Corley Gives Quartz Hill a Jump-Start

QUARTZ HILL —  The transfer who failed to shift the balance of power in this year’s Golden League girls’ basketball race should have an enormous impact when it comes to track and field.

Kenya Corley of Quartz Hill High couldn’t help the Rebels overthrow perennial league power Palmdale in basketball after transferring from Antelope Valley but her addition should be more than enough to help them snap the Falcons’ streak of track titles at two.

That’s because Corley, who won the long jump and placed second in the high jump in the 1996 Southern Section Division I track championships, didn’t join just any team. She joined one that includes senior Michelle Perry, defending Division I champion in the 100- and 300-meter low hurdles, and junior Danielle Day, runner-up in the Division I cross-country championships in November.

Add sophomore Carly Harrill, fifth in the Division I cross-country final, junior Katie Ray, second in the high jump and 100 hurdles in last year’s league meet, and senior Sanethia Thomas, third in the high jump, triple jump and discus, to the mix and you have a team that can excel at the invitational or dual-meet level.

Don’t expect to hear any bold predictions from first-year girls’ Coach Sharon Deshane, who guided the boys’ team last year.

“We want to win league again,” she said. “Our goal is to win league.”

What about finishing in the top three in the Southern Section Division I championships in May?

“We haven’t talked much about that,” she said. “We just want to win league. We just want to beat Palmdale.”

Deshane asked to scratch that last comment from the record, fearing Palmdale might use it as bulletin board material, but the Falcons don’t appear to be as strong this season with the transfer of junior Kadrina Coffee to St. Bernard High in Playa del Rey.

Coffee, fourth on the all-time region list in the 400 with a best of 53.96 seconds, won the 400 and 800 in last year’s Golden League championships and placed second in the 200 behind Perry, who won both hurdle races and placed second behind Corley in the long jump.

Perry moved to second on the all-time region list in the 300 hurdles last season when she clocked 42.68 to place third in the state championships and her fifth-place time of 14.37 in the 100 hurdles moved her into a tie for second.

Corley moved to seventh in the long jump when she spanned 19-2 3/4 to win the Southern Section Division I title.

Perry has also run 11.96 in the 100, 24.70 in the 200 and sailed 18-6 1/4 in the long jump while Corley has run 12.56 in the 100 and cleared 5-4 in the high jump.

Those two alone give Quartz Hill superb depth in the sprints, hurdles and jumps, and Day and Harrill have the distance races covered.

Day set a school record of 10:45.20 in the 3,200 to finish fifth in the Southern Section Masters Meet last year and Harrill appears capable of breaking 11:20 this season.

Thomas and Ray don’t have the credentials of the Big Four, but are quality performers.

Thomas has bests of five feet in the high jump, 35-7 in the triple jump, 35-3 1/2 in the shotput and 94-9 in the discus.

Ray has run 16.01 in the 100 hurdles and cleared five feet in the high jump.

They should make Quartz Hill the best team in the region this season, although Deshane won’t say that.

“I just want the girls to do their best and have fun,” she said. “You can’t ask for more than that.”

Other region teams to watch:

Newbury Park: The Panthers tied Simi Valley for a distant second behind Thousand Oaks in last year’s Marmonte League finals, but the bulk of their top performers return while the Lancers were hit hard by graduation.

Junior Jenny Kenyon is the defending league champion in the 100, having run 12.4 in that event and 26.3 in the 200.

Senior Joy Munson won the triple jump and placed second in the 200 in the league finals and has bests of 36-5 3/4 and 26.12 in those events.

Denaye Lakotich has clocked 15.9 in the 100 low hurdles and 49.92 in the 300 hurdles, and fellow senior Amy Martin has run 16.5 in the 100 lows, bounded 33-3 in the triple jump and cleared five feet in the high jump.

Notre Dame: A pair of transfers from rival Mission League schools should help the Knights contend for the league title.

Sophomore Tiffany Thompson won league titles in the 200 and 400 as an Alemany freshman and has bests of 12.42 in the 100, 25.01 in the 200 and 57.58 in the 400.

Stephanie Werth won the league title in the triple jump for Chaminade last year and has a best of 35-6 1/2.

Taft: Juniors Frances Santin and Eboni Grayson and sophomore Tiffany Smith return from last year’s Toreador squad that placed third behind Dorsey and Westchester in the City Section championships.

Freshman Jayda Bailey ran a scintillating 2:11 in the 800 for the West Valley Eagles track club last summer.

Santin is defending City champion in the 300 hurdles, placed sixth in last year’s state final and ranks sixth on the all-time region list with a best of 43.24. She has also run 15.30 in the 100 lows and placed third in the City meet in that event.

Grayson placed third in the 100 and fourth in the 200 and long jump in the City finals has bests of 12.23, 25.1 and 16-7.

Smith clocked 57.57 in the 400 and placed third in the City championships despite being hampered by a leg injury much of the season.

Thousand Oaks: The Lancers lost several quality performers--including Track & Field News girls’ athlete of the year Kim Mortensen--to graduation, but still appear capable of winning a fourth consecutive Marmonte League title and the 17th in 20 years.

Sophomore Amanda Armstrong placed third in the Southern Section Division I cross-country championships in November and has run 2:21.08 in the 800 and 5:13.96 in the 1,600.

Seniors Jenna Baum, who cleared 9-6, and Ami Desai, who cleared 9-4, placed 1-2 in the pole vault in last year’s league finals.

Senior Andi Terada has clocked 16.8 in the 100 hurdles and 49.25 in the 300 lows and will compete in the long jump and 400 relay.

Ventura: Seniors Alyson MacIntosh and Angela Foster and juniors Courtney Garmon, Katie Atturio and Micayla Drew are the top returners for a Cougar squad that is favored to end Buena’s Channel League title streak at four.

MacIntosh, 1996 Ventura County cross-country champion, is defending league champion in the 1,600 and 3,200 and has run 5:14.37 and 11:20.42 in those events.

Foster is defending county champion in the discus and defending league champion in the shotput. She has bests of 37-3 1/4 in the shot and 113-7 in the discus.

Garmon, Atturio and Drew placed second in the triple jump, long jump and 400 in last year’s league finals.

Garmon has a best of 34-11 in the triple jump, Atturio has leaped 16-8 1/4 in the long jump and Drew has clocked 1:01.31 in the 400.

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AT A GLANCE

* THE PROVEN: Liz Giltner of Chaminade, who is headed for Arizona, hopes to clear six feet in the high jump this season after jumping 5-10 to win last year’s state championship. Brigham Young-bound Andrea Neipp of Highland won the state Division II cross-country title in November and should contend in the 3,200 meters in the state track championships in June. Hoover sophomore Bridget Pearson is the region record-holder in the pole vault at 11-8 and placed second in the 1996 state championships. Crescenta Valley junior Tara Gregory set a school record of 2:14.24 in the 800 to finish fifth in last year’s state meet.

* THE PROMISING: Louisville senior Peggy Johnson set a school record of 56.85 in the 400 when she placed second in last year’s Southern Section Division III championships, but Coach Marie Murphy has hinted that she might give the 800 a try this season.

* FAST FACT: Thousand Oaks is the only high school in the nation that has produced two individual national outdoor record holders in the 1990s. North Carolina junior Marion Jones ran 22.58 in the 200 in 1992 and UCLA freshman Kim Mortensen clocked 9:48.59 in the 3,200 last year.