Cerritos College

CERRITOS ? Entering Friday night?s CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Cerritos College, Burroughs High senior Sadee Martinez knew it was going to take a personal-record effort to carry her through to next week?s CIF-California State Track and Field Championships. The field in the girls? 1,600 meters was stacked with talented distance runners, and the at-large mark she needed to advance was a second better than her previous best time. None of that seemed to faze Martinez, however, as she entered confident and up for the challenge.

Cavan Ewing didn't know if he would be a contributor on a L.A. Loyola boys' track and field team that had a legitimate shot to win a CIF Southern Section championship. However, in the Division II final Saturday at Falcon Stadium at Cerritos College in Norwalk, the Burbank resident placed sixth in the triple jump with a 42-foot-8 effort, scoring a point for the Cubs. Loyola easily won the championship with 42 points, outdistancing Compton Dominguez, which finished with 34. "I'm proud to represent Loyola High School, and the city of Burbank, in the CIF finals" said Ewing, a senior.

At about 10 a.m. Friday, Kathryn Poet boarded a bus for Santa Barbara. The junior and her Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy softball teammates were headed to Dos Pueblos High, the site of the Tologs' first CIF Southern Section playoff appearance since joining the Mission League. Once the Tologs stepped onto the field, Poet did what she's done all year. She was an exemplary leader. She occupied the top of the order and added to her team-best totals in several offensive categories.

Jason Barbic's high school football career came to a disappointing end in November when his Burbank High team lost to Burroughs, 35-28, in the season finale. So he thought. The senior all-purpose player was overjoyed when he was informed that he will be able to suit up one more time and represent the Bulldogs. Barbic will be the only local representative taking part in the 55th annual Al Malaikah Shrine Game at 7 p.m. today at Cerritos College. "What it means to me to be picked to play in the game is that I'm able to play one more high school game," said the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Barbic.

NORWALK — Andrew Steben expected nothing less. The St. Francis High senior entered Saturday's CIF Southern Section Track and Field Championships at Cerritos College as the favorite to take home the Division III title in the pole vault. And that's exactly what he did. Steben won the division title by recording a personal-best leap of 15 feet 6, a foot higher than Atascadero's A.J. Teunissen and Temple City's Hoku Hu, who tied for second. "I was pretty sure I could win the title," Steben said.

Erik Boal It was almost the ultimate comeback for Pharrin Lewis. After overcoming several obstacles during her senior year, beginning with a pulled right hamstring at the CIF Southern Section Cross-Country Championships in November -- which cost the Bellarmine-Jefferson standout a berth in the state meet -- and continuing with a bout of athletically induced asthma that sidelined her for a couple weeks during the...

Erik Boal As the high school track and field season continued to wind down Friday night, and some of Southern California's premier athletes saw their campaigns come to an end, it appears as if Kyle Ivie is just beginning to hit his stride. Although the Burbank senior didn't earn himself an automatic berth to the CIF State Track and Field prelims in the boys' 1,600 meters, he easily surpassed the at-large standard to qualify at the Master's Meet at Cerritos College's Falcon Stadium.

Bits and pieces from the local sports scene:   Local 8-year-old wins California all-around championship : Resident Dylan Young can already call himself a state champion — and he’s only 8. Young, who attends Gymnastics Olympia in Van Nuys, won the Level 5 all-around title at the State Gymnastics Championships on March 14-15 in Riverside. He won the all-around crown with a score of 90.350, finishing ahead of Brandon Hsu of New Hope Gym (89.300)

Irma Lemus MEDIA DISTRICT NORTH -- With a 622-cubic-inch, 750-horsepower engine under their hood, Burbank High School auto shop teacher Dennis McCarthy and his students say they will leave the competition in the dust. Their partially built black, two-door 1996 Chevy truck may not look impressive, but McCarthy said the heavy metal can reach speeds of up to 130 mph. Twenty-eight auto mechanic students have been assembling the truck for the past two weeks in preparation for the Feb. 3 Avi 250 amateur race in Laughlin, Nev. Some of the students will travel to the desert community to see McCarthy cross the finish line.

Jeff Tully Bellarmine-Jefferson High's Gerard Herkey had a busy day in the CIF Southern Section Division IV track and field preliminaries at Moorpark High. Qualifying in three events -- the boys' 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters -- it was unlikely the Guard senior would run in all three races. However, that's exactly what he did Saturday, as he competed in the three races, and had his best result in the 800, finishing in seventh place in 2 minutes 2.1 seconds.