2012 CIF Southern Section Finals

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(WALNUT, Calif) -- Led by Long Beach Poly sophomore Ariana Washington's double-state-leading performance in the dashes, Long Beach Poly's juggernaut girls program motored to its fifth consecutive Division I title at the CIF-SS Ford Track and Field Championships, Presented by Farmers. Washington posted lifetime-bests at both 100 and 200 meters, bolting to wind legal marks of 11.45 and 23.52, respectively. Each performance ranked second nationally this spring.

In perhaps the most tense divisional girls battle, Serra of Gardena outlasted rival St. Mary's Academy in a daylong war to prevail for the Division IV crown, 115 to 103.5. Serra opened and closed the track meet with victories in both relays, including a state-leading 45.80 in the 4x100. Alexis Faulknor led the Cavaliers, posting individual wins in the 100 (11.76) and the long jump (19-09) to go along with relay duty.

Simi Valley captured the Division II girls crown as cross-country national champion Sarah Baxter racked up 18 points -- winning the 3200 crown and posting a huge personal best 4:49.33 to score eight more points in the 1600 -- to fuel the 56-51 victory over Cajon.

In the lone divisional upset of the entire meet, third-ranked South Pasadena rose to the occasion to edge Mater Dei, 62-60. It was a true team effort for the victorious Tigers, who did not win a single event but scored on 13 separate occasions across 9 events.

On the boys side, national superpower Vista Murrieta notched its third straight Division I title, with Darion Williams claiming the high hurdles title and the Broncos also capturing the 4x400 in recording a 71.5-51 team decision over Southwestern League rival Great Oak.

Rio Mesa senior Blake Selig emerged to produce the finest day in his blossoming career, powering the Spartans to state-leading times in both relays (41.05/3:16.02), adding a victory in the long jump and producing the second-fastest time in the state (10.50) this year under any conditions. Selig's stellar showing keyed Division 3 Rio Mesa's first section title in school history.

Loyola answered the late-May call with spectacular results yet again, taking down Colony to win the Division 2 crown, 59-50.The Cubs opened the meet with a victory in the 4x100 and then scored with unrelenting precision in most event areas, overshadowing a great individual showing by Colony dasher Kyree King (10.53/21.14) and teammate Miles Poullard's victory in the high jump (6-11.00) over defending state champion Cody Crampton of Anaheim Canyon.

In a Division IV setting showcasing a slew of stellar athletes, Serra of Gardena steamrolled to the title with a commanding 107-78 victory over traditional power Oaks Christian. Lloyd Siscard led the Cavaliers victory, claiming both hurdles titles (14.47/37.49) and contributing to the team's 3:18.76 win in the long relay. Sophomore leaper Adoree' Jackson performed more like an unflappable veteran, with the all-conditions state leader claiming the long jump title in 23-07.50.

The meet's lone nation-leading mark came in the girls 300-meter hurdles, where Rancho Cucamonga junior Jordie Munford purred to a map-leading 41.37 in improving on her lifetime best. In another exceptional performance, Santa Margarita's Kaitlyn Merritt set a freshmen national record in the girls pole vault, skying 13-03 to take over the state lead in the event.

The meet served as the qualifer for next Friday's Southern Section Masters Meets at Cerritos College as the top nine performers (combined divisions) in most track events advanced. The top 12 performers in the distance races and the top 12 and ties in the field events also extended their CIF season.

SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISIONAL FINALS RECAP

By Mike Kennedy

The Southern Section Divisional Finals featured some of the finest schools in the nation vying for team titles as well as outstanding individual performances. With just nine to twelve individuals advancing to next weeks state qualifying Masters Meet, the competition was intenseproducing nine state leaders for the girls and seven for the boys.

In the girls' team competition, Long Beach Poly won its fifth straight title taking, Division 1 with 86 points to defeat Roosevelt with 35 and Great Oak with 34. The remaining three divisions were much closer with South Pasadena just edging Mater Dei, 62 to 60 for the Division 3 title, Simi Valley downing Cajon, 56 to 51 in Division 2 and Serra outlasting St. Mary's Academy, 115 to 103, to win its third straight Division 4 title.

In the boys team competitions, there was also one runaway as Serra won its sixth straight title, defeating Oaks Christian, 107-78 in Division 4. Closer contests saw Rio Mesa defeat Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) in Division 3, 63-59, Loyola defeat Colony, 59-50 in Division 2 and Vista Murrieta scoring 71 ½ outdistance Great Oaks with 51 and Roosevelt with 50 in Division 1.

Last year, as a freshman, Ariana Washington of Long Beach showed some promise with her 24.01 in the 200. Saturday she moved to a whole new level in winning the 100 and 200 to lead the Jackrabbits to the team title. In the 100, she burst away from a tightly bunched field at 50 meters to defeat La Troya Franklin of Long Beach Wilson, 11.45 to 11.63, for the fastest time in California and the second-fastest time in the nation. Franklin now ranks No. 2 in the state and No. 6 in the nation. Washington came back to take the 200 in 23.52 for the fastest time in California and the second-fastest time in the nation. Franklin time ranks No. 3 in the state just behind sophomore Sierra Peterson of St. Mary's Academy, who won Division 4 in 23.88 to rank No. 9 in the nation. Poly also won the 4 x 100 in 45.80 for the second-fastest time in the state and sixth-fastest time in the nation.

Jordie Munford of Rancho Cucamonga came into the meet with just the No. 3 time in the state in the 300 hurdles and the No. 5 time in the 100 hurdles but you wouldn't have guessed that watching her run. In the Division 1 100 hurdles, she pressured Traci Hicks of Long Beach Poly -- who ranked No. 2 in the state at 13.63 -- the entire way and despite a diving finish, just missed winning 13.714 to 13.719. Munford's time made her the third-fastest runner in the state. She then won the 300 hurdles in 41.37 for the fastest time in the nation.

Serra had three state-leading performances plus an outstanding sprint double to power its way to the Division 4 title. The Cavaliers won the 4 x 100 relay in 45.80 and the 4 x 400 relay in 3:44.53 to rank No. 5 in the nation in both events. Junior Renetia James held off Danni Alakija of Oaks Christian in the 400, 54.77 to 55.00, for the first- and third-fastest times in the state. Senior Alexis Faulknor won the 100 in 11.76 and finishing second in the 200 at 24.12. There were three other girls with outstanding state-leading efforts. Ashlie Curenton of Silverado took just one long jump in Division 1 but her 20-4 effort ranks her No. 2 in the nation. Kaitlyn Merritt of Santa Margarita won the Division 3 pole vault at 13-3 for national freshman class record and the third-best jump in the nation. Amy Weissenbach of Harvard-Westlake, who won the state meet 800 last year with a National Scholastic Federation record of 2:02.04, took the Division 3 race in 2:07.38 for the fifth-fastest time in the nation.

In a closely contested boys Division 3, junior Khalfani Muhammad of Notre Dame got the best of the sprints while Rio Mesa ruled the relays. Muhammad won the 200 in a state-leading 21.10 after winning the 100 in a wind-aided 10.45 for the best time in the state under any conditions. Rio Mesa won both the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays in state leading times of 41.05 and 3:16.02. Notre Dame was second in the 4 x 100 with a 41.23 for the second best time in the state. The win in the long relay clinched the team title for Rio Mesa by two points as Notre Dame finished eighth in 3:21.62. Herbert Gamboa of San Clemente, a footballer who looks to be about 220 pounds, won the Division 100 with a state-leading 10.51.

Three other athletes produced state-leading performances. Jarrett Gonzales of Damien dominated the Division 3 300 intermediated hurdles with a 36.80. Junior Jaelen Spencer of Sultana, who jumped 50-2 ¼ last year but has seen just limited competition this spring, won the Division 2 triple jump at 49-7¼. Both marks rank No. 6 in the nation. Junior Alex Rohani of Beverly Hills, with a deadly close, won the Division 1 400 in 47.37 for the final state leader.

In the boys distances, junior Daniel De La Torre of La Salle was a double winner in Division 4 with runaway times of 4:10.74 and 9:05.84. Danny Martinez of St. John Bosco was second in the Division 3 1,600 at 4:16.11 but then came back to win the 3,200 in 9:01.93 with a blistering 59-second last 400.

In the girls 1,600, there could be several challengers in the 1,600 to state leader Nikki Hiltz of Aptos. In Division 2, Xochitl Navarrete of Colony upset Sarah Baxter of Simi Valley, 4:47.19 to 4:49.33, to rank No. 2 in the state and No. 12 in the nation. It was Baxter's first loss in a 1,600 high school race but the personal best made her No. 7 in the state. In Division 3, Cami Chapus of Harvard-Westlake just edged teammate Weissenbach, 4:48.77 to 4:48.86 to rank fourth and equal fifth in the state. Rebecca Mehra of Palos Verdes was third at 4:50.23 to rank No. 8 in the state. In Division I, Erika Reddish of Vista Murrieta defeated Laura Hollander of Marina, 4:48.96 to 4:50.12, to rank No. 6 in the state. Hollander's best of 4:48.86 fifth. Chapus is the defending state champion at 4:40.88. Hiltz was third at 4:43.43. Weissenbach and Baxter might scratch to concentrate on other events.

The girls set three divisional records. Weissenbach's 2:07.38 won the Division 3 800 to break the mark of 2:08.10 set by Rennie Durand of Laguna Beach in 1982; Savannah Camacho of Templeton won the Division 4 800 in 2:09.48 to break the mark of 2:10.15 set by Camilla Dencer of West Valley Christian in 2008; and Serra's 45.80 won the 4 x 100 relay to break the Division 4 record of 46.04 set by Serra's 2009 team. The only boys record broken was in Division 3, where Rio Mesa ran 41.05 in the 4 x 100 relay to better Serra's time of 41.08 set in 1998.

** - GLJ: Silverado's Ashlie Curenton leaps U.S. #2 20-04.00 in D1
** - G100: L.B. Poly's Ariana Washington rolls to U.S. #2 11.45 in D1
** - G300H: Rancho Cucamonga's Jordie Munford smokes US #1 41.37 in D1
** - GPV: Santa Margarita's Kaitlyn Merritt skies to frosh nat'l record 13-3 in D3

** - G100: Ariana Washington (LB Poly) 11.45
** - G200: Ariana Washington (LB Poly) 23.52
** - G400: Renetia James (Serra) 54.77
** - G800: Amy Weissenbach (Harvard-Westlake) 2:07.38
** - G300H: Jordie Munford (Rancho Cucamonga) 41.37
** - G4x100: Serra 45.80
** - G4x400: Serra 3:44.53
** - GPV: Kaitlyn Merritt (Santa Margarita) 13-03 (frosh U.S. record)
** - GLJ: Ashlie Curenton (Silverado) 20-04.00
** - B100: Herbert Gamboa (San Clemente) 10.51
** - B100: Khalfani Muhammad (Notre Dame) 10.45w
** - B200: Khalfani Muhammad (Notre Dame) 21.10
** - B400: Alex Rohani (Beverly Hills) 47.37
** - B300IH:Jarrett Gonzales (Damien) 36.80
** - B4x100: Rio Mesa 41.05
** - B4x400: Rio Mesa 3:16.02
** - B4xTJ: Jaelen Spencer (Sultana) 49-07.25

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