The Los Alamitos High School Track and Field Team capped off what is being called a historic season with solid performances at the CIF State Track Meet this weekend. The 4×100-meter relay team, which consisted of juniors Ashley Willingham, Anijah Green plus seniors Kenna and Sara Limp, started the Friday Preliminary races by qualifying 6th for the Finals. In Saturday night’s Finals, the team raced to a photo finish against the Rio Mesa team, which included the second ranked sprinter in the Nation, Zaria Francis. The team battled all the way through and placed 7th with a time of 47.297 seconds, which was just 0.002 from a medal. In the 400-meter race, junior Ashley Willingham was just off her personal best times and missed qualifying for the Final by 0.07 tenths of a second to finish the meet in 12th place. Junior Thomas Heib, Los Al’s sole State Qualifier for the Boy’s Team, qualified for the Finals with a 3rd place finish in his Preliminary heat.
Heib then came up .06 tenths of a second short of a medal and placed 7th in the Finals. In the long distances, senior Katie Izzo, who has run the 3200m only seven times in her career, (all this season, each a school record) launched a strong kick with 600 meters to go to break away from a chase pack and move into 3rd position. A final kick by Marissa Williams of Palisades pushed Izzo back to 4th but her time of 10 minutes, 21.67 seconds lowered her school record by 11 seconds and moved her to 7th in Orange County All-Time. Event winner, Destiny Collins of Great Oak won in a Nationwide top time of 9:53.79. The Griffin’s 4×400 relay, which consisted of seniors Sarah Pisani, Brianna Taylor, Sara Limp and junior Ashley Willingham, had their work cut out in the highly competitive qualifying heats on Friday. After receiving the baton in 8th place, Texas Tech bound senior Sara Limp impressed the crowd as she passed five teams while running a 54.6 second split in the third leg. Willingham then held off the Redondo Beach team as she ran a 54.3 anchor leg. The relay’s Prelims time of 3:48.97 lowered their school record and moved them to 3rd in Orange County All-Time, and qualified them for Saturday’s Final where they came in 6th place with a time of 3:49.29.
In total during the 2015 season, the Griffins broke 15 school records, generated eight Orange County All-Time Top ten performances, 7 California 2015 Top 10 performances and a USA number four and number one ranking.
Summary of Los Al Track & Field’s Record Breaking 2015 Season:
Varsity Girls: Sunset League Champions, Orange County Champions
Varsity Boys: Sunset League Champions
JV Boys: Sunset League Champions
F/S Girls: Sunset League Champions
Andrew Carty (senior):
Boys 400-meter (48.25) LAHS Record, 19th overall in California
Thomas Heib (junior):
Boys 800-meter (1:51.49) LAHS Record, 15th in Orange County All-Time, 4th overall in California, 29th in the Nation.
Katie Izzo (senior):
Girls 800-meter (2:10.45) LAHS Record, 20th overall in Orange County All-Time, 17th overall in California.
Girls 1600-meter (4:55.27) LAHS Record, 24th overall in California.
Girls 3200-meter (10:21.67 LAHS Record, 7th overall in Orange County All-Time, 8th overall in California, 22th in the Nation
Sara Limp (senior):
Girls 100-meter (11.88w; 11.94 wind legal) LAHS Record, 3rd overall in Orange County All-Time, 17th overall in California.
Girls 200-meter (23.95w; 24.18 wind legal) LAHS Record, 2nd overall in Orange County All-Time, 9th overall in California.
Ashley Willingham (junior):
Girls 400-meter (54.89) LAHS Record, 3rd overall in Orange County All-Time, 9th overall in California
Boys 4×200-meter Relay team (1:29.13) LAHS Record, 16th overall in Orange County All-Time, 11th overall in California:Manuel Gomez (senior), Holden Edmondson (junior), Andrew Carty (senior), Brandon Douglas (senior)
Boys 1600-meter Sprint Medley Relay team (3:27.64) LAHS Record, 5th overall in Orange County All-Time, 1st overall in California, 4th overall in the nation: Brandon Douglas, Manuel Gomez, Andrew Carty, Thomas Heib.
Girls 4×100-meter Relay team (46.91) LAHS Record, 3rd overall in Orange County All-Time, 12th overall in California, 47th overall in the Nation: Ashley Willingham (junior), Anijah Green (junior), Kenna Limp (senior), Sara Limp (senior)
Girls 4×200-meter Relay team (1:40.42) LAHS Record, 6th overall in California: Ashley Willingham, Brianna Taylor (senior), Kenna Limp, Sara Limp.
Girls 4×400-meter Relay team (3:48.97) LAHS Record, 3rd overall in Orange County All-Time, 11th overall in California, 48th overall in the Nation: Sarah Pisani (senior), Brianna Taylor, Sara Limp, Ashley Willingham.
Girls 4×800-meter Relay team (9:32.18) LAHS Record, 14th overall in Orange County All-Time, 16th overall in California: Bronsyn Ledgard (freshman), Ashley Willingham, Nicole Bliss (sophomore), Katie Izzo(senior).
Girls 1600-meter Sprint Medley Relay team (3:58.63) LAHS Record, 1st overall in Orange County All-Time, 1st overall in California, 1st overall in the Nation: Anijah Green, Sara Limp, Ashley Willingham, Katie Izzo.
For additional information about the Los Alamitos High School Track and Field program, including the 2015 Schedule, News and School Performance Lists can be found at the website www.losaltrack.com.
