Edison boys’ track and field sprints past Los Alamitos

The Edison High boys’ track and field team was considered the one that could rise up and challenge defending Surf League champion Los Alamitos.

Certainly, several of the Chargers wanted to, with senior hurdler Cole Koffler voicing the opinion that the Griffins were Edison’s primary league rival across all sports.

It came down to the last race on Wednesday, with the Edison 1,600-meter relay team locking up a 72-64 win for the host Chargers in their first Surf League dual meet of the season.

The quartet of Jack de Bos, Jeff Hass, Wylie Cleugh and Ryan Rivituso ran a blistering time of 3 minutes 24.68 seconds, jumping up to fifth in the state in the event.

“With the whole team out here standing on the sidelines, cheering you on while you’re pushing your hardest, it really makes it a lot easier to put in that extra kick,� Rivituso said of capping the win with the final relay. “There’s no feeling like it.�

Edison’s Cole Koffler clears a hurdle near the finish line to win the 110-meter high hurdles during the Surf League dual meet against Los Alamitos on Wednesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Chargers coach Derek Harrison was among those impressed by Cleugh, a distance runner who was plugged in as the third leg of the 1,600 relay, running it in 52 seconds flat.

“He’s a freshman, and he did really well,� Harrison said. “He really made a difference to help that relay because he was our unknown factor in that relay, and he stepped up and he made a big, big impact.

Edison’s Conor Zeutzius, right, and teammate Jack de Bos get tangled up on the baton exchange on the last leg of the 400-meter relay during the Surf League dual meet against Los Alamitos on Wednesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“We don’t have anybody other than those three guys who run that fast, so right now, he has pretty much assured himself a spot on that relay team.�

Things started off disastrously for the Chargers. They failed to score in one of their best events, as the final exchange of the baton could not be completed between Conor Zeutzius and de Bos in the 400 relay.

A sweep of the nine team points in the high jump helped Edison get back into it. Tyler Hampton led those in the field, matching his personal-best clearance at a height of six feet, four inches.

Edison has had proficient high jumpers in recent seasons, including state qualifiers AJ Beynon and Aiden Garnett. Hampton has designs on joining them.

“They were really good,� Hampton said, “but I just got to do my best to try to make my own legacy.�

Koffler also attempted to fire up the team, letting out a celebratory, “Let’s go!� after he led the field in the 110 hurdles in 15.83 seconds.

“I just wanted to beat Los Al,� Koffler said. “It’s kind of been my goal since freshman year to beat them in anything I can, and then when I finally get a layup on them, it pumps me up.

“I kind of try to reciprocate that energy on the rest of the team because to me, personally, Los Al is our rival. I want to install that ‘Beat Los Al’ mentality into everyone.�

A big turning point in the meet saw Edison take all nine points in the 200 sprints, with Rivituso (22.67), Hass (22.85) and de Bos (22.87) finishing in that order.

“That was awesome,� Rivituso said. “Being able to sweep the 200 was super fun. After that, when I heard that it was going to possibly come down to the [1,600 relay], I knew that we were going to be able to win it.�

Zeutzius doubled as the winner of the long jump (19-10½) and the triple jump (39-2¾) for the Chargers.

Los Alamitos’ Sawyer Howard swept the throws, achieving marks of 59-1½ in the shotput and 141-3 in the discus throw.

The Griffins defeated the Chargers 85-51 in the girls’ meet.

Edison’s Hannah Forest runs the last leg of the 400-meter relay team’s win during the Surf League dual meet against Los Alamitos on Wednesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Maisy Berry was a standout for the Chargers on the girls’ side, winning the 100 and the 200 individually. She also teamed up with Kailey Frye, Abby Schilling and Hannah Forest to win the 400 relay.

Mackenzie Kirk set a school record in the triple jump for Los Alamitos, leaping to a mark of 37-10½.

“They were just all screaming,� Kirk said of celebrating with her teammates at the jumps pit. “They usually scream for me when I’m running, in general, but I was screaming with them. Usually, I don’t scream with them, but I got a new [personal record] today, so it’s like hands up in the air screaming.�

Kirk also won the high jump at 5-2.

Erin Larios also swept the throws for the Griffins. She took the shotput with a toss of 31-5½ and the discus throw with a mark of 99-10.

Edison’s Megan Weiss, center, clears a hurdle en route to winning the 100-meter high hurdles during the Surf League dual meet against Los Alamitos on Wednesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

BOYS’ TRACK AND FIELD

Surf League

Edison 72, Los Alamitos 64

100 – 1. Reyes (Los Alamitos) 10.97; 2. Hass (Edison) 11.13; 3. Dowdell (Los Alamitos) 11.20

200 – 1. Rivituso (Edison) 22.67; 2. Hass (Edison) 22.85; 3. de Bos (Edison) 22.87

400 – 1. Rivituso (Edison) 50.05; 2. de Bos (Edison) 50.74; 3. Mitchell (Los Alamitos) 51.14

800 – 1. Gonzalez (Los Alamitos) 2:03.44; 2. Ung (Los Alamitos) 2:03.83; 3. Cleugh (Edison) 2:04.74

1,600 – 1. Rogers (Los Alamitos) 4:39.65; 2. Rosenthal (Los Alamitos) 4:40.87; 3. Cleugh (Edison) 4:41.81

3,200 – 1. Rosenthal (Los Alamitos) 10:14.59; 2. Lebovitz (Los Alamitos) 10:18.28; 3. Rogers (Los Alamitos) 10:20.87

110HH – 1. Koffler (Edison) 15.83; 2. Scott (Los Alamitos) 16.00; 3. Nowlin (Edison) 16.09

300IH – 1. Nowlin (Edison) 42.39; 2. Barham (Los Alamitos) 44.95; 3. Scott (Los Alamitos) 46.36

400 relay – 1. Los Alamitos 43.33; Edison DNF

1,600 relay – 1. Edison 3:24.68; 2. Los Alamitos 3:29.56

HJ – 1. Hampton (Edison) 6-4; 2. Burkhart (Edison) 5-8; 3. Hollenback (Edison) 5-6

LJ – 1. Zeutzius (Edison) 19-10½; 2. Keehn (Edison) 19-3¼; 3. Wempe (Los Alamitos) 18-11¼

TJ – 1. Zeutzius (Edison) 39-2¾; 2. Wempe (Los Alamitos) 38-11; 3. Trinh (Edison) 38-6

PV – 1. Brok (Los Alamitos) 13-6; 2. Delapre (Edison) 13-0; 3. Fernly (Los Alamitos) 11-0

SP – 1. Howard (Los Alamitos) 59-1½; 2. Jordahl (Edison) 43-2¾; 3. Jones (Edison) 40-8

DT – 1. Howard (Howard) 141-3; 2. Zeman (Edison) 137-1; 3. Tuliau (Los Alamitos) 128-11

GIRLS’ TRACK AND FIELD

Surf League

Los Alamitos 85, Edison 51

100 – 1. Berry (Edison) 12.70; 2. Wilson (Los Alamitos) 12.83; 3. Hines (Los Alamitos) 13.04

200 – 1. Berry (Edison) 27.03; 2. Wilson (Los Alamitos) 27.14; 3. Schilling (Edison) 27.64

400 – 1. Allen (Los Alamitos) 1:01.30; 2. Guyness (Los Alamitos) 1:01.89; 3. Tarvin (Edison) 1:02.96

800 – 1. Halfhill (Los Alamitos) 2:28.23; 2. Guerrero (Los Alamitos) 2:29.65; 3. Knox (Edison) 2:30.47

1,600 – 1. Faris (Los Alamitos) 5:25.73; 2. Sullivan (Los Alamitos) 5:27.59; 3. Becker (Los Alamitos) 5:39.03

3,200 – 1. Becker (Los Alamitos) 12:24.01; 2. Aguirre (Edison) 13:16.82; 3. Keough (Edison) 13:59.46

100HH – 1. Weiss (Edison) 15.99; 2. Kirk (Los Alamitos) 17.35; 3. Swartz (Edison) 17.46

300IH – 1. Stolaruk (Edison) 50.20; 2. Nelson (Los Alamitos) 50.51; 3. Weiss (Edison) 52.05

400 relay – 1. Edison 50.45; 2. Los Alamitos 50.91

1,600 relay – 1. Los Alamitos 4:10.71; 2. Edison 4:14.42

HJ – 1. Kirk (Los Alamitos) 5-2; 2. Wiggs (Los Alamitos) 5-0; 3. Saito (Edison) 4-10

LJ – 1. Forest (Edison) 16-4¾; 2. Frye (Edison) 16-½; 3. Kirk (Los Alamitos) 15-10½

TJ – 1. Kirk (Los Alamitos) 37-10½; 2. Frye (Edison) 35-¾; 3. Forest (Edison) 33-2¼

PV – 1. Cruz (Los Alamitos) 10-0; 2T. Kottman (Edison) 8-0; 2T. Frye (Edison) 8-0

SP – 1. Larios (Los Alamitos) 31-5½; 2. Packard (Los Alamitos) 31-¼; 3. Iriarte (Los Alamitos) 28-3¼

DT – 1. Larios (Los Alamitos) 99-10; 2. Iriarte (Los Alamitos) 87-4; 3. Packard (Los Alamitos) 69-11

::

Support our sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.

For more sports stories, visit latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/sports or follow us on Twitter @DailyPilotSport.