CIF Track Prelims: Locals punch their tickets to finals

Santa Barbara junior Natasha Feshbach qualified for the CIF Division 2 Finals in three events.

Santa Barbara junior Natasha Feshbach qualified for the CIF Division 2 Finals in three events.

Erica Schroeder of San Marcos qualified for the CIF finals in the 1600, 800 and 4×400 relay, Santa Barbara High’s Natasha Feshbach made the finals in three individual events and AV Bennett of Bishop Diego took first place in the sprints at division track & field prelims on Saturday.

In the Division 4 Prelims at Carpinteria, Bennett ran 10.90 in the 100 and tied for the fastest 200 time at 22.37. He beat sprinters from perennial powers Oaks Christian, Serra, Paraclete and Muir.

“This junior has a lot left in him and I look forward to seeing his times improve as the competition improves as well,” said Bishop coach Veronica Gines

The top nine marks qualified for next Saturday’s divisional championships at Cerritos College

Discus thrower Gabe Zapien-Ybarra threw 141-3 to finish fifth; Bobby Contreras was seventh in the shot put at 44-2 and Monique Sanchez cleared 9 feet to qualify in the girls pole vault in Division 4

San Marcos athletes had a big day at the Division 3 Prelims at cold, windy Estancia High in Orange County.

Carolyn Weisman took first place in the girls triple jump at 37-10. Schroeder ran 5:05.45 to finish second in the 1600 and cruised to third in the 800 at 2:18.80. She holds the division’s top times in both events and is the defending CIF champion in the 800. Adilene Aldapa placed third in the 3200 in 10:59.55 and Matt Turk was third in the pole vault at 13-9. The Royals girls 4×400 (Erica Schroeder, Delaney Werner, Devon Block-Funkhouser, Abbey Willett) also finished third in 4:03.33.

Allie Jones came in fourth in the 100 hurdles (15.39), Cameron Shinn was fifth in the boys triple jump (43-6) and the girls 4×100 relay (Jeny Nnoli, Ashley Julio, Allie Jones, Yasmin Gama) finished fifth. Block-Funkhouser was sixth in the 300 hurdles (45.72) and Veronica Toral nabbed sixth (37-05) and Chloe Allen eighth (36-05) in the girls shot put and Delaney Werner came in ninth in the 400 (59.91)

“We had a great day,” San Marcos coach Marilyn Hantgin said. “The conditions were not ideal, but our kids ran, threw, jumped well today. We qualified a lot of athletes for CIF Finals. I’m proud of how well they competed and look forward to the upcoming weeks.”

At the Division 2 Prelims in Moorpark, Santa Barbara’s Feshbach was the fourth qualifier in the 100 hurdles (14.800), seventh in the long jump (17-7) and eighth in the 300 hurdles in a personal best of 45.03.

The Dons’ 4×400 relay squad earned a finals spot by finishing ninth in a season-best 3:25.60. The team is made up of Kiasa Salgado, Andres Castro, Paul Bruns, Will Pritchard.

Josh Fry was Dos Pueblos’ only qualifier for next week’s Division 2 finals. He cleared 6-1 in the high jump and 13-3 in the pole vault to earn spots at Cerritos

Also from DP Charlie Mehling threw a season-best 144-2 and Christina Rice ran a season best in the 3200 with a time of 11:11.

From Santa Barbara, Andrew Weisman went 42-5 to place 10th in the triple jump and freshman Janelle Knight ran PRs in the 100 (12.60) and 200 (25.71)