Two Teams, Five Athletes Qualify for CIF Master's

It was a great day for Great Oak High School at Saturday's CIF-Southern Section Divisional Finals at Cerritos College.

Led by senior Kyle Strawn, sophomore Jade Miller and one blazing anchor lap by junior Khala Taylor, the Wolfpack qualified five individually and two relay team for Friday's CIF Masters Meet.

"It's really exciting," said Miller, who qualified in the 300-meter hurdles and 4 x 400 relay. "It's really been a breakout season for me. I'm just trying to do my best and go as far as I can. I don't want it to end."

Miller turned in a personal record in the 300 hurdles, finishing fourth in the Division I heat at 43.13 seconds. That mark was the seventh-best of the day, assuring Miller a top nine finish and spot in Masters.

In the 4 x 400 relay, Taylor turned in a remarkable 55.7 second lap to rally the Wolfpack to a second-place finish. The team of Miller, Taylor, junior Ronke Odubela and senior Vianna Amabile set a school record at 3 minutes, 50.23 seconds.

"Khala was just amazing," Miller said. "I'm just a newbie here. But our team is great."

Not to be outdone was the Wolfpack 4 x 400 boys relay team, which also advanced to Masters. The team of seniors Jordan Parker and Sean Burd and juniors Bryan Jones and Duane Solomon took third place in the Division I race (3:17.22), behind Long Beach Poly (3:15.06) and Vista Murrieta (3:16.84).

Another strong performance for the Wolfpack came from senior thrower Kyle Strawn, who qualified in the discus and shot put on Saturday. His 55 feet, 03.25 inches mark in the shot put just earned him a spot and he posted a 173-01 mark in the discus to finish third in Division I and 10th overall.

Joining Strawn at Masters will be Burd in the 400 (47.99) and senior Karson Fronk in the 1600 (4:11.30).

Senior Katie Johnson also qualified for the Wolfpack in the 3,200, earning the last automatic spot with a 10:51.98 run.

Overall, the Wolfpack finished fifth in the girls event with 20 points and sixth in the boys with 26 points.

Long Beach Poly dominated the Division I girls championships with 148 team points. Vista Murrieta edged Long Beach Poly for the boys Division I title, 65-61.

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.

Loyola (Division 2), Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (3) and Serra (4) also claimed team championships with Santa Ana Mater Dei (2), Harvard Westlake (3) and Serra (4) winning in the girls.

Temecula Valley junior Taylor Lorack and freshman Angela Ziff also competed at Saturday's championships. Lorack took eighth place in the Division 1 400 (58.35) and Ziff finished a respectable seventh (11:00.90) in the 3200.