Ventura County Championships, Invitational Heats

Ken Reeves   4/25/13

1600 Meters:

Girls: In the girls’ 1600, UC Davis commit, Hannah Kirkegaard of Ventura comes in with the fastest entry time of 4:57.75, the 17^th fastest time in the state.  Sophomore Caroline Pietrzyk of Malibu has been steadily improving.  A dual sport athlete in the spring, both swimming and running, she won the Russell Cup a couple of weekends ago at 5:07.26.  Other sophomores Jenny Giguere of Westlake, Monika Gyalay of Moorpark and Sarah Riggs are all hovering right there at 5:10, ready to push the envelope to a possible sub 5-minute time.  County 800-leader, Emily Hooke of Ventura is stepping up to the 1600 and looks to shatter her career best of 5:22.37.

Boys: Rocky Peterson has taken over the county lead in the 1600 with his 4:16.39 converted mark from Mt. Sac last weekend.  Teammate Mikey Giguere, the county leader in the 3200 has run 4:18.24 and sophomore James FitzGerald of Rio Mesa is just getting healthy after running 4:18.30 early in the season at Mt. Carmel.  He ran 1:57 for the 800 last weekend at Mt. Sac.  Jonathan Feller of Simi Valley, one of the top 3200-meter runners in the county is stepping down and Joel Gonzales of Camarillo ran 4:13.72 last year.

100 Hurdles:

Savanah Sipes, a junior from Newbury Park ran 15.10 in a dual meet against Moorpark for the county’s leading mark.  She was runner up in the county meet last year at 15.14.  Ventura’s Kate N’Guetta was 3^rd last year at county.  Sophomore Jontelle Cabral of Oaks Christian has made marked improvement this season and is this year’s Russell Cup champion.

110 Hurdles:

Anthony Teart of Rio Mesa made a big pop last weekend at Mt. Sac, dropping his time to 14.72.  He was a CIF finalist in this event last year and also was Ventura County champion in the triple jump last year.  Jordan Pitcher of OC won the Tri-County Invitational held right here at Moorpark.  He was third in Ventura County last year at 14.68 and was second in D4 CIF.  Ian Markham of Oak Park finished behind Pitcher at the Tri-County meet, but beat him just two weekends ago at the Russell Cup.  Markham has won the long hurdles at Pasadena Games, Tri-County Invitational and the Russell Cup.  Jelani Legohn of Oxnard has had a break out season, dropping a 14.78 at the Camarillo dual and scorching to 38.11 in the long hurdles to take second in the invitational heat at Mt Sac.

400 Meters:

Girls:  A loaded race with a Fiji Olympian, her teammate who ran the exact same time at Russell Cup, a sub 60 freshman, with another knocking on the door and the defending Marmonte League champion in the 400.  Danni Alakija of Oaks Christian is the defending county champion, a 2012 Olympian, 6^th in the state last year and has a best of 55.00.  Her teammate, Sarah Johnson ran 56.90 at Mt Sac and has a best of 24.93 in the 200 meters.  She was 2^nd in the county last year and was 5^th in CIF.  Freshman Alisa Houston of Buena has run 59.89 and Hannah Dearborn was the Marmonte League champion at 59.01 last year.  Possibly surprises could include Agoura freshman Gabrielle Garrison (60.03) and Alex Cerise of La Reina who has blazed to 45.05 for 300 hurdles.

Boys:  Jeff Oechsli of Agoura ran 49.59 at Arcadia for the county’s top time.  He finished 6^th here last year.  Senior Rolandon Marigny of Channel Islands dipped under 50 seconds at the Pacifica dual meet and sophomore Jonathon Cantle of Westlake is pushing for that sub 50 second mark with a best of 50.02.  Also coming on strong lately has been Oak Christian’s Michael Seaton who has the speed to pull an upset.

100 Meters:

Girls:  Schuyler Moore of Oaks Christian continues the tradition of speed city for the Lions.  She was 3^rd here last year and is the only county runner to break 12 seconds with her 11.97 at the Maurice Greene Invitational.  She was the 100 and 200 meter champion at the Russell Cup.  Madisen Richards of Simi Valley, the defending long jump champion was 4^th here in 2012.  She has the second best time in the county at 12.03.  Abigail Smith of Westlake was 2^nd last year at 11.73 as a frosh and also took home both Marmonte crown and the CIF SS title in the short sprint.  She has turned in a best of 11.63.  Sarah Johnson of OC is coming back after a short rest from the 400. 

Boys:  Ahmed Obed of Camarillo and Lavan Alston of St. Bonaventure are making their mark on the 100 meters this year.  Obed has run a best of 10.70 and has won the Don Green Invitational and the Ventura Invitational.  He was 6^th in the Invitational heat at Arcadia.  Sophomore Lavan Alstot of St. Bonaventure was just named the Ventura Star athlete of the week for his fine sprint performance last week.  This season, he has won the Maurice Greene, the Santa Barbara Easter Relays and the Russell Cup.  He finished 2^nd to Obed at the Ventura Invitational and has a best of 10.77.  Gabriel Wirtz of Simi has a 10.85 to his credit and the Invitational heat includes six sub 11-second sprinters including Montre Lee of St. Bonaventure, the top returner from last year.

800 Meters

Girls:  Less than four seconds separate the entire invitational field in this event, making for the opportunity for a big pop for someone.  Freshmen Swathi Samuel of Newbury Park and Michelle Magnani of Moorpark come in with the top two entry times with UCSB bound Jordan Jeworski nipping at their heels.  Aliya Shah of Buena, the veteran of the field always seems to come up big at Ventura County Championships and Holly Petrusson of La Reina is the top returner from 2012 with her 6^th place finish.  This race is wide open with Ventura sophomore, Emani Kelley hoping to use her 59 second speed to close.

Boys:  Sahm Bazargan of Oak Park was the state’s leader in this event after his victory right here at the Tri-County Invitational.  He won the seeded heat at County last year.  Currently, his 1:53.83 ranks #12 in the state.  Esteban Vega of Camarillo won the Trabuco Hills Invitational at 1:56.07.  Chris Carlton, Sahm’s teammate, won the rated heat last year and has run 1:58.83 this year.  After that, the field is as snug as a bug in a rug, with a number of runners ready to break on through to the other side.  Frosh Cameron Kunde of Nordhoff has had a solid season and is looking to join the sub 2-minute crowd.  Usually the entire field in this race is under the 2-minute barrier.

300 Hurdles:

Boys:  Jelani Legohn’s 38.11 at Mt. Sac has earned him lane 5 in this race.  Ian Markham of Oak Park has been solid lately and is just outside Legohn in lane 6.  110-meter county leader, Anthony Teart of Rio Mesa is on the other side with his 39.29.  Teart was 2^nd last year and Legohn was 6^th.

Girls: Alex Cerise of La Reina was 2^nd last year.  This year, she has broken the Russell Cup record and has won the Tri-County Invitational and the Pasadena Games with her seasonal best of 45.09.  Savannah Sipes of Newbury Park is just outside her in lane 6.  She was 4^th in the county last year as a sophomore and has run 46.76 this season.  Senior May Aviezer of Agoura has also dipped under 47 seconds this year with her 46.88.  She had a best of 45.90 last season.

200 Meters:

Girls Schuyler Moore and Sarah Johnson of Oaks Christian have both dipped under 25 seconds this season.  Moore was 4^th in CIF last year with 24.58 and was 4^th here.  Johnson was 5^th at the County meet in the 200 meters and finished 5^th in CIF in the 400 meters.