Redondo Union distance runner Kayla Ferron continued her stellar senior season, advancing to the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet for the first time in her prep career.
Ferron will compete in two events at the Masters Meet on Friday at Cerritos College after capturing the CIF-SS Division 2 girls 1,600 title at the championships held Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College.
Ferron’s winning time of 4 minutes, 52.45 seconds is the seventh-fastest time in the state this year.
“It feels amazing making it to Masters because it is my first year being able to qualify, and it is my senior year, so it means a lot more,” Ferron said. “I think running two events is completely manageable because the mile and the 4×4 have a lot of time in between so I can relax before the second race.”
Redondo’s 4×400 relay team of Amber Gore, Ferron, Erin South and Anevay Hiehle qualified for Friday’s competition after running a 3:51.75 to win the Division 2 title championship.
“I think we have a pretty good chance of making it to State in our 4×4 because if we run the same time we did at the finals, we can qualify,” Ferron said. “Plus, the teams that are faster than us will probably be competitive and drag us to a faster time.”
The strength of distance running was evident at the CIF-SS championships where Bishop Montgomery’s Danielle Shanahan qualified for the Masters Meet in the girls 3,200 by winning the Division 3 crown. Her time of 10:31.50 is the fourth-fastest in the state this season. She also finished second in the 1,600 (4:53.31) but missed the qualification for the Masters Meet.
South Torrance sophomore Kimberly Coscia advanced to the Masters Meet after winning the 3,200 title in Division 2 with a time of 10:39.36, good enough for 10th in the state.
Bay League champion Redondo had eight top-ten finishers in the girls competition at the CIF-SS championships, earning the Sea Hawks second place in Division 2, only four points behind champion Colony.
Hiele finished 4th in the 400 (56.97); Gore (2:14.28) and Cara Ulizio (2:16.76) finished 2nd and 6th, respectively in the 800 and Ulizio placed 4th in the 1,600 (4:55.54).
Sophomore Kristen Hamlin took 3rd in the 100 hurdles (14.85) and Redondo’s 4×100 relay team of Shelby Bassman, Hamlin, Tairyn Montgomery and Anastasia Chiodo finished 4th at 47.99.
Mira Costa had two runners place in the top ten. Lauren Hagedorn finished 5th in the 3,200 with a time of 10:58.04 and Abby Hong placed 7th in the 1,600 at 4:58.87.
Peninsula’s Tammy McVickar won the Division 2 high jump competition and her mark of 5 feet, 5 inches qualified her for the Masters Meet.
McVickar set a school record earlier in the season with a jump of 5-6.
In boys competition, Mira Costa will be sending two athletes to the Masters Meet. Raphael Lawson-Gayle captured the Division 2 long jump championship with a leap of 22 feet, 9.75 inches.
Reed Scale placed 2nd in the pole vault with a mark of 15 feet. Scale set a school record earlier in the season when he cleared 15-7 at the Mustang Relays.
Also enjoying top-ten finishes were Sean Griffin, who placed 4th in the pole vault (14-06) and the Mustang’s 4×400 relay team of Josh Block, P.J. Ovusconi, Khalil McClain and Carter Anderson which finished 6th with a time of 3:24.15.
Junior Dustin Herold will represent Redondo at the Masters Meet after finishing 3rd in the 800 with a time of 1:55.51.
Missing the cut were Evan Malone-White, who placed 6th in the 1,600 (4:16.51) and the Sea Hawk’s 4×400 relay team of Sergio Rodriguez, Herold, Nicolas Wells and Malone-White, which finished with a time of 3:25.77.
Qualifiers from the Masters Meet will advance to the CIF State Championships to be held Friday and Saturday, May 31-June1 at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium on the campus of Buchanan High School in Clovis.
