On your marks. Get set. Go.
It should be a real barnburner today down at Moorpark High as many of the county's finest track and field athletes converge for the Ventura County Championships.
The action gets underway at 3 p.m.
There are several interesting matchups on tap in a variety of different events. Here are a few to keep your eyes on if you're fortunate enough to make it over to Moorpark:
Girls' 100: Rio Mesa is the cream of the crop in this event and
could easily place three runners in the top five. Sarina Hedgepeth enters as the favorite, having posted the fastest time in the county to date (12.44). Hedgepeth's teammate, Michelle Poindexter (12.45), will be right on her heels.
Boys' 100: Football players should rule the day here. Moorpark super sophomore running back Darrell Scott (10.92) currently ranks third in the county behind Ventura's Brandon Smith (10.84) and Rio Mesa's George Hernandez (10.89). Rio Mesa's Malachi Lewis (10.99) and Oaks Christian's Marshall Jones (11.04) are other gridiron standouts who could break through.
FAST TRACK-Simi Valley's Anna Sperry is one to watch at he Ventura County Championships today at Moorpark High. Boys' 4x100 relay: Less than a second separates Rio Mesa (42.83), Moorpark (43.40), Oaks Christian (43.44) and Ventura (43.50). With the home crowd on their side, the Musketeers could be poised for an upset.
Girls' 4x400 relay: Moorpark (4:08.12) enters as heavy favorites over La Reina (4:10.04) and Thousand Oaks (4:10.77).
Boys' 1,600: Nobody in the county can match Royal in distance running. Highlanders Michael Cybulski (4:15.38), Kevin Sullivan (4:16.88) and Hudson Andrews (4:24.07) are the top three runners going in. Westlake's Cory Primm (4:24.65) and Camarillo's Ted Price (4:29.44) are other standouts to watch.
Girls' 1,600: Talk about star power, it doesn't get any better than this on the local scene. Nicole Blood (4:50.17), a top mile runner in the nation, is matched up against Simi Valley's Anna Sperry (4:56.62). And don't forget about Oak Park's Courtney Lightfoot (5:01.20). The three will also face off in the 3,200, where Blood will again be the favorite. The girls' 1,600 has the potential to be the premier event during the afternoon.
Boys' 110 hurdles: It should all come down to Calabasas' Sean Adams (15.04) and Moorpark's Corbin Carlos (15.12). Adams is the defending Marmonte League champion.
Girls' high jump: This event appears to be wide open. Royal's Holly Willard (5-2) and Simi Valley's Kaila Clark (5-2) should be in the mix, along with Shannon Armstrong (5-2) of Oaks Christian and Newbury Park's Amanda Lee (5-2). Lee was excellent a year ago and should have the psychological advantage based on prior success.
Girls' pole vault: No debate here. Oak Park's Aubrey Stark (11-9) is easily the finest pole vaulter in the county and should rise well above the competition.
Boys' pole vault: Moorpark and Thousand Oaks will go head to head in a classic backyard brawl. Musketeer Eric Bodjanac (13-9) is the favorite on paper, but Thousand Oaks' Jeff Altizer (12-6) and James Kitka (12-0) will look to spoil the party. Moorpark's Tazwell Finley (126) could be primed for an upset victory.
Girls' discus throw: Like Stark in the pole vault, Rio Mesa's Kaitlin Gardiner (143-6) has been dominant this season. Unless she slips on a banana peel on her way down the steps leading to the track, Gardiner will blow away the rest of the field.
Well folks, that's it. Those are my 25-star locks of the week. If my track and field picks are anything like my football selections during NFL Sundays, everything I just wrote is complete prattle.
Now grab some sun screen, the iPod, all five of our Acorn editions and head over to Moorpark High for some fun in the sun.
