Kelly Leads Marina Past Brea, Orange Lutheran

Marina junior Vanessa Kelly won the 800 and 1,600 meters in a three-way girls’ track and field meet at Brea Olinda Thursday, but it was the race she lost that most impressed Viking Coach Dick Degen.

Marina, which finished with 89 points to defeat Brea (54) and Orange Lutheran (26), had already clinched the victory when Kelly began the final leg of the 1,600 relay about 20 meters behind Brea Olinda’s Chelsea Hessman. Kelly caught Hessman on the backstretch and moved ahead by several meters on the final curve, but her tank went dry and Hessman passed her just before the finish line.

“In the mile relay, that was the best effort I’d ever seen from her,” Degen said. “She showed a lot of competitiveness, which is something that has been missing.”

Kelly didn’t have as much competition in winning the 800 and 1,600 races. She won the four-lap race in 5 minutes 46.2 seconds, well off her personal-best time of 5:24. She came back about an hour later and won the 800 in 2:25.4.

“Vanessa had a real good day,” Degen said. “Her times weren’t great, but she showed us some things that we have been expecting to see.”

Marina and Brea were tied after five events, but the Vikings demonstrated their strength in the field events and pulled away for a 35-point victory.

The Vikings swept the pole vault, led by county leader Caroline Rebello, who cleared 11 feet. Caroline Nguyen was second for Marina after clearing a personal-best 9 feet.

Rebello also won the long jump (15-1 3/4) and teammate Kristen McGregor finished first in the triple jump (32-11 1/2).

Sprinter Kylie McCuen won the 100 in 12.5 seconds, the 200 in 26.2 and anchored the winning 400 relay (52.0) for Brea.

In other nonleague girls’ track and field meets:

Capistrano Valley 82, Aliso Niguel 45--Mychael Westervelt won the high jump (4-8), triple jump (32-5) and long jump (16-6) for Capistrano Valley (1-0).

Mater Dei 75, Woodbridge 61--Grace Rozar won the 200 (26.5) and the 400 (1:01.0) and Jenny Sears won the 1,600 (5:23.9) and 3,200 (11:38.3) for Mater Dei.

Freshman Michelle Sanford won the 100 (12.6), long jump (17-11) and triple jump (37-11) for the Warriors (0-1).

In nonleague boys’ meets:

Aliso Niguel 85, Capistrano Valley 42--Chris Bernard won the 400 (54.5), triple jump (39-2), and longjump (20-6) for Aliso Niguel.

Century 89, Villa Park 46--Antonio Thomas won the 100 (11.4), high jump (6-0) and long jump (22-3 1/2) for Century (1-0).

Kennedy 72, Buena Park 70, Westminster 13--Kelvin Beatty won the 100 yards (10.6), 220 (23.2), long jump (19-7) and the triple jump (36-8 1/2) for Kennedy.

Marina 90, Brea Olinda 63, Orange Lutheran 14--Logan Odden cleared 15-0 in the pole vault for Marina.

Woodbridge 69, Mater Dei 67--The Warriors clinched the victory by winning the last event, the 1,600 relay, in 4:43.60, .01 seconds ahead of Mater Dei.