Burnham Races Well at Masters : Rio Mesa Freshman Qualifies in 2 Events

Angela Burnham of Rio Mesa High turned in four outstanding performances at the Southern Section Masters meet at Cerritos College on Friday evening.

The 14-year old sprinter qualified for the state meet in two events and would have qualified in a third but she was disqualified for running out of her lane in the 200 meters.

She anchored the Rio Mesa 400-meter relay team to a third-place finish, placed second in the 100, and then ran a 56.8 third leg in the 1,600-meter relay.

When Burnham received the baton for the anchor leg of the 400 relay, Rio Mesa was only in sixth place, but the smooth-striding freshman stormed the final 100 meters and Rio Mesa clocked a season best of 48.05. Hawthorne won in 45.98.

In the 100, Burnham ran a personal best of 11.77 while finishing second to Tami Stiles (11.71) of Hawthorne. At last week’s Southern Section finals, Stiles narrowly defeated Burnham.

In the 1,600-meter relay, Burnham temporarily moved the Spartans into third place. However they were unable to hold that position and finished a non-qualifying seventh in a season best of 3:55.55.

Simi Valley and Saugus both had mixed results in the boys meet.

Saugus, the 3-A champion, had eight qualifiers for Friday’s meet. However, only four Centurions qualified for Friday and Saturday’s state championship meet at Cerritos College.

The chief casualty was Kirk Stonerock, the 3-A champion at 3,200 meter. He was leading the 3,200-meter race but had to drop out with sciatic nerve problems only 550 meters into the race. His twin brother Daren took over the lead after Kirk stepped off the track, clutching his left hip.

Daren appeared to have the race well in control, leading by 10-15 yards at the 1,600 meter mark in 4:25.6. However, his fast early pace began to catch up with him and by the bell lap (7:59.6), Aaron Moscarro of Rosemead, Richard Erbes of Glendale and Steve Imlay of Temple City were running just off Stonerock’s shoulder, waiting for the final 100 meters.

Stonerock tried to hold off his pursuers in the final 100 meters but was unable to do so. Moscarro won in 9:04.06 and Erbes finished second in 9:05.19. Stonerock finished third in 9:05.74.

Afterward, Daren Stonerock spoke candidly about the race. “I went out too fast. I thought that I had the race won so I was surprised when they came up on me. I tried to hold them off, but I just didn’t have anything left.”

The injury to Kirk Stonerock was the same one which had sidelined him following the 1985 cross country season and for the early part of this track season. Daren said that his brother had aggravated the injury following last week’s Southern Section finals.

Rodney Bradshaw of Saugus continued his consistent hurdling. He finished second in both the 110-meter high hurdles and the 300-meter intermediate hurdles. Terry Johnson of Katella won both races in 13.97 and 37.26. Bradshaw ran 14.20 and a personal best of 37.49 in the intermediates.

Prior to the meet, Simi Valley Coach Doni Green said that he hoped to qualify at least four athletes for next week’s state meet and he got his wish.

Simi Valley’s Jim Zimmer finished second in the 1,600 meters in 4:15.61, just behind 3-A champion Raul Serratos of Moreno Valley, who ran 4:15.40.

Teammates Mike Carnes, Robert Harris and Ken Lowther also qualified for state. Lowther finished third in the shot put with a personal best of 54-10 3/4, Carnes finished fifth in the long jump at 22-6 and Harris finished fifth in the 200 in 21.81. Carnes was a non-qualifying sixth in the 100 in 10.90. The top five finishers advance to next week’s state championships.

Sharon Manship of Thousand Oaks will compete in three events at next week’s state championships. She began the evening with a fine third leg for the Thousand Oaks 400-meter relay team, which finished fourth in a seasonal best of 48.25. She also finished fourth in both the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and the triple jump. Her 43.50 in the intermediates was a personal best. She jumped 37-3 in the triple jump.