Zach Lewis has been there before, but he might try a different route to return there.
Lewis is a Pacifica senior who is the Orange County track and field leader in the shot put and discus. He qualified for the CIF State Championships meet in both events last season.
He will try to do so again in both events Saturday when he competes in the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Moorpark High. The top six finishers in each event Saturday qualify for the CIF State Championships in Clovis on May 24 and 25.
Lewis finished sixth in the shot put in last year’s state meet with a mark of 58 feet, 11.5 inches and was 13th in the discus at 178 feet, 1 inch. Lewis has surpassed both of these marks this year with season bests of 60-5.5 in the shot put and 180-4 in the discus.
Lewis, who last week won the Division 3 shot put (59-1.5) and discus (178-1) titles at the CIF-SS finals, said his weight training is different than it was at this time last year.
“I’m lowering my reps (repetitions) right now and going with lighter lifts,” he said this week. “I’m trying to get faster.”
Which also means, he said, dropping a couple of pounds to get his footwork and release quicker. Lewis is 6-foot-3 and 265 pounds.
The challenge for Lewis and all other track and field athletes going into the Masters Meet is to do well enough to qualify for state but not overdo it to avoid a shortage of strength and energy for the state meet.
As for what it will take in the shot put and the discus Saturday to get to the state meet …
“I’m not exactly sure, marks-wise,” Lewis said. “I’m not necessarily going for it in Masters. I’ve done great marks in Masters the last two years but not-so-great in the state meet.”
His father, Kevin Lewis, threw the shot put and discus at Huntington Beach High and has coached his son and others in those events. Marina throws coach Mike Giron has been an important mentor for Zach.
Lewis played football at Pacifica his freshman year when he also started getting interested in track and field’s throwing events. He qualified for the CIF State meet in the shot put as a sophomore.
He is a fast learner, and not just in track and field. Lewis has a 4.4 grade-point average and will continue to throw the shot put and discus at UC San Diego.
“I think building up my strength and developing my form helped me get more consistent by the end of my sophomore year,” he said.
So now it’s on to the Masters Meet where he hopes his developing strength and form will get him a return trip to Clovis.
NOTES
• Dana Hills junior Evan Noonan said he will run only the 3,200 meters at the Masters Meet. Noonan won the Division 2 1,600 and 3,200 at the CIF-SS finals. …
• Brendan Holmes is the new boys basketball coach at Fountain Valley, where his father Roger Holmes has served as boys basketball coach and currently is athletic director. Brendan Holmes set the Orange County career record for 3-point shots made with 409 from 2006-10 at Marina when his father coached there. He also has the county single-season record for 3s made (149 , 2007-08 season). Last year’s Fountain Valley coach, Josh Beaty, now is the boys basketball coach at Edison. …
• Joel Hartmann resigned as executive director of athletics at Mater Dei. No reason was offered in the announcement. Hartmann was at Mater Dei the past two years, occupying the position that was created just before he accepted it, after spending more than 30 years in the athletic department at Servite. …
• Mater Dei’s new football coach Raul Lara, continues to assemble his coaching staff. Longtime defensive coordinator Eric Johnson, a very valuable assistant coach there for decades, has decided to no longer continue coaching with the Monarchs. …
• Orange Lutheran’s baseball team qualified for the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs when it advanced to the CIF-SS Division 1 semifinals, where they they lost to Harvard-Westlake 4-2 on Tuesday. Lancers coach Eric Borba said the team would decide by the end of this week whether or not to accept the invitation to the regional. Last year’s Division 1 baseball champion, JSerra, Division 3 baseball champion Aliso Niguel and Division 1 softball champion Pacifica declined the regional invitation last year. …
• The Air Strike Passing Tournament is Saturday at Dana Hills High starting at 8 a.m. (Field improvements were completed on time to have the event at Dana Hills.) The football teams competing in the event: Capistrano Valley, Crean Lutheran, Dana Hills, El Toro, Foothill, Laguna Beach, St. Margaret’s, San Clemente, San Juan Hills, Segerstrom, Simi Valley and Tesoro. …
• The fall sports season is only three months away, with real football games starting on Aug. 22. The weather will probably be different that day than it is today.
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