Pole Vault

Corona del Mar High Coach Bill Sumner's Memorial Day plan is to train three girls. Sumner said he isn't missing the CIF State track and field finals next week for the third straight season. Sumner's two long-distance runners and one thrower are his ticket to Clovis. CdM seniors Marisa Cummings, Melanie Powers and Jaycee Olsen are three of seven local athletes competing today at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Cerritos College for the opportunity to compete against the state's best the following week.

TRACK AND FIELD CIF Division II preliminaries MOORPARK — Newport Harbor High’s Mark Sakoika, Max Van Bergh, Ryan Andrews, Jake Taylor, Ethan Cochran and Steven Michaelsen advanced to the finals in their respective events Saturday at Moorpark High. Sakoika and Van Bergh both cleared 14 feet, 6 inches to move on in the pole vault. Andrews (55-7 1/2 ) and Taylor (54-6) advanced in the shot put. Cochran (169-0) and Michaelsen (161-3)

Just before competing in the 300-meter hurdles in a dual meet at Laguna Beach last week, Costa Mesa High senior Kaitlin Yamamoto felt the nerves creeping in. The standout track and field athlete for the Mustangs could also feel the pain burning in her hip and back, aches she’s had to deal with the entire season. The thought, or rather nightmare, of finishing in 50 seconds plagued her brain. For the majority of the season, Yamamoto had been wanting to break down that wall of 50, to cross the finish line in a number that doesn’t begin with 5. Victories usually came for Yamamoto, as she won three or sometimes four events, racking up points for Costa Mesa, which has won four straight league titles.

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.

WOMEN’S GOLF NCAA West Regional TEMPE, Ariz. — UC Irvine tied for fourth place Saturday at Karsten Golf Course and earned a berth in the NCAA Finals at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md., May 19-22. The berth is the program’s third appearance in the last five years at the NCAA Championship, as the 2005 team finished 18th and the ’07 squad 19th at the finals. Arizona State won the West Regional title with a 54-hole total of 22-under-par 842. USC finished second at 861, LSU was third at 868 while UCI, TCU and Texas tied for fourth at 873. Carlota Ciganda of Arizona State was the top individual with a 10-under total of 206 after she shot one-under 71 in the final round.

COSTA MESA — Near the finish line, a competitor got on his knees and called Costa Mesa High senior Antwon Byrd a king. If Byrd is a ruler of the sprints for the boys’ team, the girls at Costa Mesa are again the track and field queens. The opposing runner should have bowed to each of the girls Thursday. The Mustangs claimed their fourth straight league championship, their third in the Orange Coast League after beating Laguna Beach, 158-140, at the finals at Jim Scott Stadium.

SACRMENTO — Allison Stokke of Newport Harbor High has spent the last few weeks dealing with sudden Internet fame and dodging the attention it comes with. Saturday, she settled in to attempt to win a second state championship in the girls pole vault. Who knows how much she was affected by things away from the track? She continued to decline comment. Stokke failed three times to clear 12 feet, 10 inches, settling for a fourth-place finish at 12-3 her senior season at the CIF State Championships at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento.