TRACK AND FIELD: VEREEN TURNS UP THE SPEED VALENCIA SPRINTER QUALIFIES 3 TIMES.

Byline: IVAN OROZCO 

Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- Shane Vereen didn't take long to give a glimpse of what he had in store for his competition Friday.

The Valencia sprinter kicked out the anchor leg of the boys' 400 meter relay, zooming past Canyon of Canyon Country's Paul Ned a few steps from the finish line, that gave the Vikings a first-place finish in the first boys' varsity event of the Foothill League track and field championships at College of the Canyons.

Vereen took a slow baton handoff from Nick Hale with Canyon's Ned already ahead by 50 meters. That's when the Vikings standout sprinter and starting running back during football season scorched the final 100 meters to a 49.63 clocking and the league title. Richard Castro and Zach Tartabull ran the first and second legs for the Vikings.

"I was just trying to give my team a chance to win," said Vereen while gasping for air. "I looked up and saw (Ned) ahead of me, that's when I had to turn it on."

Vereen turned off his burners until taking off his shoes after cruising through the 200in 21.83 seconds for his third win of the night.

He won the 100 with in 10.79, qualifying in each of the three events to next week's Southern Section Division I prelims at Trabuco Hills High in Mission Viejo.

League champions in each event automatically qualify to the prelims.

Second- and third-place finishers qualify as long as they meet the minimum standard for their event.

"You don't wake up in the morning hoping to finish second," Vereen said. "There's just very good competition here and it brings out the best in you."

Saugus distance runner Shannon Murakami finished her Foothill League career with the league's all-time best of 4minutes, 47.96 seconds in the girls' mile race. That's three-hundredths of a second faster than her previous league record set last year. Murakami won the gold, finishing ahead of Hart of Newhall's Brooke Russell by about 80 meters.

That's because Russell decided to keep a slower pace after the first three laps.

"Shannon's PR is 15 seconds better than mine," Russell said. "I wanted to save some effort and really concentrate on the 800 instead of trying to catch (Murakami).

Russell went on to take gold in the girls' 800 meters with a 2:17.86 clocking. Murakami also took gold in the 2-mile race, winning it in 10:57.

Hart's Delano Howell qualified for next week's prelims by winning two individual events and anchored the Indians' boys' 4x400 meters relay to a league title.

He blazed through the 400 meters in 48.91, and finished first in the long jump with a 21-foot, 7-inch launch. The Indians' mile relay team took the race with a time of 3:26.88. The Hart girls' 4x400 relay team also took first.

Canyon hurdler Trevor Habberstad burned through the boys' 110 hurdles in 14.63 and the 300 hurdles in 39.25 seconds to take first in both events. Teammate Tyler Woodard placed first in the boys' pole vault, clearing 14 feet, 8 inches.

[e-mail]

[phone]