Local trio earn Arcadia bids at Laguna Beach Trophy Invitational

The eyes of the contending distance runners lit up in the early morning on Saturday at Laguna Beach High.

With automatic bids into the national-level Arcadia night meet on the line, several runners were able to dig deep for a little extra.

A spot in the 3,200-meter invitational flight at Arcadia was guaranteed to the winner of both Eric Hulst 3,200 races. The second- and third-place finishers were each guaranteed a spot in the Arcadia seeded flight at a minimum.

As the boys’ race headed into its final lap, Newport Harbor’s Alexis Garcia kicked it into another gear. The Sailors senior had one thing on his mind, and he chased down JSerra’s Anthony Grover to take third place (nine minutes 12.80 seconds) and claim one of the coveted automatic berths into the Saturday night meet at Arcadia.

“[Grover] had like a 200-meter lead on me, so once I saw that Peter [Herold] and [San Marcos Mission Hills’ Jonathan Velasco] were pulling ahead, he was my main target,” Garcia said. “I did all the work to catch up to him.”

Herold, a senior for JSerra, won the race in 9:02.53. He said that track is more speed-oriented than cross-country, and he added that the Arcadia bid was a big motivator in trying to outkick Grover and Velasco.

“That was definitely a big motivator,” Herold said. “Obviously, you want to run a fast time and get the win, but knowing that you’re getting the qualification for Arcadia was huge. That in it of itself is a great race, and I’m really excited. I’m looking forward to that.”

Arcadia meet director Rich Gonzalez said that anyone with a time of 9:16 or better would make it into the seeded heat of the 3,200, meaning that Laguna Beach’s Ryan Smithers (sixth, 9:14.29) and Sebastian Fisher (seventh, 9:15.90) also made the cut.

The girls’ 3,200-meter invitational race saw Costa Mesa’s Diane Molina (seventh, 11:03.49) and Fountain Valley’s Ashley Faller (eighth, 11:13.89) lead their teams.

Marina had a strong meet on the whole. Leading the way was junior Alejandra Rosales, who swept the throws. She delivered a lifetime-best heave of 37 feet, 9¼ inches in the shotput on the fifth throw of her series.

“I was behind one girl, and I was feeling the pressure,” Rosales said. “I’ve been working really hard, and I had been seeing progress, but none like today.”

Rosales’ winning mark in the girls’ discus throw was 127-7. Earlier in the week, she also set her personal record in the event with a throw of 136-5 in a Sunset Conference quad meet.

It was at that same meet that Newport Harbor’s Aidan Elbettar momentarily became the national leader in the boys’ discus throw with a mark of 197-4. Rosales said she was inspired by witnessing the performance.

“I was so amazed,” Rosales said. “I texted him later about it, and I was speaking with the coach after, and you see how [with] hard work and dedication, you really see the outcomes.”

Vikings freshman Olivia Iverson smashed her personal-best in the 400 by three seconds, winning the race in 57.17 seconds.

Senior Skyler Magula, a returning state medalist for Marina, won the boys’ pole vault after clearing the bar at 15-6.

Coming off an ankle injury, Edison senior Aiden Garnett looked no worse for wear. The former CIF Southern Section Masters Meet qualifier leapt to a mark of 6-6 to win the boys’ high jump, matching his personal record.

Corona del Mar senior Paige Damron took the girls’ 300 intermediate hurdles in 45.71 seconds, besting Mission Hills’ Maya Occiano, who had already won the 100 high hurdles.

“I was a little nervous before the race, but I just tried to focus and do what I could,” Damron said. “I was happy with the outcome, taking first and getting a medal.”

Laguna Beach sophomore Majia Shaw came away with third-place finishes in the 200 (26.22) and the 400 (57.41).

Estancia was led by senior David Acosta, who placed fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 42-2½.

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BOYS’ TRACK AND FIELD

Laguna Beach Trophy Invitational

At Laguna Beach High

100 – 1. Lemmons (Mater Dei) 11.04; 2. Johnson (Harvard-Westlake) 11.17; 3. Thomas (Servite) 11.253; 4. Michinock (Mater Dei) 11.258; 5. Der Torossian (Laguna Hills) 11.29

200 – 1. Johnson (Harvard-Westlake) 22.33; 2. Lemmons (Mater Dei) 22.54; 3. Watson (Corona Centennial) 22.59; 4. Caragao (Santa Margarita) 22.78; 5. Thomas (Servite) 22.801

400 – 1. Turner (West Valley) 48.16; 2. Chung (Harvard-Westlake) 48.30; 3. Coleman (Vista Murrieta) 49.69; 4. Caragao (Santa Margarita) 49.97; 5. Fatigate (Dana Hills) 50.23

800 – 1. White (Tesoro) 1:57.22; 2. Patrick (Murrieta Valley) 1:58.62; 3. Garcia (Newport Harbor) 1:58.66; 4. Woodward (Corona Centennial) 1:59.39; 5. O’Melveney (Dana Hills) 1:59.65

1,600 – 1. Velasco (Mission Hills) 4:22.41; 2. Caster (Mission Hills) 4:23.98; 3. Lantz (Palos Verdes) 4:24.27; 4. Swenson (Bishop Gorman) 4:24.29; 5. Savely (Capo Valley) 4:27.27

3,200 – 1. Herold (JSerra) 9:02.53; 2. Velasco (Mission Hills) 9:07.27; 3. Garcia (Newport Harbor) 9:12.80; 4. Crites (Tesoro) 9:13.38; 5. Grover (JSerra) 9:14.17; 6. Smithers (Laguna Beach) 9:14.29; 7. Fisher (Laguna Beach) 9:15.90

110HH – 1. Kimble (Servite) 14.67; 2. Smith (Bishop Gorman) 15.17; 3. Edwards (Capo Valley) 15.42; 4. Johnson (Crean Lutheran) 15.46; 5. Rupp (Santa Margarita) 15.85

300IH – 1. Borquez (Harvard-Westlake) 37.28; 2. Lotfy (Los Alamitos) 39.23; 3. Haley (Edison) 40.05; 4. Angier (El Modena) 40.07; 5. Kimble (Servite) 40.22

400 relay – 1. Mater Dei 43.11; 2. Servite 43.63; 3. Laguna Hills 43.81; 4. Tesoro 43.87; 5. Marina 44.38

1,600 relay – 1. Tesoro 3:23.50; 2. Dana Hills 3:24.30; 3. West Valley 3:30.97; 4. Marina 3:33.47; 5. Warren 3:38.88

HJ – 1. Garnett (Edison) 6-6; 2. Reviere (Dana Hills) 6-4; 3. McKeever (Basic) 6-2; 4. Diaz (Marina) 6-2; 5. Musetich (Santa Margarita) 6-2

LJ – 1. Ayale (Los Alamitos) 21-5½; 2. Hunterton (Bishop Gorman) 21-3½; 3. Wright (Corona del Mar) 20-11½; 4. Tran (Marina) 20-10¼; 5. Burks (Capo Valley) 20-9½

TJ – 1. Victa (Laguna Hills) 46-5½; 2. Diaz (Marina) 45-3; 3. Reed (Tesoro) 42-7; 4. Acosta (Estancia) 42-2½; 5. Kinslow (Corona Centennial) 41-0

PV – 1. Magula (Marina) 15-6; 2. Gibbs (Vista Murrieta) 14-6; 3. Blachowski (Servite) 14-0; 4. Kenneth (Green Valley) 13-6; 5. Oswald (Vista Murrieta) 13-0

SP – 1. Howard (Los Alamitos) 59-¾; 2. White (Corona del Mar) 50-6; 3. Escamilla (Marina) 49-9¾; 4. Lewis (Edison) 46-9; 5. Pampuch (Foothill) 45-10

DT – 1. Ah-Fook (Warren) 139-1; 2. Nasrallah (Los Alamitos) 136-5; 3. Scott (West Valley) 133-10; 4. Pampuch (Foothill) 133-3; 5. McKhann (Dana Hills) 132-10

GIRLS’ TRACK AND FIELD

Laguna Beach Trophy Invitational

At Laguna Beach High

100 – 1. Green (Santa Margarita) 12.33; 2. Mosby (Archer) 12.49; 3. Livadas (Capo Valley) 12.821; 4. Rivera (Green Valley) 12.828; 5. Jocson (Tesoro) 12.875

200 – 1. Green (Santa Margarita) 25.34; 2. Mosby (Archer) 25.61; 3. Shaw (Laguna Beach) 26.22; 4. Thomas (Mission Hills) 26.28; 5. Rivera (Green Valley) 26.40

400 – 1. Iverson (Marina) 57.17; 2. Mosby (Archer) 57.29; 3. Shaw (Laguna Beach) 57.41; 4. Lawrence (Dana Hills) 57.48; 5. Rind (Dana Hills) 58.00.

800 – 1. N. Quintero (Harvard-Westlake) 2:16.48; 2. D. Quintero (Harvard-Westlake) 2:16.69; 3. Cichon (Fountain Valley) 2:18.31; 4. Haskins (Dana Hills) 2:18.62; 5. Puskas (Bishop Gorman) 2:19.36

1,600 – 1. Candaele (Vista Murrieta) 5:04.50; 2. Chavez-Valazquez (Basic) 5:06.71; 3. N. Quintero (Harvard-Westlake) 5:07.97; 4. D. Quintero (Harvard-Westlake) 5:08.37; 5. Turner (Laguna Hills) 5:09.89

3,200 – 1. Wallace (Sage Creek) 10:45.77; 2. Tabrizi (JSerra) 10:51.12; 3. Corsinta (Capo Valley) 10:55.78; 4. Selleck (Laguna Hills) 10:56.52; 5. Hubarth (Vista Murrieta) 10:56.83

100HH – 1. Occiano (Mission Hills) 16.19; 2. Brown (Archer) 16.20; 3. Memoly (Santa Margarita) 16.35; 4. Dumas (Kennedy) 16.58; 5. Roberds (Mission Hills) 16.79

300IH – 1. Damron (Corona del Mar) 45.71; 2. Occiano (Mission Hills) 46.42; 3. Morris (Santa Margarita) 47.78; 4. Elizalde-Rendon (Santa Margarita) 48.28; 5. Bradley (Santa Margarita) 48.35

400 relay – 1. Corona Centennial 49.94; 2. Mission Hills 50.31; 3. Archer 50.33; 4. Harvard-Westlake 50.68; 5. Marina 51.98

1,600 relay – 1. Dana Hills 3:51.64; 2. Fountain Valley 4:02.76; 3. Mater Dei 4:11.28; 4. Mission Hills 4:12.37; 5. Green Valley 4:19.10

HJ – 1. Kaufman (Harvard-Westlake) 5-6; 2. Bevan (Trabuco Hills) 5-2; 3. Mahlum (Mater Dei) 5-2J; 4. Wright (Los Alamitos) 5-2J; 5. Robinson (Capo Valley) 5-2J

LJ – 1. Chiaramonte (Mater Dei) 17-9¼; 2. Robinson (Capo Valley) 17-7¼; 3. Jocson (Tesoro) 17-2½; 4. Faircloth (Magnolia) 16-8½; 5. Kirk (Los Alamitos) 16-7¾

TJ – 1. Mahlum (Mater Dei) 36-6¾; 2. Robinson (Capo Valley) 35-10½; 3. Mixon (Mater Dei) 35-5½; 4. Dumas (Kennedy) 34-11; 5. Smith (Bishop Gorman) 34-11

PV – 1. Bader (Vista Murrieta) 11-6; 2. McCann (Linfield) 11-6J; 3. Zarcone (Mater Dei) 11-0; 4. Millar (Los Alamitos) 10-6; 5T. Chung (Beckman) 10-6J; 5T. South (Archer) 10-6J

SP – 1. Rosales (Marina) 37-9¼; 2. Mitchell (Dana Hills) 36-2; 3. Togafau (Fountain Valley) 36-¼; 4. Carriera (Capo Valley) 34-11½; 5. Hatcher (Fountain Valley) 33-11

DT – 1. Rosales (Marina) 127-7; 2. Daniels (Dana Hills) 115-10; 3. McPherson (Bishop Gorman) 114-3; 4. Ah-Fook (Warren) 114-1; 5. Morris (Foothill) 110-3

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner

UPDATES:

Tuesday, 1:07 p.m.: This article was updated with results for the Laguna Beach Trophy Invitational.