Track And Field

BURBANK — The area saw its share of fine performances in track and field last season. Along with their share of individual league championships, a group of local athletes was also able to qualify for the CIF Southern Section preliminaries. However, only one competitor — Sadee Martinez of Burroughs — was able to advance to state competition, as she qualified in the girls’ 1,600 meter. With their share of accomplished athletes, the local schools could again send a contingent to the CIF Southern Section preliminaries.

ARCADIA — With the recent reconfiguration of the Pacific League, there figured to be greater opportunities for the area high school track and field athletes to secure league championships. By the time day turned to night, many of them did Friday. Several athletes each won two individual events Friday night at the league's track and field finals at Arcadia High. In the girls' portion of the meet, Crescenta Valley's Claire Collison, Glendale's Rachelle Saturnino of Glendale and Burroughs' Taryn Campos each won a pair of events.

ARCADIA - It's safe to say Burbank High's Julia Newton lost sleep thinking about taking part in the Pacific League track and field finals. "Normal people would be nervous an hour before this meet," the sprinter said. "But for me, I was nervous about it for days. I've been thinking a lot about it. " Just a freshman, Newton showed no outward sign of jitters at Friday's event at Arcadia High, as she had a hand in two victories for the Bulldogs, placing first in the girls' 100 meters and running a leg on the winning Burbank girls' 4x100 relay team that set a school record.

BURBANK HIGH — Although he has yet to began his freshman track and field season at Burbank High, Isaiah Amos has already taken part in a big race. Saturday, the freshman took part in the Run for the Dream Indoor Track and Field Invitational, held at the Save Mart Center in Fresno. Amos took part in the boys' 600-yard competition. Amos won his heat in 1 minute 18.18 seconds and finished with the ninth-fastest time overall out of 30 competitors. In his race, the freshman sat back in second place, about five meters off the leader, for the first two laps of the three and three-quarters lap race.

ARCADIA — There were plenty of high points and one major disappointment with the Burbank High and Burroughs track and field teams Friday in the Pacific League finals at Arcadia High. The successes were led by the Indians' Shannon Kermah and Bulldogs' McKenzie Paul, who both captured league titles in two events. One of the most unexpected turn of events occurred with Burroughs' Anthony Monroy. Monroy, who advanced to the Masters Meet last season in the boys' 3,200 meters and wasn't able to train for a number of weeks because of an injured foot, failed to quality to the CIF Southern Section Division I preliminaries in the 3,200.

NORWALK — While his classmates were walking up to the podium to the sounds of "Pomp and Circumstance," Greg Dotson was barreling down a running track to the sound of a starter's pistol. While his peers at Burbank High were celebrating the ending of their high school experience, Dotson was attempting to extend his prep athletic career. With the Burbank graduation happening earlier than usual this year, the event Friday took place at the same time Dotson was taking part in the boys' 800-meter race at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Cerritos College.

BURBANK — With Greg Dotson running some of the fastest times in the nation this season in the boys' 800 meters, many figured the Burbank High senior would go deep into the track and field postseason. However, the question persisted: Could another area athlete find continued success alongside Dotson? That question was answered Saturday in the CIF Southern Section Track and Field Championships at Cerritos College. Not only was Dotson able to do well and qualify for Friday's CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Cerritos College, but he will be joined at the competition by Burroughs High sophomore Anthony Monroy, who is moving on in the boys' 3,200.

BURBANK - While it came down to the very end, the Pasadena and Burroughs high girls' track and field teams simply didn't have enough to outdo Glendale's Leana Setian and Lauren Hansen in Thursday's tri-Pacific League meet. The Nitros' duo combined for five victories in a narrow 68-60 win over host Burroughs. Setian and Hansen saved their best and most dramatic finish for last, as they teamed with Kenya Gaskin and Vard Sargsyan to take first in the 4x400-meter relay - the final race of the day - in four minutes 24.50 seconds to just edge Pasadena's team, which clocked in at 4:25.44.

LA CRESCENTA — With the Pacific League finals scheduled for later in the month, many track and field athletes are heading down the home stretch in search of refining their strategies to possibly get there. That proved to be the case during Wednesday afternoon's league tri-meet between Glendale, Burroughs and host Crescenta Valley. Among those who stood out were Bob Anderson of Crescenta Valley, Glendale's Mike Davis and Danitza Eyo of Burroughs. Each won two events for their respective squads in a meet that concluded just before sundown, but it was the Falcons who swept through the opposition as a team.

BURBANK — As a wide-eyed 8-year-old in 2008, Dallas Cortez was memorized watching the Beijing Summer Olympics on TV. In particular, the Burbank resident was glued to the men's sprinting events and the exploits of Jamaica's Usain Bolt. Bolt ended up winning individual gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter races, as well as helping the Jamaican team capture gold in the 4x100 relay. All three races were won in world-record time. It was after watching that spectacle when Cortez decided he wanted to be a sprinter, and hopefully follow in the footsteps of his idol, Bolt.

ARCADIA - Winning and advancing were the two most important elements for the Burbank and Burroughs high track and field programs at Friday evening's Pacific League Finals at Arcadia's Salter Stadium. The Bulldogs and Indians produced six overall winners and 14 qualifiers to next week's CIF Southern Section Division I preliminaries at Trabuco Hills High. Perhaps the athlete who stood out most was Bulldogs junior Andy Hurtado. While the thrower didn't match his personal-best mark of 151 feet in the discus hit at the recent city meet, Hurtado was still thrilled in winning the discus with a toss of 143 feet, 10 inches.

BURBANK — The Burbank High boys' and girls' track and field teams look like squads ready to compete for their share of Pacific League championships. With just the league preliminaries and league finals left on tap in the Pacific League, the Bulldogs took part in a final tune-up Wednesday in their annual cross-town rivalry with Burroughs at Memorial Field. Burbank swept the contest, as athletes set several personal records, broke a school record and put up some solid marks. While the girls' team defeated the Indians, 94-42, the Bulldogs boys came away with a 91-45 win. "I think we're peaking at the right time and that's just what you want going into the league meet," Burbank Coach Darin Wolf said.

Local athletes found the themselves in the heat of competition Saturday at the annual Burbank All-City Middle Schools Track and Field Meet. Boys and girls' in the sixth through eighth grades from the three local middle schools - Jordan, John Muir and Luther - took to the track and infield at Burbank High for the friendly event. Nearly 300 athletes took part in the meet. PHOTOS: Burbank All-City Track and Field Meet It was also a good showing as far as new meet records go, as 16 new marks were set across the divisions.

GIRLS' TRACK AND FIELD Burbank 112, Glendale 23 : The Bulldogs won 14 of 16 events Thursday to earn the Pacific League victory on the road. Burbank had a pair of double winners in Alicia McCord in the high jump (4 feet 10) and the triple jump (31-4) and Kynlee Vuncannon in the shot put (28-1/4) and the discus (87-3 1/2). BOYS' TRACK AND FIELD Burbank 94, Glendale 42 : The Bulldogs had three athletes win two individual events Thursday in notching the Pacific League victory at Glendale.

BURBANK - While it came down to the very end, the Pasadena and Burroughs high girls' track and field teams simply didn't have enough to outdo Glendale's Leana Setian and Lauren Hansen in Thursday's tri-Pacific League meet. The Nitros' duo combined for five victories in a narrow 68-60 win over host Burroughs. Setian and Hansen saved their best and most dramatic finish for last, as they teamed with Kenya Gaskin and Vard Sargsyan to take first in the 4x400-meter relay - the final race of the day - in four minutes 24.50 seconds to just edge Pasadena's team, which clocked in at 4:25.44.

BURBANK - Burbank High's Dennis Palacio and Hoover's Jeremy Zadoorian were both looking to start out their Pacific League campaigns with some solid performances. Both athletes were in fine form Thursday when the Bulldogs hosted the Tornadoes in the league opener for both teams. While Palacio captured four individual events, Zadoorian placed first in two events and ran a leg on Hoover's victorious 4x400-meter relay team. PHOTOS: Burbank vs. Hoover Pacific League dual track meet However, it was Palacio's Bulldogs that were able to come out on top, as Burbank posted a 110-26 victory.

This is the second in a four-part series looking back on the sports accomplishments of the four local high schools during the 2011-12 year. This installment is Bellarmine-Jefferson High: No other team has been as successful at Bellarmine-Jefferson High over the last two years as the school's softball squad. Over that span, the Guards have captured consecutive Santa Cruz League championships and made back-to-back appearances in the CIF Southern Section Division VII tile game.

SOUTH PASADENA - A season's worth of aspirations came full circle for South Pasadena High sophomore Claire Kieffer-Wright on June 2 at Buchanan High Memorial Stadium in Clovis. Kieffer-Wright clinched the area's first CIF State Track and Field individual championship in two years by tying her previous personal record jump of 5 feet, 10 inches, which was nearly an inch better than second place and placed her second to none. The prodigious high jumper's amazing season, which included setting two new Rio Hondo League records and helping her team win a CIF Southern Section Division III championship, was capped the same way she started less than six months earlier in Fresno.

PASADENA - Every race has a finishing point. Yet, the same may not necessarily apply to every runner. Take La Salle High junior Daniel De La Torre, for instance. This year's All-Area Boys' Track and Field Athlete of the Year, as voted by the sports writers and editors of the Pasadena Sun, La Cañada Valley Sun, Glendale News-Press and Burbank Leader, concluded a highly successful 2012 campaign in early June. This season, De La Torre was the lone area athlete to advance to the CIF State Meet in two events, was one of five area participants to win a CIF Southern Section Division championship, and claimed a handful of nonleague invitational titles.

Bits and pieces from the local sports scene. Former Burroughs track and field performers end season with solid results : A group of former Burroughs High athletes finished their respective track and field seasons with some solid performances. Western Nelson , a junior at Cal State San Marcos, placed 40th in the men's marathon in 3 hours 6 minutes 19.90 seconds at the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics Outdoor Track & Field Championships on May 26 in Marion, Ind. Nelson, an All-American in cross-country, qualified for the marathon by finishing sixth in 1:11:34 at the Surf City Half-Marathon in Huntington Beach in February.