Agoura Hills' Jonathan Cabral won the Div. III title in the 110 and 300 hurdles.

NORWALK -- Notre Dame once again demonstrated there's strength in numbers when it comes to winning Southern Section track and field championships.

Meanwhile, Rio Mesa of Oxnard's bid for a Div. II boys' title likely came up a man short Saturday at Cerritos College.

Notre Dame opened with a victory in the 400-meter relay in 42.02 seconds, closed the meet with a runner-up finish in the 1,600 relay in 3:20.38 and had four athletes place in the top six in the shot put to clinch back-to-back Div.III championships and the program's seventh in nine seasons, scoring 65 points to distance itself from Woodbridge of Irvine (48).

Despite Rio Mesa's Jamison Jordan winning the 100 (10.45) and 200 (21.11), along with leading off the victorious 400 relay (41.18) and anchoring the runner-up 1,600 relay (3:14.87), the efforts of Steven Richards, LaDarrin Roach and Blake Selig weren't enough to offset the depth of Loyola of Los Angeles, which held off the Spartans' four-man team by a 61-56 margin.

"We almost did it with our four-man army. It was really close," Jordan said. "We knew it was going to be hard and we almost did it. Just one more guy would've made a difference."

After guiding Rio Mesa to a Div.II girls' title last season with six finalists, Spartans coach Brian Fitzgerald nearly pulled off another incredible feat with the two relays, Jordan's four events, Selig in the 100 (10.90) and the long jump (22-9 3/4), and Richards in the 200 (21.75) and 400 (48.92).

 

"I can't tell you how proud I am of these guys," Fitzgerald said. "What they did was incredible."

After not winning an event on its way to capturing the championship last season, Notre Dame's Jarel Fernandez, Kimati Ramsey, Eric McDaniel and Khalfani Muhammad exceeded that total on the 400 relay.

But after a disappointing performance in the discus throw at Mission League finals and the May 15 prelims, Notre Dame rebounded in the shot put, scoring 22 points. Crespi of Encino's Brandon Greenberg won the title with a lifetime-best 61 feet, 4 1/2 inches, with Justin Kirkland second (55-1), Daniel Munyer third (55-0), Ben Gottschalk fourth (53-8 1/2) and Tyler Sulka sixth (51-3) for the Knights.

"We thought the best we could do in the shot put was 23 and we got 22, so that was a good feeling," Notre Dame coach Joe McNab said. "You've got to give credit to the kids because they're so consistent. And every year, we always find different kids and different ways to get it done."

Muhammad took third in the 100 (10.88) and fifth in the 200 (21.96) and McDaniel was sixth in the 100 (11.01) and seventh in the 200 (22.11).

Slater Wayne placed fourth in the 300 hurdles (39.70) and eighth in the 110 hurdles (15.01), and Will Conway took fifth in the 800 (1:56.12).

Oaks Christian of Westlake Village, behind Niko DiMartino's victory in the long jump in 22-10 3/4, Paul Vozzo's triumph in the pole vault (14-0) and a win in the 400 relay (42.99), took second in Div.IV with 49 points. Serra of Gardena captured its fourth consecutive Div. IV title with 135 points.

DiMartino, who was nursing a sore right foot, added a third-place finish in the 100 (10.71).

Burbank's Greg Dotson captured the Div.I title in the 800 in 1:50.42, setting up a showdown at the Southern Section Masters meet with Div.II record-holder Sean Krinik of Valencia of Placentia (1:49.77), who defeated Westlake's Sam DeMello (1:53.21).

"It feels really good being able to represent the school. We haven't had a CIF title in forever, so I'm proud to finally bring that back," Dotson said. "I'm surprised (Sean) went 1:49, especially without me there, but it sets up well for next week. That's the hardest first lap I've run since the beginning of the season, so I feel like now I'm just getting started."

Agoura's Jonathan Cabral continued to build his momentum toward potential state championships in the 110 and 300 hurdles, capturing Div.III titles in both events. Cabral clocked a personal-best 13.58 in the 110, although it was a wind-aided effort, and prevailed in the 300 in 37.59. Golden Valley's Joey Darko took third in the 110 in 14.36.

"That was the cleanest race I've run (in the 110 s) in the longest time that I can remember," Cabral said. "My technique has improved a lot because I practiced on college hurdles this week to make sure I was clean going over. I'm getting closer and closer to my goal of that state record (13.39)."

Paraclete of Lancaster's Brandon Owen captured the Div.IV boys' discus title with an effort of 145-2 and the shot put with a best of 52-0 1/2, and Newbury Park's Pat Smith was third in the Div.II shot put (56-1). Canyon's Kevin Enge won the Div.II high jump, clearing 6-6 and Oak Park's Connor Stark was second in the Div.III pole vault (15-0) based on number of misses.

Thousand Oaks' Kevin Joerger placed second in the 3,200 (9:16.60) in Div.II and Royal of Simi Valley's Sean Davidson was fourth in Div.I (9:13.03). Harvard-Westlake of Studio City's Matthew Bedford took second in the Div.III 400 in 47.92 and third in the 200 in 21.65.

Knight of Palmdale's Jordan Taylor was fifth in the Div.I 200 (21.67) and sixth in the 100 (10.77).

Royal's Travis Edwards placed third in the Div.I 1,600 in 4:14.47 and Camarillo's Erik Pinuelas was second in Div.II in 4:19.36, with Canyon's Chris Low taking fifth in 4:21.50. Crespi's Shane MacMiller took third in Div.III in 4:18.23, with teammate Bryan Bennett placing third in the triple jump (45-1).