1976 Track: Poway’s Middleton Earned Section’s Lone State Championship.

There were many good marks during the season, but it remained for Poway’s Kathy Middleton to bring home the only gold medal for the San Diego Section in the 58th State Track meet at Edwards Field in Berkeley.

Middleton had a winning discus throw of 134-5, topping Susan Springer of Salinas (132-11) after Middleton’s 131-6 in the Friday trials set the pace.

To win the first-ever girls state discus, Middleton battled back twice in the finals after falling behind Springer and “showed tremendous poise and determination,” wrote Steve Brand of The San Diego Union.

After tying for first at 5 feet, 5 inches in the high jump in the trials, Chris Remmling of San Dieguito was sixth in the final at 5-4.

Hildria Newell of Chula Vista had the best Boys performance, third in the 100 in :10.1 as the field was running into a strong head wind.

Most personally satisfying performance probably was that of Helix discus thrower Kris Lettow, whose throw of 182-9 was a career best and he defeated the usually favored Mark Malone of El Cajon Valley, who finished ninth at 163-7 and who had one of the best marks in the country at 192-6.

5/11/76

SAN DIEGO SECTION TRIALS

Ramona (Coast), Monte Vista (Grossmont), Balboa Stadium (Eastern), Castle Park (Metropolitan), and Mesa College (Western) were hosts for the preliminaries.

—Kris Lettow of Helix won a shot put qualifier in which five Grossmont weight men bettered 50 feet.

Lettow (56-1 ½) topped Mark Malone of El Cajon Valley (55-11 ¼), Ken Pole of El Capitan (54-4 ¾), Matt Gauthier of Valhalla (53-11 ½), Ricondo of El Cajon Valley (52-1 ¾), and Kirk Drummond of Helix (50-2 ¼).

Malone (186-0) bested Lettow (172-1) in the discus.

—Kevin Dorrell of Helix was the leader in the long jump (21-6) and triple jump (44-10 ¾).

—David Russell of Patrick Henry doubled in :09.8 and :21.5 in the sprints at Balboa Stadium. Jimmy Hooker of Morse also was a double winner in :10.1 and :22.

—Chula Vista’s Hildria Newell, a transfer from Oklahoma, paced Metropolitan League sprinters with wins in :09.8 and :22.

—Pursal of Point Loma won Western League sprint heats in :10 and :22.2.

5/13/76

—Cheryl Flowers, 14-year-old Valhalla runner, offered a distinctive perspective on what it would mean to earn a berth in the state track meet:

“The whole thing will be fun if I make it, but the airplane ride with all the other athletes from this area will be the highlight,” she told Steve Brand of The San Diego Union.

Flowers’ 5:16.9 mile was almost 10 seconds faster than any other runner in the Girls’ San Diego Section Quarterfinals at Madison, with entries from the Grossmont, Metropolitan, and Western leagues.

—Point Loma’s Karen Taylor won an 80-yard low hurdles race in :11.2, long jumped 17-4, and ran a leg for the winning Pointers’ 440 relay, which was timed in :49.6.

5/14/76

EASTERN LEAGUE FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM.

Amid a routinely controversial 4×100 relay race, Patrick Henry’s David Russell logged a San Diego Section-leading :09.7 100-yard dash, Richard Woodson of Hoover long jumped 23 feet, 5 ¾ inches, Harry Cash of Crawford set a meet record of 45-6 in the triple jump, and Lincoln ran 3:22.5 in the mile relay.

Lincoln also won the short relay in :42.5 but was disqualified for a passing zone violation and Morse was out of it after a dropped baton.

Lincoln protested, noting that starter George Schutte made the decision from across the field on the other side of the track and that there was no judge watching passing lanes.

Similar misfortunes often had happened before in these Eastern showdowns, but on this occasion coaches raised the bar to the absurd, determining Lincoln and Morse could enter the San Diego Section trials as non-scoring relay squads.

Only four teams–also Crawford and Patrick Henry– were in the race and by rule the Eastern League was allotted four entries to the trials.

A peevish San Diego Section commissioner Don Clarkson chided the coaches, pointing out that anyone or any team entered would be competing and not “non-scoring.”

“If the coaches start playing games that they’re not going to count this and not counting that we’re going to have a mess,” Clarkson told Nick Canepa of the Evening Tribune.

—By winning the shot put at 55-2 ½, Milton Wiggins of St. Augustine completed three seasons unbeaten in dual and league competition.

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE FINALS, @CASTLE PARK

Chula Vista’s Hildria Newell enjoyed the breezes essentially native to the Trojans track, running a wind-aided 100 in :09.6 and then doubling back to win the 220 in :21.9, and anchored the Spartans to a :42.6 win in the 440 relay.

COAST LEAGUE FINALS, @ESCONDIDO

Mike Brajevich won the 120-yard high hurdles in :14.8 and Poway outlasted Mt. Carmel for the team championship, 66-60.

Best event was the 440, won by Scott Stine of Poway in edging Rudolph of La Jolla, each with the same time, :50, followed by Ramirez (:50.2) and Lines (:50.9) of Torrey Pines.

GROSSMONT LEAGUE FINALS, @MONTE VISTA

Paul Nevue of Grossmont won a hot 880 in 1:54.6 (Helix’ Nick Claccio followed in 1:54.9 and three others shaded two minutes) and edged Matt Throneberry of El Capitan in the 1600 by one tick of the clock in 4:19.6.

El Cajon Valley’s Mark Malone won the shot put at 57-8 ½ and the discus at 186-6, beating Helix’ Kris Lettow, who maxed out at 55-5 ¾ and 172-1.

—Helix’ Mike Durden, son of Chargers running backs coach Earnel Durden, won the 440 in :49.9.

AVOCADO LEAGUE FINALS, @VISTA

Dokie Williams doubled for Oceanside, winning the long jump at 22-8 ½ and triple jump at 48-1.

Blair Clausen of Escondido trailed Williams in the jumps at 22-7 ½ and 45-1 ¾.

Three high jumpers cleared 6-6, led by Greg Rackley of Escondido at 6-6 ¾.

WESTERN LEAGUE FINALS, @MESA COLLEGE

Chris Powell of Point Loma, byed into the final after a poor showing in the trials because of a hip injury,  qualified third in the 880 at 2:01, behind the 1:58.4 by Williams of Madison.

SOUTHERN LEAGUE FINALS, @CARLSBAD

Christian won 11 of the 15 events and outscored Mountain Empire, 212-124 for the team championship.

5/21/76

SAN DIEGO SECTION TRIALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Patrick Henry’s David Russell anchored a 440 relay victory of :42.9 and tied Elijah Jefferson’s County records of :09.5 and :21.1 in the 100 and 220.

Russell’s great day was marred when he bobbled and dropped the baton on the last leg of the mile relay, in which the Patriots were favored.

—Battling a sore groin muscle, Oceanside’s Dokie Williams was unplaced at 19-10 ½ in the long jump but managed the day’s best 46-8 ½ in the triple jump.

—Thom Hunt of Patrick Henry, national leader at 4:06.8 in the mile but coming off strep throat, qualified at 4:24.2, second in his heat to the 4:21.2 of Valhalla’s Mark Floyd.

—El Cajon Valley’s Mark Malone mused about dropping the shot put after leading qualifiers at 57-11¾  but reinjured his back on an unnecessary throw after he had clinched.

Malone made 163-2 in the discus, second to the 167-0 of Helix’ Kris Lettow, below.

Helix’ Kris Lettow affected hirsute style of the day and was consistent scorer in shot put and discus.

5/28/76

16^TH SAN DIEGO SECTION FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Lincoln’s Michael Patrick made up 20 yards on the last lap with a :47.5 anchor leg that got the Hornets to third place and a championship-clinching 26 points to 25 for Helix in a battle for the team championship.

—Patrick Henry, the consensus favorite and a pick to win five events by Steve Brand of The San Diego Union, was shocked when Greg LaCoste, who had cleared 6-10 in the high jump, was unplaced after clearing only 6-4.

Thom Hunt’s 4:14.7 mile was the Patriots’ only first place.  David Russell was beaten by Hildria Newell of Chula Vista in :09.8 and :21.6 sprints, and Hunt, who had a career best of 8:45.7 in the two-mile, was third in 9:16.3.

—Patrick staggered to the end in the mile relay and collapsed at the finish line—“I just pooped out,”—he told Nick Canepa of the Evening Tribune,  although Lincoln’s 3:21.6 matched that of the 1-2 teams, Morse and Crawford.

Lincoln, reinstated in the 440 relay, was first in :41.6, and Morse, another second-chancer, was second in :41.9.

—El Cajon Valley’s Mark Malone withdrew from the shot put but set a  meet record of 182-5 in the discus.

Individual champions:

2^ND GIRLS SAN DIEGO SECTION CHAMPIONSHIPS, @BALBOA STDIUM

6/3/76

58^TH  BOYS  STATE TRACK TRIALS, @EDWARDS FIELD, BERKELEY.

1st GIRLS STATE TRACK TRIALS, @EDWARDS FIELD, BERKELEY

6/4/76

58^TH BOYS STATE TRACK FINALS, @EDWARDS FIELD, BERKELEY

2^ND GIRLS STATE TRACK FINALS, @EDWARDS FIELD, BERKELEY

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