Area athletes go the distance at Ventura County Championships
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers MILE MAN- Royal's Travis Edwards wins the boys' 1,600.

For the high school track and field stars of Ventura County, there was only one place to be on April 25- Moorpark High.

Before teams compete in their respective league and CIF championships, the best of the Marmonte, Tri-Valley, Channel, Frontier and Pacific View leagues competed for bragging rights at the Ventura County Track and Field Championships.

Oak Park High finished with a meethigh six wins and/or firstplace ties in the Invitational events. Although Oak Park had significant success on the day, it didn't come without controversy.

During the boys' 800-meter dash between Oak Park senior Doug Bettisworth and Camarillo junior Greg Kelly, Kelly cut in front of Bettisworth during the final 100 meters, causing the Oak Park runner to collide with Kelly.

Kelly finished the race 2 seconds ahead of Bettisworth, but was disqualified for interference, making Bettisworth the winner with a time of 1:55.14.

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers OUT IN FRONT- Royal High's Thomas Garner, right, goes stride for stride with Moorpark's Julian Nguyen in the 110-meter hurdles event during last Friday's Ventura County Championships.

Originally, however, Bettisworth was also told he was disqualified. After a 15-minute period of confusion that saw Steve Bradley of Newbury Park named champion for a few moments, the Oak Park star was informed he was not disqualified and would indeed be taking home first-place honors.

"It was a real hectic period waiting to see who won," Bettisworth said. "As soon as the race ended, I was told that I was disqualified, and immediately I told my coach that this couldn't be right. After a while, everything got sorted out correctly.

Oak Park also received a firstplace finish from Courtney Lightfoot in the girls' 1,600. The senior pulled away in the third of four laps and finished with a time of 5:07.47.

"This was the first time I've ran the 1,600 in a while, so I'm very happy with my performance," Lightfoot said. "As far as me separating myself from the pack in the third lap, I didn't plan it that way, it just happened."

Other Oak Park winners included Tayler Johnson, who won the girls' long jump with a leap of 1806, and the OPHS boys' relay team, which took the 4x400 title with a time of 3:23.14. Oak Park tied for first in the girls' and boys' pole vault (Madison Stark and Ken Sugai, respectively).

Rio Mesa finished the day with five event wins, including a clean sweep in the boys' and girls' 100- and 200-meter races. Rio Mesa freshman Valexsia Droughn was tops in the girls' 100 (11.85 seconds) and 200 (24.1).

Although senior Sean Alfino posted the top time in both the boys' 100 (10.72) and 200 (21.97), the races didn't feature Oaks Christian senior Chris Owusu, a top state runner who decided to sit out the meet, and Moorpark senior Max Dyce, who skipped out on the racing events after suffering a hamstring injury during the long jump.

Alfino was also on the RMHS relay team that took first in the 4x100 relay with a mark of 42.16.

Calabasas was victorious in three events, including two from senior Brittany Harper. Harper won in the girls' 400 (55.64) and 800 (2:13.80). Coyote senior Clayton Graham won in the boys' 3,200 with a time of 9:25.93.

Oaks Christian earned wins or firstplace ties in three events, including a victory in the boys' high jump from freshman Jules Sharpe (606), and in the girls' 4x800meter relay (10:04.32). Lion senior Lauren Radke tied Stark for first in the girls' pole vault.

La Reina enjoyed a pair of first-place finishes, including one from senior Sasha Blanchard in the girls' 300-meter hurdles (43.61). Blanchard said she likes the Ventura County Championships, even if the meet is intimidating.

"The event is definitely a little nerve-racking at first, but it just makes me work harder and strive for better times," Blanchard said.

"Today, I tried to keep my knees up and not stutter during the hurdles. I stuttered a little bit, but I'm still happy with my time."

La Reina also was victorious in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:59.54.

Agoura High's Kevin Graf took first place in the boys' shot put with a throw of 56 feet, 1 1/2 inches.

Charger Erin Baird claimed top honors in the girls' 3,200 with a time of 10:52.42. It was 18 seconds faster than Simi Valley sophomore Liberty Miller, who finished in second place. Baird's time was a personal best.

"It means a lot to get first place in the 3,200 my senior year," Baird said. "The personal record also feels great, but I really want to break 10:50 before my career at Agoura is over."

Miller said she enjoys her races with Baird.

"It would have been nice to beat (Baird), but it just didn't turn out that way today," Miller said.

Royal sophomore Travis Edwards took first place in the boys' 1,600 with a time of 4:20.53, while his teammate, Phil Burks, earned top honors in the boys' long jump with a leap of 23-00.5.

Newbury Park had a pair of relay team winners as the girls were first in the 4x100 with a mark of 49.16, while the boys won the 4x800 with a time of 8:17.39.

Thousand Oaks' Garrett De Mirjian won the boys' 110-meter hurdles (15.33), while Westlake's Bryan Lazar earned a first-place finish in the boys' triple jump with a mark of 43-08. Moorpark's Tyler Jordan tied for first in the boys' pole vault (14 feet).