Boys Virtual Championship: Trabuco Hills vs. Mission Viejo

Trabuco Hills benefited from an abundance of early season PRs, including marks by seniors Erick Hiller (left) and Issac Korn (far right) and junior Carson Kaminski, in reaching this virtual dual championship match against junior sprinter Peter Costelli and Mission Viejo. (Credits: Joe Hayishbara (TH)/Frank Bellino)

Without question, Mission Viejo was the surprise of the boys bracket of the MileSplitCA March Madness Virtual Dual Meet Tournament. 

The Diablos, seeded 18th, displayed tremendous depth across the event groups and were only challenged once in four meets leading into Monday's championship. 

But Mission Viejo hadn't gone up against a lineup quite like that at Trabuco Hills. 

With seniors Isaac Korn and Erick Hiller accounting for 22 points, and 11 other teammates contributing to the total, the championship battle between two Orange County powers went to Trabuco Hills, 71.5 -- 64.5.

Hiller had the top marks in the discus throw (153-7) and shot put (53-2.50) -- both PRs -- as Trabuco Hills earned a 14-4 advantage in the throws. It was the third time in five meets that Hiller had swept the throws. 

Korn, took top honors in the 200m dash (22.52 PR) and 300m hurdles (38.65 PR) and also contributed third-place points in the 100m (11.40 PR) and 400m as the Mustangs won the hurdles and pulled 10 of 27 points out of the sprints. 

Mission Viejo, strong in the sprints throughout this tournament, went 1-2 in the 100m with junior Peter Costelli and sophomore Kenny Manaserro, 2-3 in the 200m with junior Bryce Bushnell and Costelli, and got a win in the 400m from senior John Burns.

Korn was able to pull points out of each of those sprint events and junior Carson Kaminski added three runner-up points in the 400m as Trabuco Hills chipped away at one of Mission's strength areas. 

The same was true in the distances, where Diablos junior Luke Santagata had fast times in both the 800m and 1600m, but Mustangs junior Landen Lee countered with a win in the 3200m (9:33.00 PR) and runner-up points in the 1600m. And Lee had help as senior Kaiden Sahagun was second in the 800m (2:01.63 PR) and sophomore John Forbes picked up third-place points in the 8 and 1600m (4:36.91 PR). 

Korn and Kaminski went 1-2 in the 300m hurdles, holding Mission Viejo senior Burns to just a single point in an event he had won each of the previous four virtuals. It was another PR for Korn at 38.65 and also for Kaminski (38.87), the Nos. 2 and 6 times in CA based on marks achieved before the 2020 outdoor season was stopped.

An intriguing subplot in this one was following the production of two of the most versatile athletes in this tournament: MV senior Jaycen Cash and TH junior Brandon Chau. Through four tournament virtuals, Cash averaged 12.5 points while scoring in three events. Chau averaged 9.25 while scoring on average in 3.5 events. 

Cash got the best of this dual, pulling in five-point wins in the 110m hurdles and triple jump and four points in the high jump. Chau pulled in points in four events for the third time in five meets, with a win in the long jump, second in the 110m hurdles and 1.5 points from the triple jump and high jump.  

Trabuco Hills senior Andrew Cooper, whose best of 13-7 in the pole vault earned a fifth consecutive meet title and also led the Mustangs to a sweep in that event. With juniors Daniel Metzdorf getting second and Kaiden Johnson third, it would be the only event sweep of the championship.

The 5-10 high jump best for Trabuco Hills senior Augustine Reyes earned him a four-point share of that event title. 

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Congratulations to the Trabuco Hills Mustangs and coach JT Ayers on winning the MileSplitCA March Madness Virtual Dual Meet Tournament CHAMPIONSHIP!!! 

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Here's a closer look at the event-by-event scoring:

Team Scores

NEXT: Check back tomorrow for the girls championship report.