May 15, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
It was a busy end of last week for area swimmers and track and field athletes as the CIF-Southern Section divisional finals took place last Thursday and Friday at Mt. San Antonio College. But, for a small number of area track and field athletes, it will be their time to shine on Saturday at Moorpark High.
SWIMMING
In Division 2 action, the Cerritos High boys finished in 10th place out of 47 schools, picking up 93 points while the Whitney High girls team picked up 35 points and finished in 24th place out of 45 schools.
Junior Andrew Vet won the 200-yard IM race with a time of 1:50.94, picking up 22 points and was part of the 200-yard relay team along with juniors Andres Garay and Matthew Ho and sophomore Anthony Dornoff, which was the top school in the consolation finals with a time of 1:37.33. That team gained another 20 points.
Dornoff added another 22 points to the team total by winning the 500-yard freestyle race with a time of 4:29.29 and finished in sixth place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 57.09, good for another 15 points.
In Division 3 action, the La Mirada High boys team picked up 43 points, good for 25th place out of 52 schools while the Whitney boys gained 22 points. La Mirada senior Lincoln Jones won the 200-yard IM with a time of 1:51.29 and came in sixth place in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:43.34. Those two events accounted for 37 of the 43 points.
In Division 4 action, the Gahr High boys team finished in 13th place out of 55 schools with 40 points, thanks to senior Carlos Valderrama. He won the 200-yard IM with a time of 1:53.45 and placed third in the 100-yard butterfly race with a time of 49.15. Last year, he won that event with a time of 49.42, which still stands as the division record.
TRACK AND FIELD
Out of 53 individuals and 10 relay teams from last Saturday’s CIF-SS divisional preliminaries, just a handful advanced to the finals. In the Division 3 girls 100 meter High Hurdles, Gahr senior Jody Colbert had the sixth best time at 15.52. She will be running at approximately 2:25 p.m. on Saturday. Although she did not qualify, Colbert also had a time of 12.55 in the 100 meter dash, six spots away from qualifying for the finals.
In Division 4 action, the Valley Christian High 4×400 relay team will enter the finals as the division’s top team after posting a time of 3:24.61. The quartet will race at approximately 6:30 p.m. Sophomore Micah Carter finished in fifth place in the shot put with a distance of 46-06.75 and will start his day at 11:00 a.m. while Whitney senior Shane Garcia finished in fourth place in the triple jump with a mark of 42-07.75 and will be in action sometime in the afternoon.
On the girls side, V.C. sophomore Celia Polk tied Prahlika Hatti of Crossroads High in the pole vault with a mark of 9-6.00 and will start her finals competition at 10:30 a.m.
BOYS TENNIS
Whitney doubled up Great Oak 12-6 last Friday in Division 2 action and travelled to third-ranked Flintridge Prep this past Monday where the Wildcats lost 10-8 while in Division 5, Cerritos High defeated Trabuco Hills High 13-5 last Friday and went to Thatcher High this past Monday. There, the Dons lost 11-7.
La Mirada eliminated Heritage High 12-6 last Friday in a Division 6 match and hosted Beverly Hills this past Monday where the Matadores were doubled up 12-6 while in Division 7 action, Gahr tied Elsinore High 9-9, but advanced to the quarterfinals on games won (72-64). The Gladiators advanced to the quarterfinals with a 13-5 victory over visiting San Jacinto High this past Monday and travelled to Canyon Springs High this past Wednesday. In the semifinals, Gahr had no problems in a 13-5 victory, advancing to the program’s second divisional finals. In 2017, the Gladiators captured the Division 5 title with an easy 14-4 win over Magnolia High. They will take on Katella High Friday afternoon at The Clairemont Club. The fourth-seeded Knights tied Hueneme High 9-9 but advanced in games won (74-71).
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