-breaking 2:19.4, just edging Ensign’s Juan Carlos

Rios, who also went under the previous record with a 2:22.0.

Seventh-grader Nick Merna of Huntington Beach-Dwyer had the most

impressive time in the 800 with a 2:16.9, a personal record and the new

meet record.

In the eight-grade boys 400, Omar Montillo of TeWinkle had the top time

of 56.4, breaking the previous record by almost two seconds. Trojan

seventh-grader Gio Macias broke Montillo’s previous record for the 400

with a 58.5.

Ensign eighth-grader Matt Encinias won the 100 (11.8) and the 200 (24.5)

to help give the Seabees’ boys squad a shot at stopping TeWinkle’s reign.

Ensign seventh-grader Leila Hendriks had the best overall time in the

girls 400. Her mark of 1:08.1 was just .6 seconds ahead of TeWinkle’s

Kiley Hall for the top seed.

In the girls 200, Ensign’s Ashley Harrison had the meet’s best mark with

a 28.2 while competing in the “C” Division. Harbor Day’s Melissa Swigert

had the only other sub-29 time in the 200, running a 28.7 to be the top

seed in the seventh-grade division.

The girls “C” division produced the top two times in the 100. Harrison

posted the top mark with a 13.4, followed by Costa Mesa’s Vyen Mai

(13.7).