ORANGE COUNTY GIRLS’ TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS : Mission Viejo Sets Aside Injuries Long Enough to Defend Title

SANTA ANA —  Coach Fred Almond wasn’t feeling very confident as he and the Mission Viejo High School girls’ track and field team arrived Saturday at Rancho Santiago College for the Orange County Championships. Two days before, Almond had watched three of his top athletes suffer significant injuries.

Seniors Lisa Fager, Kristin Dunn and Allison Axtell--the three keys to Mission Viejo’s past success--became question marks after Thursday’s South Coast League dual meet at Irvine.

In that meet, Fager, a triple jumper, strained a quadriceps muscle; Dunn, a shotputter and discus thrower, suffered a slight tear in her shoulder, and Axtell, a long jumper and 400-meter runner, aggravated a tendon strain in her right knee.

But coming into Saturday’s meet, Almond said he was calm.

“I released myself to the fates,” he said. “But then halfway through the meet, I was trying to wish things (into reality) again.”

It must have been some powerful wishing.

Mission Viejo won the title for the third consecutive year, accumulating 87 points. Woodbridge, the Diablos’ chief county rival, was second with 74 points and Esperanza was third with 40.

Fager, who at this meet last year set the county record in the triple jump at 39 feet 11 1/2 inches, bettered that mark by nearly a foot, going 40-10. Although that mark cannot be considered a county record--during that leap, the wind was measured at 2.08 meters per second, a bit over the 2.00 m.p.s. allowable for records--it was a tremendous feat nonetheless.

“I can’t even believe I went 40 feet,” said Fager, who had marks of 38-6, 39-11 1/2w and 39-8 1/4 before her final and winning leap. She was named field athlete of the meet.

“It felt real good,” Fager said. “After my first jump, I decided to keep going. My coach didn’t want me to, but I went 39-11 1/2. We (had) made a deal that if I went over 39 on my second jump, I could keep going.”

Fager, who waited several moments at the end of the runway in hopes that the breeze would subside before her final attempt, said, “It still would have been a 40-foot jump. Maybe not a 40-10, but a 40-something.”

Brenda Robinson of Santa Ana Valley was second at 38-1 and Mission Viejo’s Nikki Charette was third at 36-11 1/2.

Dunn, whose goal Saturday was to output Santa Ana Valley’s Joanna Alo, did just that, winning with a mark of 39-7. She also placed second in the discus to Estancia’s Debbie Hargrove (133-4) with a toss of 121-7.

“My shoulder hurts--I’m not going to throw next Thursday (in Mission Viejo’s dual meet against San Clemente),” Dunn said. “But I had to do it for the team today. There was no way I was going to let them down.”

Axtell, who outjumped Capistrano Valley’s Sara Toomey by a half-inch to win the long jump at 17-11, also helped Mission Viejo by taking second in the 400.

Another outstanding performance for the Diablos was turned in by sophomore Andrea Dean, who won the 100 (12.36, second best time in meet history), the 200 (25.38w) and anchored both relays.

But the sprinter of the meet award went to Woodbridge senior Kaci Keffer, who won the 400 in a personal-best 56.54, and the 300 hurdles in 44.14, which broke the meet record of 44.40 set in 1984 by Mary Anne Bullard of Esperanza.

In the distance events, Ocean View Coach Beth Chilcot predicted that Seahawk freshman Christie Engesser would win the 800 and 1,500 meters. Engesser came through, winning with times of 2:16.03 and 4:44.70, respectively.

Engesser won both by creeping up from the back of the pack in the early stages, then taking a commanding lead with a lap to go. Asked if it felt as easy as she made it look, Engesser, a former age-group competitor said, “No, it was hard. I haven’t run in races where there’s so many people in the front pack before.”

In the 3,000, Marta Pinto of Katella took off from the start in her customary sprint and never let anyone catch up to win in 10:12.

Other top performances included that of Mater Dei’s Melissa McDonald, who, having just overcome a season-long hamstring injury, improved her career best in the high jump by three inches to win in a meet record 5-10. La Quinta freshman Elinor Tolson won the 100-meter hurdles in 14.79 and was second to Dean in the 100 in 12.68.

Another meet record was set in the final event, the 1,600 relay, as Esperanza ran a 3:55.13 to break the former mark of 3:56.29 set by Woodbridge in 1988. Woodbridge was second in 3:59.82 and Mission Viejo third in 4:03.60.

Fortunately for Almond, though, the meet’s outcome was decided before that final event.

“This was very tense because of those injuries,” he said. “I wasn’t giving you any baloney on that. The courage of these girls today was incredible. . . . I know how hard they had to dig down.”