High School Roundup: Newport’s Taylor a double winner
BOYS’ TRACK & FIELD
Sunset League finals
HUNTINGTON BEACH — Newport Harbor High’s Marty Taylor won the shotput with a personal-best mark of 62 feet, 5 inches, and was also champion in the discus (186-6), Thursday at Huntington Beach High.
Taylor led a 1-2-3-4 finish in the shotput. Ramsey Hufford finished second (54-0), freshman Joe Stukonis was third (53-5) and Will Fortier was fourth (52-9). They all qualified for next week’s CIF Southern Section Division 2 preliminaries.
Fortier also qualified in the discus after finishing third (144-3).
Christian Abbey, who finished third in the pole vault, and David Munoz, who was fourth in the pole vault (14-0), also qualified for CIF.
Munoz and Fortier in the shotput qualified for CIF based on at-large marks.
The CIF Southern Section II prelims are May 11 at Moorpark High.
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BOYS’ SWIMMING
Orange Coast League finals
COSTA MESA — Tyler Connors and Mason Cooper each broke long-standing records Thursday at Costa Mesa High, helping the Mustangs finish second to Laguna Beach.
Connors won the 100-yard backstroke in 55.43, which set a school record. The former record was Brad Prickett’s 55.70, from 1983. Connors also was second in the 200 IM, in 2:02.77.
Cooper was a double winner in the 50 freestyle (21.13) and 100 free (47.81). The 50 free time broke Steve Kunst’s 1989 record of 21.60.
Victor Gonzalez placed second in the butterfly (57.02), Nick Lewis was third in the breaststroke (1:06.71) and James Rydjeski won the consolation final in the breaststroke (1:13.44).
Mesa’s 200 freestyle relay team of Justin Velasquez, Quinn Smith, Connors and Cooper also finished first with a time of 1:30.79.
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GIRLS’ SWIMMING
Orange Coast League finals
COSTA MESA — Senior Kellie Thorsness broke her own school records in the 50-yard freestyle and 100 free, helping Mesa finish third behind Laguna Beach and Godinez on Thursday at Costa Mesa High.
Thorsness won both events, the 50 free in 24.16 seconds and the 100 free in 53.32. The 200 freestyle relay team of Aubry Hill, Kaitlyn Hill, Lauren Smith and Thorsness also set a school record, finishing second in 1:44.12. The previous record was a 1:45.07, set in 1995.
Aubry Hill was second in the butterfly in 1:04.84, and Smith was third in the 200 free in 2:06.87. Kaitlyn Hill won the breaststroke consolation final in 1:18.80.
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GIRLS’ TRACK & FIELD
Sunset League finals
HUNTINGTON BEACH — Newport Harbor High’s Hope Bender won the 400 meters in 60.41 seconds and qualified for the CIF Southern Section Division 2 finals in two events Thursday at Huntington Beach High.
Bender, along with Alyssa Randall, Paige Fults and Courtney Buck finished third in the 4x400 in 4 minutes, 9.2 seconds to qualify for CIF.
Peri Howser won the pole vault with a clearance of 11 feet.
Rachelle AlaTorre was also a CIF qualifier, as she finished third in the shotput (34-4).
Erin Barth finished fourth in the 1,600 meters (5:08.57), but qualified for CIF because the third-place finisher chose to concentrate solely on the 3,200, Newport Harbor Coach Eric Tweit said.
The CIF Southern Section Division II preliminaries are May 11 at Moorpark High.
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BOYS’ TENNIS
Orange Coast League finals
COSTA MESA — Estancia High’s Matt Thomas and Robert Marrone became Orange Coast League doubles champions Thursday at Costa Mesa Tennis Center.
Thomas and Marrone beat teammates Erik Cerros and Sterling Gates, 6-1, 6-2, in the final.
Both doubles teams qualified for the CIF Individuals, which begins May 23.
Joseph Kidane reached the semifinals in singles and lost to eventual champion Teague Hamilton of Laguna Beach, 0-6, 1-6.
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Sunset League finals
SEAL BEACH — Newport Harbor High’s Reese Stalder finished third in singles Thursday at Seal Beach Tennis Center.
Stalder, the No. 2 seed, lost to Marina’s Max Cancilla in the semifinals, 2-6, 3-6.
Stalder finished third after Fountain Valley’s Eric Nguyen defaulted.
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BOYS’ GOLF
Orange Coast League finals
LONG BEACH — Estancia senior Aaron Wood shot a five-over-par 72 on Wednesday, giving him a two-day total of 155 and trying him for second place at Skylinks Golf Course.
Wood and teammate, Jake Stone, who finished at 156, good for fourth place, advanced to the CIF Southern Section Southern Individual Regional tournament on May 13 at the Skylinks Golf Course. Only the top four at the league finals earned berths.
Estancia’s Bill Crosson finished with a 166 (83, 83) and Cody Nelson 169 (82, 87). Both did not qualify.
Estancia will compete at the CIF Southern Section Southern Team Divisional tournament at Tijeras Creek Golf Club in Rancho Santa Margarita on Monday at 7 a.m.