By Leonard COUTIN

The CIF Masters Meet was held at El Camino College on Saturday on a superb all-weather track. The athletes arrived hoping to secure their place at the CIF State Track & Field Championships held on June 1-2 at Veteran Memorial Stadium, Buchanan High School in Clovis. Field events on Friday will start with high jump and pole vault at 3 p.m. and track qualifying at 5 p.m. On Saturday, the field events will start at 4:30 p.m. and running at 6 p.m.

The Masters Meet brought together the best athletes of all divisions who will then participate in the southern section in the state finals.

Two of Crescenta Valley High School’s finest, seniors Artin Allahverdian and Colin FitzGerald, made the necessary qualifying marks at El Camino.

“I was pretty confident that I would make it to CIF, but I never thought I would get this far,” said Allahverdian. “Going to state is a dream that became reality. It is an amazing feeling when you achieve something you didn’t expect.”

Last year Allahverdian did not advance in the CIF round of competition and knew he needed to step up his game this year.

“I feel that running is a sport that really rewards you for the hard work you put in,” he said. “In some sports you can practice all you want, but if you are not talented or if you did not do the sport from a very young age, then you won’t be that good. But running is pure hard work … and when I first started running in high school, I had no prior running experience.”

During his four years at CV, Allahverdain has been diligent about putting in the necessary training and time into his running. His success and love of the sport has made him more a valuable runner to the team. But he is a wild card moving into the state meet.

“The fact that I qualified for every round of CIF, including making it to the state meet, is pretty wild considering that I didn’t think I would make it this far,” he said. “Also, my 3200m time improved by about 45 seconds from last year to this year, which is the sixth biggest improvement in the country. This just goes to show how hard work and dedication can make anything happen.”

Coach Mark Evans was pleased with his two runners performances on Saturday.

“Both Artin and Colin have demonstrated the tremendous strength they have in being able to come back the past three weeks and qualify for the next meet,” Evans said. “This is a tough thing to do both mentally and physically. They are developing great confidence in what they can do.”

FitzGerald has been a solid presence in an elite class of runners but the pressure it brings is still felt. Trying to decide whether to “race his heart out” or hang back and just get to the next meet has been a priority.

“I was pleased breaking my PR by two-plus seconds. I knew I needed to be either top six or run the time qualifier in the racem so I tried to stay in striking distance of the leaders and execute that plan,” said FitzGerald. “I felt great when I finished and I am looking forward to state next week.”

“Colin came through the 800 in 2:08 and the 1200 in 3:12 with his last lap right at about 59.5,” added Evans. “This is the second fastest 1600 time of anyone at CV. Artin stayed in the pack and came through the first mile in about 4:35. The pace slowed in a bit in the middle three laps to about 71. His last 800 was 2:08 with his last lap about 61 or 62. Last 1600 was 4:32. Both have tremendous strength and speed in the last couple laps.”

Also making the marks to advance to State was Burroughs’ Jagdeep Chahal who won in a PR time of 4:11.09 in the 1600m. He also qualified for third place in the 3200m running an impressive time of 9:04.83. Teammate Elizabeth Switzer qualified in the pole vault with vault of 11-11. Arcadia girls Caitlin Morris, Lauren Buehner, Jillian Taylor and Stephanie Yen qualified for State in the 4×100 relay taking fourth place at the Masters with a time of 47.28. Yen placed sixth jumping 18-03.25 and will attend the State meet as well.

  Leonard Coutin