Sports
Vista Murrieta Runs Circles Around Competition At CIF Finals -- Again
Vista Murrieta boys team beat powerhouse Long Beach Poly for its second consecutive CIF Division 1 title.
Led by the tandem of senior Jovonte Slater and junior Bernard Quinn, the Vista Murrieta boys track and field team won its second straight Division I title at Saturday's CIF-Southern Section Championships.
The Broncos closed out the title in a peculiar way, losing to second-place Long Beach Poly in the 4 x 400 relay by well over a second, but earning more than enough team points in the event.
The final score after 16 scored events was: Vista 65, Poly 61.
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"We had an impressive day," Vista Murrieta coach Coley Candale said. "Two straight years is an amazing thing to do. There was some clutch performers for us."
Slater was chief among them. He also qualified for the Broncos in the 100 (10.61 seconds) 200 (21.47) and had the best long jump of the entire day among all four divisions (24 feet, 11.75 inches).
"Today was for the team," Slater said. "This is a very special feeling right now. I made sure I did my thing out there today."
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Quinn qualified for the 200 (21.54) and 400 (47.77). The pair will be joined at next week's Masters Meet by sophomore Omar Solis, who qualified in the 800 (1:53.99).
Vista Murrieta junior Erika Reddish qualified in the 1600 (4:51.18) for the Broncos on the girls side.
Another local qualifier included Murrieta Valley's Peter Chapman, the junior finished tied for second place, clearing 15-3.
Murrieta Valley High School had a pair of qualifiers on Saturday. Junior Peter Chapman and senior Soloman Ijah advanced in the pole vault and triple jump respectfully.
Chapman tied for second place among all four divisions, clearing 15-3. Only Newport Harbor's Mark Sakioka and El Toro's Adam Bragg were better at 16-3.
Ijah advanced with a 45-06.75 triple jump - the ninth-best of the day.
Murrieta Mesa junior Craig Mauldin will also make a trip to Masters. He finished just ahead of Ijah in the triple with a 45-09.25 jump.
The top nine finishers (top 12 in the 800, 1,600, 3,200 and field events) from Saturday advanced to the two-day CIF Masters Meet that begins on Friday at Cerritos College. The top five from Masters and those that reach automatic qualifying marks, advance to the CIF State Meet on June 3 and 4 in Clovis.
