Local athletes win 4 1sts

Laguna Beach youth athletes made their presence known at the 2005

Southern California Municipal Athletic Federation Track and Field

Championships by winning four first-place medals and three ribbon

awards.

The event was held at Gahr High in Cerritos.

Laguna’s small but talented team, coached by Fred Pichay, got the

most out of its contingent.

Marlee Grosher was a multiple winner. She finished in first-place

in the girls’ long jump for the second year in a row in Division 96

with a leap of 10-feet-1, and was the only competitor in the field to

clear 10-feet. Grosher also earned a sixth-place finish in the girls’

400-meter run.

Christianne Kinder defended her Southern California championship

title by making it three years in a row as undefeated champion in the

Division 93 girls’ high jump. This year, competing as an 11-year-old,

Kinder came up with a jump of 4-feet-1.

Grace Esslinger also was a multiple winner and earned first-place

finishes in both the girls’ 100- and 200-meters in Division 91 with

times of 13.79 and 27.50, respectively.

Kirsten Landsiedel won an orange ribbon with a seventh-place

standing when she went 6-feet-5 in the Division 98 long jump.

Kathryn Deyoung finished fourth in the Division 91 girls’ long

jump at 12-feet-8. Hunter Burnett finished in 13th-place in the boys’

Division 94 long jump with a mark of 11-feet-4.

Working on their technique under the tutelage of Pichay, the local

athletes prevailed against more than 5,000 young contestants from

other city, county and southern California competitions held in the

past month.

The city of Laguna Beach runs its annual track and field program

under the guidance of Ron Lutz at the Laguna Beach High track and

field facility.