By Maddy Braybrooke
Staff Writer
For the fifth consecutive year, the Mira Costa boys track and field team has out run its competitors and taken the Bay League title, defeating Peninsula, Palos Verdes, West Torrance and Redondo on May 9.
Although they did not place as high as the boys team, the girls managed to tie for second place in league.
Seniors Carter Anderson, Chris Fong, P.J. Onusconich and Americo Sam placed second in the 4×100-meter relay, running in 44.11 seconds. Onusconich then competed again in the 4×400 relay along with seniors Josh Block, Niko Pappas and Mac Power, also securing second place.
Costa swept the podium in the 100-meter hurdles. Senior Robert McMahon finished first at 14.97 seconds, Onusconich placed second at 15.31, and senior Zack Johnson followed in third place at 15.57 seconds.
“I knew it was going to be close,” McMahon said. “So I had to bring my A game.”
Onusconich and McMahon continued their winning ways in the 300-meter hurdles. Onusconich placed first, and McMahon finished in second, with times of 39.43 and 40.23 seconds, respectively, beating the rest of the field by over one second.
“At big events, nerves are expected,” McMahon said. “That’s when it is up to the captains and coaches to set the tone of how to handle a big meet.”
Anderson placed a close second in the 200-meters, only .07 seconds behind first. Both Block and Pappas were just out of medal contention, placing fourth in the 400- and 800-meter run.
In jumps, senior Matt Wenner finished second in the high jump for Costa. Senior Akira Isaac was one of three athletes to eclipse 40’ in the triple jump, jumping 41’1/2,” and Fong, who had broken the school’s triple jump record earlier this season, was unable to get a mark.
Senior Brandon Mills ended the boys’ meet by placing third in the discus throw and shot put.
“Overall, we did very well,” Fong said. “There were many great individual performances, and there will be more to come.”
In the girls sprinting events, senior Kimi Markley placed third in the 100-meter dash, running 12.58 seconds. Freshman Shante Robinson won a Bay League title for her performance in the 300 hurdles, finishing nearly four seconds ahead of the rest of the field, save for her main rival, junior Kristen Hamlin of Redondo, who she defeated by .29 seconds.
Junior Natasha Brunstein won the 1,600-meter run at 5:06. She finished 1.5 seconds ahead of the next runner to qualify for CIF. Sophomore Alexis Johnson came in second in the 3,200-meter run at 11:09.
“Going into the last lap, a pack of four girls separated from the rest of the runners, all I could think about was there were only three spots for CIF, so I knew I had to work hard,” Brunstein said.
In jumping events, junior Yasmine Al-Uqdah placed second in the high jump at 5’2,” and senior Alison Bartak followed in third at 5’0.” Senior Kimi Markley also won in the triple jump, finishing nearly one and a half feet in front of second.
Markley and Robinson, along with senior Camille Mills and junior Jordyn Dorsey, finished in second in the 4×100-meter relay.
In throwing events, senior Chelsea Tatum came in third for both the shot put and discus throw.
“I think we had tough competition, especially going against Redondo,” Markley said. “Yet, we performed well and proved to be a challenge to the other schools as well.”
Both the boys and girls track teams finished this season with a 5-1 overall record. Division II CIF preliminaries begin tomorrow at 11 a.m. at Moorpark High School.
“I think we ended on a high note, and I’m so proud of what we did,” Loiola said. “I am really looking forward to CIF.”
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