Crawford
Dual:
Track and field is a sport of speed and depth. Because of
the way it’s scored; 5 points for first, three for second and one for third, it’s
possible to win nearly every event yet still lose the meet for lack of second and third
place points. In addition, there are two relay events, the 4 x 100 and the 4 x 400 that
are worth 5 points to the winning team and zero for the second place team. Going into
their final dual meet of the season against Crawford, the Islander girls found themselves
in a position where they had the speed but not the depth because of AP tests, injuries and
various other commitments. Only 10 girls were available to fill 47 scoring positions
consisting of 13 individual events and the 2 relays. Because it required 4 girls and was
worth only 5 points, Coronado conceded the 4x100 in favor of individual events. We also
all-but conceded the throws, entering only Megan Mushovic who came away with two points by
placing third in both the shot put and discus throw. Right off the bat we had to make up a
21-2 deficit. Normally we rely heavily on our cross country runners Katherine
Wingert, Beth Wittry, Ashley Walsh, Caitlin Alley and Caitlin Bigham to dominate the
mid-distance events, but only Wingert was available for the 1600, 400 and 800 meter runs
early in the meet. She won both the 1600 and 800 and placed second in the 400 with Justine
Gordon picking up a point for third in the 800. Nila Heurtelou had all she could handle
with the Colts’ Tanyshia Ridley, one of the division’s top sprinters, placing
second in a near school record time of 12.6 to Ridley’s 12.4 for the 100 meter dash.
Jamie Klages and Christina Coy got some back by placing 1-2 in the 100 hurdles and 1-3 in
the 300 hurdles. Klages’ wind-legal time of 16.3 in the 100 hurdles was a new school
record that eclipsed the 16.64 electronic mark set by Lani Kuhlow in 2001. Klages
picked-up 8 more points by placing first in the high jump and second in the long jump.
Huertelou and Mushovic added 4 more with second in the high jump and third in the
long jump respectively. At this point Coronado was behind by three points (48-45) with the
200, 3200, 4x400 and triple jump left to contend and Wingert was in no shape to run the
3200. About half-way through the meet I had received a call from Beth Wittry that
she and Caitlin Bigham had finished their Biology test, and did we need them come out? As
the 4 events left were all Wittry’s specialties that was an easy question. The
problem is the meet was being held at Hoover and they were still in Coronado. They arrived
just in time for Beth to take a couple of warm up strides and line up for the 200. In the
excitement she jumped the gun as was disqualified. Heurtelou won with a fast time of 26.6
to close the gap to two points (52-50). However, by this time Crawford was depleted and we
had just been fortified. Coronado scored all the rest of the available points with Wittry,
Bigham and Gordon sweeping the 3200, Wittry, Mushovic and Gary the triple jump and Wittry,
Ashlee Houston, Gary and Heurtelou the 4x400 to win going away 73-52. The girls finished
6-0 for the second year in a row and repeat as Harbor League champions.
At the start of the season the boy’s team had a good
shot at the league championship as well. However we lost Jake Ruzevick to a foot injury
for the season after the Madison meet and without him couldn’t get past Hoover.
Crawford is also a tough team and we were without another one of our top athletes, Reid
McLean, who had to take an AP Music test. The bottom line is the boys lost 37-85 to finish
the season with a 4-2 record. On the bright side, Brady Fitelson had a great time in the
100, clocking 10.9, only a tenth of a second off the school record. Adam Munns
foreshadowed his performance in the up-coming Frosh/Soph championships by clearing 6’.
His twin, Brad, also served notice by easily winning the 1600 and 800 meter runs.
Frosh/Soph:
At the countywide
Frosh/Soph championships on Saturday Munns dominated the high jump competition by soaring
over the bar at 6’ 3”. McLean took 2nd with 5-10 giving
Coronado the top 2 sophomore high jumpers in San Diego county. McLean also placed 3rd
in the long jump with 20’ 7” and 5th in the 200 with 23.0. Brad
Munns ran an excellent 800, just missing the top spot by a few feet to place 2nd
in 2:05 in extremely windy conditions. |