Rain Washes Out County Track Championships

Rain wiped out most sporting events in the county Saturday, including the Orange County track and field championships at Trabuco Hills High.

The event was rescheduled for April 28, but that date also appears watered down.

“I know I won’t run,” said Jaycee Mahler of Corona del Mar High, one of the county’s top intermediate hurdlers. “I’m going to a soccer tournament in Las Vegas that weekend.”

In addition to Mahler, Corona del Mar Coach Bill Sumner said “98% of my kids” would not compete at the county championships because the Pacific Coast League preliminaries are scheduled two days later on April 30. The Sea Kings, the defending Southern Section Division III champions, had 51 competitors entered Saturday.

“I’m not going to have my kids run three hard meets in five days,” Sumner said.

Hayes Ferry, who coaches the Santa Margarita girls, said the new date falls in one of the busiest stretches of the season. Not only are the Serra League preliminaries scheduled for May 1 and the finals May 4, but the Eagles host an important dual meet against Mater Dei on April 26.

Ferry also expects to be without several key athletes who are scheduled to play in the California Youth Soccer Assn.-South state cup tournament that weekend. Ferry had closely gone over the schedule with the athletes who also play soccer, and thought he had the important dates covered.

“Everything had been working out perfectly,” Ferry said. “I’m not going to expect them to come to [the county championships] now.”

Rick Martinez, who coaches the Mater Dei boys’ and girls’ teams, said he would ask Santa Margarita if the dual meet could be moved back a day. As it stands now, both schools would have four meets in eight days.

“It’s not going to be good,” Martinez said. “But it’s the best we could do.”

Eric Tweit, who coaches the Newport Harbor girls, said he won’t be strict on attendance at the county meet. The Sailors also have key athletes who play club soccer.

“We gave them a schedule far in advance that showed they had that day off,” he said. “So I’m not going to hold them to it when we changed the date.”

Tweit spent three hours Saturday at Trabuco Hills and heard others questioning the decision to cancel the meet, noting that the track has an all-weather surface. But Tweit agreed with the decision to postpone.

“I know some coaches would have liked to have waited for things to clear up,” Tweit said. “But instead of running 1:53 in the 800 meters, the winners would run 2:01. That type of racing just doesn’t appeal to me. This meet should offer a good chance to run fast times.”

Al Britt, a meet director for nearly 20 years, said he remembers only one other time when rain interrupted the meet. That was in 1988, when the boys’ and girls’ meets were held separately.

Other events that were postponed due to rain:

* The Villa Park baseball tournament, with makeup games scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. Games will be played at Villa Park and El Modena starting at 9 a.m. both days.

* A Sunset League baseball game between Huntington Beach, rescheduled for 3:15 p.m. Wednesday at Edison.

* The Foothill softball tournament, an eight-team event that has not yet been rescheduled.

Joe Gonzalez, coach of top-ranked Foothill, said next Saturday is being considered because the Knights have an opening in their schedule.

* The Michelle Carew Classic hosted by Canyon, and the Northwood softball tournament. The Michelle Carew Classic has scheduled makeup games for Monday and Tuesday, while the Northwood tournament games will not be made up until April 28.

* Cal State Fullerton’s softball doubleheader against Long Beach, which will be played today. Vanguard’s softball and baseball games and women’s tennis match were also rained out.

* The Spring Classic speedway motorcycle event at the Orange County Fairgrounds, with racing to resume April 21 with the Coors Light season opener.

Vince DiCanzio contributed to this story.