Daily Pilot Boys’ Track and Field Dream Team: Newport Harbor’s Aidan Elbettar has a shot to make history
The bond between athlete and coach can go a long way, but a number of intangibles factor into the development of the truly elite.
Newport Harbor High thrower Aidan Elbettar will be one of the top track and field recruits in the Class of 2020. His rise over the last two seasons has been nothing short of meteoric.
Beyond natural ability, it took growth in communication, as well as a strong sense of direction.
Communication did not come right away. As a freshman, the four-hour days seemed to defeat the purpose of Elbettar’s desire to throw for fun. He gradually began to realize the potential that Sailors throws coach Tony Ciarelli saw in him.
“It kind of slowly snowballed into, ‘I’m kind of good at this. If I actually want to be here and focus and work on it, I can achieve something great,’” Elbettar said.
Halfway through his sophomore year, Elbettar, who stands at 6-foot-8 and 310 pounds, made the decision that he was done with football. Watching film and listening to the advice of his coach put Elbettar on a path to stardom.
“The immediate application and understanding of what has to be fixed to throw farther, that’s what it comes down to,” Ciarelli said. “If I say, ‘OK, your right foot has to be a little wider and a little higher,’ he can do that. That’s the difference between a great athlete and just a good athlete.”
After finishing his sophomore season on the podium for the shotput in the CIF State championships in 2018, Elbettar proved that he was just getting started.
Elbettar, the 2019 Daily Pilot Boys’ Track and Field Dream Team Athlete of the Year, brought home medals from nearly every meet that he competed in his junior year. He doubled as the CIF Southern Section Division 2 champion in the shotput and the discus throw, also winning the discus at the Masters Meet, then going on to earn New Balance All-American honors in both events at season’s end.
In looking back on the highly successful campaign, medals and placings did not crack the top three when the Sailors standout was asked about his most memorable moments from the spring. The three moments that he chose touched on individual achievement, the motivation of failure, and incremental progress.
First, he named his personal-best heave of 197 feet, four inches in the discus throw — established in a dual meet at home against Marina on March 13. The mark briefly gave Elbettar the national lead.
Elbettar then called up the memory of not advancing out of the state preliminaries as the state leader in the discus throw. He came back the next day to place second in the state finals in the shotput.
Finally, he considered how much he had improved in the past few months. The third memorable moment was when he began implementing the spin into his throwing motion in the shotput.
The introspective nature of Elbettar’s season review gave insight into the fact that Elbettar does not care about the accolades as much as he does self-improvement.
“I’m striving for the marks and being the best I can,” Elbettar said. “I’d rather throw the school records, and then I would rather have farther school records that were completed by me than have the medals from the state meet, personally.”
The goals for Elbettar next year include breaking the school records in the shotput (Jim Neidhart, 69-3¾ in 1973) and the discus throw (Bo Taylor, 213-7 in 2006). Ciarelli said that both marks should be in play, especially if Elbettar wants to end next season at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya.
Elbettar will have his pick of colleges to choose from. His schools of interest include the University of Washington, UC Irvine, UCLA, USC and Arizona.
“His long-term goal, which I think is feasible also, is that he wants to be an Olympian,” Ciarelli said. “It’s really important that you pick the right college because they need to elevate your abilities also to make an Olympic team.”
Ciarelli said that next season will be his last at Newport Harbor. He is planning to help out at UCI, where his daughter, Katelyn, is an associate head coach of the men’s and women’s track and field programs.
Family has played an important role for Elbettar to this point. His parents, Jay and Tessa, attend nearly every meet.
“It really helps a lot, knowing that my parents are there to cheer me up and root me on when I’m competing because whenever I do bad, they’re there to help me move on,” Elbettar said. “If I do good, they’re there to cheer with me and be excited, so it’s definitely great having that support.”
COACH OF THE YEAR
Matthew Redding
Estancia
The departure of defending Orange Coast League champion Godinez and Laguna Beach presented an opportunity for a new league champion. Estancia took advantage by holding off Costa Mesa 148-125 in a showdown between the two Battle for the Bell rivals in the Orange Coast League finals at Costa Mesa on April 24. The Eagles won their first boys’ track and field league title since 2005.
TOP PERFORMERS
Sebastian Fisher
Distance runner | Laguna Beach | Sr.
Fisher’s senior year at Laguna Beach could not have gone much better. After helping the Breakers to the CIF Southern Section Division 4 and CIF State Division IV titles in cross-country in the fall, Fisher went on a tear during the track season. He doubled up as the Wave League champion in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter races. Fisher dropped a personal-best time of 4 minutes 11 seconds flat in a runner-up showing in the Division 3 final for the 1,600. He went on to advance to the state meet, placing seventh in 4:13.06. A New Balance All-American in the mile relay with teammates Mateo Bianchi, Logan Brooks and Ryan Smithers, Fisher will run for Princeton in college.
Alexis Garcia
Distance runner | Newport Harbor | Sr.
Garcia ran a handful of 800 and 1,600 heats to work on his speed during the regular season, but when the CIF meets arrived, the Sailors senior focused solely on the 3,200. The speed work paid off, as Garcia proved he could make a move late in the eight-lap event. His lifetime-best time of 9:04.35 earned him sixth place at the CIF Masters Meet. The three-time CIF State qualifier in cross-country advanced to his first state track and field championships, where he finished 12th in 9:12.80. Garcia signed with Cal State Fullerton for cross-country and track.
Aiden Garnett
High jump | Edison | Sr.
The careers of Huntington Beach’s Jack Wiseman and Garnett had often been intertwined. They once shared the same stage in the Sunset League, and both received instruction from Troy Haines, who runs the Sky High and Fly Jump Camps. The local high jump standouts were separated when the Sunset Conference was split into two leagues. Garnett won the Surf League crown for his first league title. The Utah Valley signee consistently performed under pressure throughout the CIF postseason, capping his high school career with a sixth-place medal and a personal record of 6-7 in the CIF State finals.
Ryan Rivituso
Sprints | Edison | So.
The surprise of the spring came when Rivituso emerged from the ranks of the lower levels to put together a stunning late-season charge. Rivituso competed at the frosh-soph level as late as the Orange County Championships. In the Surf League finals two weeks later, he qualified for the CIF Southern Section Division 2 preliminaries in four events — in the 200, the 400, the 400 relay and the 1,600 relay. He ran his fastest 400 time of the season in the Division 2 final, finishing as the runner-up in 48.26 seconds. Rivituso’s season ended at the Masters Meet, but he is one of the area’s most promising sprinters to come along in years.
Skyler Magula
Pole vault | Marina | Sr.
The section experienced a down year in the boys’ pole vault, and Magula likely felt the same way about his senior season. After bringing home a CIF State medal in his junior season, the Vikings star did not duplicate the feat in his return to the state meet. Although a personal record was not in the cards for Magula, he successfully defended his crown at the Orange County Championships, where he cleared a seasonal-best height of 15-7. He exits Marina having won two CIF Southern Section titles and two league championships in the event, as he won the Division 1 and Wave League titles this year. Magula signed with the Cal track and field program.
Jack Wiseman
High jump | Huntington Beach | Sr.
It took two years for Wiseman to conquer new heights, but it proved well worth the wait for the Oilers senior. He won the Wave League title, doing so with what was then a lifetime-best mark at 6-7. After two years of frustration along the road to the CIF State meet, the third time was the charm for Wiseman. He topped the field at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet with a stunning display, clearing two new bars to reach the height of 6-10. The performance allowed Wiseman, a UC San Diego signee, to advance to his first state meet, where he placed third with a mark of 6-9.
DREAM TEAM PICKS
*CIF Southern Section Masters qualifier
100 – Patrick Dunn, Fountain Valley, Jr.; Ryan Gillmore, Fountain Valley, Sr.
200 – Ayden Lastra, Marina, So.; Dylan Plantinga, Huntington Beach, Sr.; Ryan Rivituso, Edison, So.
400 – Dylan Plantinga, Huntington Beach, Sr.; Ryan Rivituso, Edison, So.*
800 – Alexis Garcia, Newport Harbor, Sr.; Lars Mitchel, Huntington Beach, Sr.; Ryan Smithers, Laguna Beach, Sr.
1,600 – Logan Brooks, Laguna Beach, Jr.; Sebastian Fisher, Laguna Beach, Sr.*; Alexis Garcia, Newport Harbor, Sr.; Lars Mitchel, Huntington Beach, Sr.; Ryan Smithers, Laguna Beach, Sr.
3,200 – Mateo Bianchi, Laguna Beach, So.; Sebastian Fisher, Laguna Beach, Sr.; Alexis Garcia, Newport Harbor, Sr.*; Ryan Smithers, Laguna Beach, Sr.
110HH – Kieren Spradlin, Edison, Sr.; Connor West, Costa Mesa, Sr.
300IH – Jacob Haley, Edison, Sr.; Connor West, Costa Mesa, Sr.
400 relay – Edison; Marina
1,600 relay – Edison
HJ – Aiden Garnett, Edison, Sr.*; Tre Villalpando, Costa Mesa, Sr.; Jack Wiseman, Huntington Beach, Sr.*
LJ – Brian Huynh, Marina, Jr.; Tommy Lu, Fountain Valley, Jr.; Charlie Wright, Corona del Mar, Sr.
TJ – David Acosta, Estancia, Sr.; Jonathon Diaz, Marina, Sr.
PV – Skyler Magula, Marina, Sr.*
SP – Aidan Elbettar, Newport Harbor, Jr.*; Cole White, Corona del Mar, Sr.*
DT – Aidan Elbettar, Newport Harbor, Jr.*; Cole White, Corona del Mar, Sr.
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