Track And Field

First it was tennis for nine years, volleyball for two years and basketball for one year. None of those sports stuck with Jessica Robson at Newport Harbor High. What did was what a teacher at nearby Ensign Intermediate School told Robson. "You're really tall. You should come out for high jump," Robson recalled what the teacher advised her to pursue. "I did. Now it's like my main sport." For now it is for the 6-foot-2 senior. Come next year, the high jump will be one of seven track and field events for Robson, as she enters the world of a heptathlete at Dartmouth College.

Barry Faulkner CORONA DEL MAR - With unspectacular times and marks, Coach Bill Sumner considered his boys team's Pacific Coast League-opening track and field victory over visiting Laguna Beach Thursday just another day at the oval office. "It was a working day, a union day," Sumner said. "Everyone punched in and did their job, but they didn't do anything special." The result was a 93-43 triumph, which improved the Sea Kings to 3-0. CdM junior Matt Moore, in his first full track season, had the most individual success for the winners.

Steve Virgen ARCADIA - Off the track, Julie Allen and Megan Kaltenbach are close friends. On the track, there's hardly a difference. Allen, a Corona del Mar High senior, and Kaltenbach, a junior at Smoky Hills High in Colorado, added fuel to their friendly rivalry in the 3,200-meter race at the Arcadia Invitational Saturday. Allen, who was Kaltenbach's roommate at the Foot Locker Nationals in Florida in December, finished fourth with a personal-best 10:35.

The track and field program at Sage Hill School is in its fifth year of existence, and since the program started, participation has grown by 600%. But that's still not enough to be competitive as a track team, so assistant coach Nate Miller is hoping to draw even more students than the 60-plus athletes the team boasted this year. "It's just caught on," he said. "Track and field is still a relatively new sport for students here. To be part of a team is new for a lot of kids in track and field.

COSTA MESA - Gordie Fitzel will coach the men's and women's track and field teams at Orange Coast College this spring, Fred Hokanson, the interim athletic director, said. Fitzel, who returned from the college earlier this month, started at OCC in 1978 as the men's and women's cross country coach and was also assistant track and field coach. He coached the cross country teams through 1995 and started OCC's women's golf program in 1996. He continued as an assistant track coach through last spring.

Steve Virgen SACRAMENTO - Costa Mesa High junior Sharon Day, the CIF State champion in the high jump, will compete in the prestigious Golden West Invitational today at Sacramento State. Corona del Mar senior Julie Allen, a distance runner bound for Stanford, has pulled out of the 3,200 meters because of illness. Day will compete in the high jump, scheduled for 7:25 p.m. Day, who won the state high jump title with a 5-foot, 10-inch clearance June 1 at Cerritos College, was thrilled to be invited to the postseason track and field prep meet.

COSTA MESA - Get your running shoes on. The Orange County Track Club, which celebrates its 41st birthday this summer, will host the fifth annual Pancake Breakfast 5K Race at 8 a.m. Sunday, June 9, at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa. The race is a fund raiser for Estancia High's cross country teams. Coach Charlie Appell is one of the founders of the track club. Each Tuesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Appell donates his time to coach club members at Orange Coast College's track.

Barry Faulkner COSTA MESA - Well into his third decade coaching track and field at Costa Mesa High, Coach John Carney issues a perennial challenge to his athletes. "Whatever the kids put into it, they'll get out of it," said Carney, who is pleased with the input received, thus far, from his girls team. Senior Julie Kroening is one of few Mustang returners who got a lot out of last season. She was second in the 400 meters at Pacific Coast League Finals and went on to finish fifth in the same event in CIF Southern Section Division III. She will also contribute on both relays, as well as in the long jump.

With a 2011 trip to the state meet denied and a school record mark not reached, Karlèh Wilson entered this track and field season with some unfinished business. As she approaches Friday's CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Cerritos College she is one step away from completing her mission. Wilson, the standout senior and Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, owns the school record in the shotput. Now she's trying to qualify for the state meet, which is June 1 at Buchanan High in Clovis.

WALNUT - Don't get Ethan Cochran wrong. He was happy to win his second straight CIF Southern Section Division 2 title in the discus Saturday. Excited? That's a different story. The Newport Harbor High senior wants more. He'll be excited for a second straight state championship. For now, he's OK with a Division 2 first-place medal. "It's not the most exciting thing because I won it last year," said Cochran, who is bound for Cal. "The more exciting thing is winning state.

Ethan Cochran, Steve Michaelsen and Marty Taylor took turns heaving a rubber shot at a handball wall at Newport Harbor High Wednesday afternoon. They were training for Saturday's CIF Southern Section Track & Field Championships. All around them sounds and actions unfolded like that of a typical high school. Off to the side, football players banged at a rubber tire with a huge mallet. A few girls walked by giggling at the site. Off to the distance, a girl's voice sang, "Paparazzi," by Lady Gaga.

GIRLS' TRACK & FIELD Orange Coast League finals LAGUNA BEACH - Costa Mesa High's Jennifer Daley and Ashley Tupailesa, as well as Estancia's Persis Williams were each league champions in two events Thursday at Laguna Beach High. Estancia senior Diana Guido won the 300 hurdles in 49 seconds and finished third in the 100 hurdles in 18.17. Daley won the 400 meters for the third straight year, this time finishing in 1 minute, .69 seconds. She also won the high jump, clearing 4 feet, 10 inches.

Many times during her three-year high school basketball career, Karléh Wilson wondered if it was all worth it. Transferring in to Corona del Mar High from Louisiana, she said it was hard to fit in during her sophomore year. "There was this power struggle thing going on," Wilson said. "I wanted to be more vocal but I felt like I couldn't. My track career was going a lot better than I thought it would, so I thought I would have to quit basketball so I could focus on track. " Last year she became an elite thrower in track and field.

Jack Butefish August 17, 1932 to January 30, 2012 Jack Butefish passed away from Parkinson's Disease at Silverado Residence in Newport Beach California on Monday morning. Jack was raised by Clinton and Margaret Butefish who came to California from Kansas and were successful in the post WWII baby store business. Jack worked in their stores as a child and then, as his height soared to 6'7”, he excelled as an athlete at Inglewood High School.  When he and his friends went down to the train station in LA to enlist in the Korean War, his height caused him to be sent home because “he couldn't fit into the uniforms and beds”.

Ethan Cochran had more on his mind than taking his finals at Newport Harbor High this week. The senior had a big decision to make in regards to his future after high school. "Sometimes I would sit down and study and all I could think about is where I'm going for college," said Cochran, who had a handful of options. "There has been a lot of stress lately. " Cochran can breathe a sigh of relief. Finals aren't over just yet, but he believes he chose the right college on Wednesday.

Saad F. Nohra (John) September 4, 1932-December 23, 2011 Resident of Alameda, California Born in Alexandria, Egypt on September 4, 1932 to the late Fouad Nohra and Odette Antonios., Saad (John) Nohra passed away peacefully in Alameda, California on December 23, 2011 surrounded by his beloved wife, Irene Nohra and his children Guy(Linda) Nohra, Carol (Gary) Crane, and Maureen Nohra (James Gilchrist). He also leaves behind his loving grandchildren, Brittany and Camille Nohra, Tess, Jason, and Hannah Crane and Quinn and Chloe Gilchrist.

Ethan Cochran went to Myrtle Beach, S.C. to win a trip to France. How did he do it? The Newport Harbor High senior-to-be won the discus event at the World Youth Track and Field Trials Wednesday at Myrtle Beach High. After winning, he was selected to represent the U.S. at the International Assn. of Athletics Federations World Youth Championships July 6 through 10 in Lille, France. "It was relieving," Cochran, when reached by phone, said of being selected to Team USA. "I went back to the school at 6:30 to find out. I had a pretty good feeling I was going to make it though.

Ethan Cochran keeps throwing his name into the Newport Harbor High boys' track and field record book. Two weeks ago, he became the first athlete from his school to win a CIF State title in the discus throw. He followed that up with another notable showing last week. On Saturday, Cochran claimed the discus crown at the Golden West Invitational. He placed first with a 189-foot, seven-inch throw at Folsom High. Teammate Ryan Andrews finished third in the shot put with a personal-best mark of 60-01/4.