Pole Vault

TRACK AND FIELD Newport Harbor Sailors' junior Sophie Evans cleared 9 feet, 10 inches to win the girls' Division II title in the pole vault at the Mt. Carmel Invitational at Mt. Carmel High in San Diego Saturday. Senior Mark Sakioka tied for second place in the boys' Division I pole vault, clearing 15-2. Max Van Bergh set a personal best with a 14-2. Newport Harbor's Titus Hasson won his heat in the 100 meters in 11.2 seconds at the Laguna Hills Invitational.

UC Irvine sophomore Erin Curtis broke her own school record and set a meet record in winning the pole vault with a mark of 13-2 1/4 in the Big West Challenge Track & Field Cup Saturday afternoon. She also won the 100 meters in 12.02, and finished second in the 200 meters (24.66). Suzanne Purmort won the 400-meter hurdles in 1:02.65, while Annmarie Turpin won the high jump at 5-7 and Jessica Stafford was second at 5-5 3/4. Stafford won the javelin throw with a toss of 127-8.

MISSION VIEJO — Ties aren't supposed to happen at the Orange County Track and Field Championships, but that's what Newport Harbor High senior Mark Sakioka found himself in late Saturday morning. The heat, approaching 90 degrees, was bearing down on Sakioka and his good friend, El Toro senior Adam Bragg. Both had cleared 15 feet, 9 inches in the pole vault, but what did they have left? "It was the wrong day to be wearing long black tights," Sakioka said. "Right when I got out from under my umbrella, I could feel the heat.

It’s the event in track and field that could be considered an extreme sport. But that doesn’t seem to faze four Newport Harbor High sophomores. They just go about their business and compete in the pole vault. Sure there’s danger, but that’s not the main storyline for Mark Sakioka, Max Van Bergh, Allison Krugman and Siara Fabbri. They’re all about success and keeping the Sailors known for their pole vaulting. This is not just about one girl grabbing attention for her cover-model looks all over the Internet.

CLOVIS — When Mater Dei High senior Scott Cook began practicing the pole vault four years ago, he was aware it was a dangerous event in track and field. There were times when the Newport Beach resident experienced some scary attempts at clearing the bar. But then again he said he has had so many successful vaults he just blocked out the frightening ones. There was no reason to be afraid Saturday at Buchanan High in Clovis. He won the CIF State championship in the pole vault, clearing 16 feet, 3 inches, a personal record.

On certain days during this month, Allie Krugman has spent her time at Pepperdine University. It's a break from the norm, something she can use as she intensely works on the pole vault. At Pepperdine, she can escape, studying film with others as part of the digital filmmaking camp. She now knows how to shoot a short film. A live camera might be needed for Krugman today. It could provide entertainment, maybe even a happy ending. Krugman, an incoming senior at Newport Harbor High, will compete in the National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships in Sacramento.

Name: Krisserin Canary Born: Oct. 6, 1984 Hometown: Newport Beach Height: 5-foot-5 Weight: 140 Sport: Track and field Event: Pole vault Coach: Bill Sumner, John Blair and Marina High's Kevin Magula Favorite food: Steak and potatoes Favorite movie: "Labyrinth Best athletic moment: "Clearing 11-6 at the Arcadia Invitational (April 13). I was so happy I cried." Athlete of the Week XX: The CdM senior cleared 11 feet, 6 inches to tie her own school record and advanced to the Masters Meet, finishing fourth in the pole vault in CIF Division III, May 18 at Cerritos College.

Rick Devereux At high school pole vault competitions, athletes waiting for their turn to jump can be seen getting mentally prepared through a variety of methods. Some bob their head and lip-sync to music playing on their headphones. Some jog through the correct technique on unused portions of nearby runways. Some sit apart from their competitors in order to better concentrate on the task that lay ahead. But there might also be a girl with black, tightly-braided ponytails who does not look as intense as the other girls.

Former Costa Mesa High standout Sharon Day, the 2003 CIF State high jump champion, along with Newport Harbor's Allison Stokke, the 2004 CIF State pole vault champion, will be competing in the U.S. junior outdoor track and field championships this weekend at Texas A&M University. Day, who will be a sophomore at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the fall, will be in action today at around 6 p.m. Stokke, a sophomore-to-be for the Sailors, will be competing in the pole vault Sunday at approximately 6:45 p.m. The age 20-and-under athletes in the meet are competing for the right to represent Team USA at the world junior championships July 13-18 in Grossetto, Italy.

Steve Virgen PALO ALTO - UC Irvine freshman Erin Curtis, one of five Anteaters who will compete in the USA Junior National Track and Field Championships at Stanford today and Saturday, has received huge inspiration to achieve her personal best in the pole vault. Jenny Liou, Kelli Vanderburg, Mike Beerer and David Santos will also represent the Anteaters in the junior nationals. Curtis, who owns the school record in the pole vault (12-9 1/2), was seven centimeters away from qualifying for the NCAA Championships, which now serves as motivation.

WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD Big West Championships NORTHRIDGE - UC Irvine sophomore Itos Aikhionbare finished second in the shotput with a throw of 50 feet 11 1/2 inches during the first day of the two-day competition at Cal State Northridge on Friday. UCI's Carlotta Pham finished sixth in the 10,000 meters. Megan Benson ran a 14.07 in the 100-meter hurdle preliminaries and advanced to Saturday's final. The time is the fifth fastest in UCI history. UCI's Paige Bushnell also moved on to the 100 hurdles final (14.18)

BOYS' TRACK & FIELD Sunset League finals HUNTINGTON BEACH - Newport Harbor High's Marty Taylor won the shotput with a personal-best mark of 62 feet, 5 inches, and was also champion in the discus (186-6), Thursday at Huntington Beach High. Taylor led a 1-2-3-4 finish in the shotput. Ramsey Hufford finished second (54-0), freshman Joe Stukonis was third (53-5) and Will Fortier was fourth (52-9). They all qualified for next week's CIF Southern Section Division 2 preliminaries.

BASEBALL Beckman 3, Corona del Mar 2 IRVINE — Freshman Brenden Heuston went two for three with one run batted in as the visiting Sea Kings flirted with an upset of the Pacific Coast League-leading Patriots on Wednesday. Sam Younesi drove in the other run for CdM (6-13, 2-7 in league), for which Peter Walecka pitched a complete game, allowing six hits. A bad-hop single led to Beckman's go-ahead run in the sixth and CdM had the tying run on second with one out in the seventh, before its next two hitters struck out. GIRLS' TRACK & FIELD Fountain Valley 85, Newport Harbor 51 FOUNTAIN VALLEY — Erin Barth won the 1,600 meters (five minutes, 21.3 seconds)

BOYS' LACROSSE Corona del Mar 9, San Clemente 6 CORONA DEL MAR - Senior attacker Jack Ortlieb produced four goals for the Sea Kings, ranked No. 5 in the state by laxpower.com, who remained undefeated after Saturday's home match. CdM (6-0) and San Clemente (5-3) met in last year's U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division finale, which the Sea Kings won, 9-6, at Dana Hills High. The Sea Kings broke away in the second half, getting goals from Ortlieb, Casey Mix, Brett Nelson and Max Kline.

SOFTBALL Doubleheader COSTA MESA - Corona del Mar High swept the doubleheader, beating Estancia, 15-5, in a five-inning opener before blasting the Eagles, 13-1, in a two-inning second game. CdM senior Delaney Owen pitched the opener for the Sea Kings and also went two for two with two runs batted in. Keaton Gaughan was two for three with two RBIs, and Taryn Maister was three for four with a triple and two RBIs. Lindsey Susolik added a home run for CdM (9-6)

Last year, Coach Tony Ciarelli took one Newport Harbor High thrower to the CIF State Track and Field Championships. Three throwers made the trip Thursday afternoon to Clovis, the site of state. This is the most throwers Ciarelli has taken to state in his 17 years at Newport Harbor. Ciarelli believes each of his boys, juniors Ethan Cochran and Steve Michaelsen in the discus throw, senior Ryan Andrews in the shot put, have a chance to medal. Senior pole vaulter Mark Sakioka, the fourth Newport Harbor athlete at state, can reach the podium as well.

Mark Sakioka once said Newport Harbor High has one of the best boys' pole vaulting programs in the state. If that is the case, the Sailors are royalty when it comes to the boys' throwing events. The number of throwers from Newport Harbor at the CIF Southern Section Masters meet Friday at Cerritos College is four, compared to two pole vaulters. The four throwers, Ethan Cochran and Steve Michaelsen in the discus, Ryan Andrews and JB Salem in the shot put, and two pole vaulters, Sakioka and Fritz Howser, have one goal in common.

Newport Harbor High fields a strong contingent at the CIF Southern Section track and field divisional finals Saturday at Cerritos College. All of the Sailors' eight athletes competing, it turns out, are actually in the "field" part of track and field. Senior Mark Sakioka is one of the top pole vaulters in the state and will be looking to take home a Division II title. Sakioka is third in the state with a school-record height of 16 feet, 2 1/2 inches this year and was one of eight vaulters to clear 14-3 to finish top nine and advance at last week's Division II preliminaries, a list that also included teammate Fritz Howser.

BOYS' TRACK & FIELD CIF Southern Section Division II preliminaries MOORPARK — Newport Harbor High's Ethan Cochran qualified first in the discus throw with a mark of 181 feet, 7 inches to pace the Sailors on Saturday at Moorpark High. Ryan Andrews qualifed third in the shot put (56-5), in which JB Salem qualified fifth (55-7) and Trevor Lawrence qualified ninth. Steven Michaelsen qualified fifth in the discus (170-8). Sailors Mark Sakioka and Fred Howser both qualified in the pole vault with a clearance of 14-3.

BOYS' TRACK AND FIELD Sunset League finals NORWALK — Senior Mark Sakioka broke his own school pole vault record and the Newport Harbor boys won their first league title in at least 11 years at Cerritos College on Thursday, with the discus events completed Friday at Huntington Beach High. Newport Harbor finished with 119 points and is considered co-champion with Fountain Valley, which went 5-0 in dual meets, Coach Nowell Kay said. Los Alamitos was second at league finals with 97 points.