Track & Field: Smith shines for Sailors
LOS ALAMITOS — Elite track and field athletes are nothing new at Newport Harbor High.
Right now, Sailors throws coach Tony Ciarelli is putting a great product on the field. His faithful soldiers score big in league meets, and often, in invitationals, too.
Such was the case for Newport Harbor in a Sunset League tri-meet at Los Alamitos High on Wednesday afternoon.
Cole Smith, Cole O’Neil, and Spencer Blake grabbed the top three spots in the shot put, an impressive display by Ciarelli’s throws squad.
Smith went over 60 feet in the shot put for the first time in his career, setting a new personal record of 60 feet, 11 inches in the event.
The senior leapfrogged Notre Dame Sherman Oaks’ Kylan Wilborn (60-7 3/4) for the top mark in the CIF Southern Section. He will be one of the favorites to take the Orange County title in a little over three weeks.
“We’re always trying to compete,” Smith said. “We have a long line of throwers at Newport Harbor. There is a lot of history there, a lot of far marks.
“Thanks to Coach Tony Ciarelli, he’s really given us the right mindset going into meets. We do the best we can, dominate, cheer each other on, and fire it up.”
Those who have contributed to Newport Harbor’s fame include former UCLA standout Bo Taylor. He was No. 1 in the nation in the discus at 213-7 in 2006 for his senior year of high school. He was third in the state in the shot put (63-11 1/4) the same season.
Smith will head to this weekend’s Trabuco Hills Invitational as the top seed in both the shot put and the discus. Marina’s Kyle Tsu is seeded second in both events.
O’Neil took second with a lifetime best mark of 52-11 1/4 inches.
“I was really disappointed in the 52-11, to be honest,” he said. “I was hitting a consistent 54-55 [feet] in practice. I felt like I was really trying to get after it today, and that kind of worked against me. I should have been more relaxed.”
The Newport Harbor trio went on to secure the three point-scoring spots in the discus as well. Five points were given out for first, three for second, and one for third.
The meet was scored as a double-dual meet. Los Alamitos went 2-0 for both genders. Fountain Valley’s boys’ track and field team had not lost a league meet in six years.
Fountain Valley went 1-1, and Newport Harbor was 0-2 under the dual-meet scoring format.
On the track, the hurdles stole the show. Fountain Valley’s Nathan Willoughby led Los Alamitos’ star senior Jose Rubio with 45 meters to go, but clipping the last two barriers cost him the 300-meter hurdles.
Rubio improved upon his time from a stellar Beach Cities Invite performance, dropping his personal record to 37.62 seconds. That time is good for fourth in the state.
“It was at Huntington Beach when coach said, ‘Let’s try something new. Just give it all you’ve got the entire meet,’” Rubio said.
“That was my first 38, and I knew that I could improve because on the turn, I kind of slowed down. I said that I was going to run it the same way, and I got 37.8. Now, I ran it the exact same way, and I PRed again, three times in a row.”
Rubio was a major factor in Los Alamitos’ victory. He also took first in the 100, the 110 hurdles, and the long jump.
Cora Davis scored victories in the 100 (12.42) and 200 (25.50) for Fountain Valley. The senior said that she gained inspiration from running against strong sprinters like former Los Alamitos’ speedster Sara Limp.
“It’s cool to see such good runners, and I’ve always wanted to be like them,” Davis said. “It just motivated me to train harder when I used to race against them.”
Barons Coach Brian Bivens said that Davis has been offered a full scholarship by Utah Valley University.
Davis was joined by a trio of Griffins as multiple-event winners on the girls’ side.
Faimalie Sale swept the throws for Los Alamitos. Lauren Willingham took both of the hurdles races, and Delaney Sanacore won the 800 and the 1,600.
Barons junior Courtnee Moreno won the triple jump at 35-4 3/4. She finished as the runner-up to Willingham in both of the hurdles races.
Fountain Valley junior David Straw doubled up with wins in the high jump (6-0) and the triple jump (43-0 3/4).
The mile looked similar to the Sunset League Finals of cross-country. Mark Field, Alexis Garcia, Ben Wilson, Michael Davey, and Mikael Campo took the top five spots in order for Newport Harbor.
BOYS’ TRACK AND FIELD
Sunset League
Tri-Meet
At Los Alamitos High
Team Results
Los Alamitos 82, Newport Harbor 49
Fountain Valley 80.5, Newport Harbor 54.5
Los Alamitos 80.5, Fountain Valley 55.5
Individuals
100 – 1. Rubio (Los Alamitos) 11.05; 2. Garrett (Fountain Valley) 11.31; 3. Howard (Los Alamitos) 11.32
200 – 1. Garrett (Fountain Valley) 22.19; 2. Howard (Los Alamitos) 22.51; 3. Sparks (Los Alamitos) 22.81
400 – 1. Ayale (Los Alamitos) 50.35; 2. Martin (Los Alamitos) 51.72; 3. Do (Fountain Valley) 52.69
800 – 1. Bandley (Los Alamitos) 1:58; 2. Field (Newport Harbor) 1:59; 3. Garcia (Newport Harbor) 2:02
1,600 – 1. Field (Newport Harbor) 4:31; 2. Garcia 4:32; 3. Wilson (Newport Harbor) 4:35
3,200 – 1. Quinonez (Los Alamitos) 10:11; 2. Garcia (Newport Harbor) 10:14; 3. Pelonis (Los Alamitos) 10:30
110HH – 1. Rubio (Los Alamitos) 14.26; 2. Willoughby (Fountain Valley) 14.93; 3. Hill (Fountain Valley) 15.13
300IH – 1. Rubio (Los Alamitos) 37.62; 2. Willoughby (Fountain Valley) 38.14; 3. Hill (Fountain Valley) 40.39
400 relay – 1. Fountain Valley 43.36; 2. Los Alamitos 43.72
1,600 relay – 1. Fountain Valley 3:31; 2. Newport Harbor 3:34; 3. Los Alamitos 3:46
HJ – 1. Straw (Fountain Valley) 6-0; 2. Schmitt (Los Alamitos) 6-0J; 3. Scott (Los Alamitos) 5-10
LJ – 1. Rubio (Los Alamitos) 21-11; 2. Tellez (Fountain Valley) 20-11.5; 3. Do (Fountain Valley) 20-8
TJ – 1. Straw (Fountain Valley) 43-0.75; 2. Do (Fountain Valley) 42-7; 3. Galloway (Fountain Valley) 42-6.25
PV – 1. Fegan (Newport Harbor) 15-2; 2. Gandara (Los Alamitos) 13-6; 3. Virga (Los Alamitos) 13-0
SP – 1. Smith (Newport Harbor) 60-11; 2. O’Neil (Newport Harbor) 52-11.25; 3. Blake (Newport Harbor) 47-3
DT – 1. Smith (Newport Harbor) 160-3; 2. O’Neil (Newport Harbor) 154-6.75; 3. Blake (Newport Harbor) 139-3.25
GIRLS’ TRACK AND FIELD
Sunset League
Tri-Meet
At Los Alamitos High
Team Results
Los Alamitos 122, Newport Harbor 13
Fountain Valley 118, Newport Harbor 18
Los Alamitos 76, Fountain Valley 55
Individuals
100 – 1. Davis (Fountain Valley) 12.42; 2. Limp (Los Alamitos) 12.57; 3. Kolster (Los Alamitos) 12.74
200 – 1. Davis (Fountain Valley) 25.50; 2. Kolster (Los Alamitos) 25.63; 3. Blockberger (Los Alamitos) 25.73
400 – 1. Blockberger (Los Alamitos) 59.48; 2. Bebout (Fountain Valley) 59.76; 3. Desmet (Los Alamitos) 1:00.26
800 – 1. Sanacore (Los Alamitos) 2:21; 2. Ledgard (Los Alamitos) 2:22; 3. Velasco (Los Alamitos) 2:23
1,600 – 1. Sanacore (Los Alamitos) 5:08; 2. Ledgard (Los Alamitos) 5:12; 3. Faller (Fountain Valley) 5:14
3,200 – 1. Faller (Fountain Valley) 11:59; 2. Prado (Fountain Valley) 12:15; 3. Matsunami (Newport Harbor) 12:19
100HH – 1. L. Willingham (Los Alamitos) 15.29; 2. C. Moreno (Fountain Valley) 15.43; 3. B. Moreno (Fountain Valley) 16.33
300IH – 1. L. Willingham (Los Alamitos) 46.14; 2. C. Moreno (Fountain Valley) 49.36; 3. Peterson (Fountain Valley) 49.37
400 relay – 1. Fountain Valley 49.15; 2. Los Alamitos 49.40; 3. Newport Harbor 51.88
1,600 relay – 1. Newport Harbor 4:29
HJ – 1. Given (Los Alamitos) 5-2; 2. McMahan (Los Alamitos) 5-0; 3. Wiggs (Los Alamitos) 4-10
LJ – 1. B. Moreno (Fountain Valley) 17-6; 2. Galloway (Los Alamitos) 17-1; 3. Shatsky (Los Alamitos) 16-6.5
TJ – 1. C. Moreno (Fountain Valley) 35-4.75; 2. B. Moreno (Fountain Valley) 34-5; 3. Shatsky (Los Alamitos) 33-7
PV – 1. Anger (Los Alamitos) 11-6; 2T. Rahgoshay (Fountain Valley) 9-0; 2T. Bliss (Los Alamitos) 9-0
SP – 1. Sale (Los Alamitos) 44-9; 2. Ta’amu (Los Alamitos) 33-9.5; 3. May (Fountain Valley) 31-6
DT – 1. Sale (Los Alamitos) 138-1; 2. Liu (Fountain Valley) 94-11; 3. May (Fountain Valley) 85-3
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