TRABUCO HILLS INVITATIONAL:

MISSION VIEJO — Corona del Mar High’s Shelby Buckley won the 1,600 meters at the Trabuco Hills Invitational Saturday without really pushing herself once.

Newport Harbor’s Cecil Whiteside took top billing too, in something he’s still got a long way to go in perfecting: the discus throw.

Whiteside surpassed all his competitors with a throw of 175 feet, nine inches, a competition best for the sophomore, who seems intent on barreling his way toward Darius Savage’s 2004 sophomore state record of 186 feet, 11 inches.

Buckley, on the other hand, was still biting at the reins of Coach Bill Sumner’s restraint after running a breezy 4 minutes, 59 seconds in the 1,600.

“I feel like I’m faster and way below five [minutes] right now, and I just didn’t really have anyone to do that with, so I wasn’t really happy,” said the UCLA-bound Buckley. “I was happy that I won, but not really.”

She walked off the all-weather track at Trabuco Hills High a little irritated.

“We’re at the level where you’re going to win the race, you’re not going to win the time,” Sumner said. “You win a race, get to the next race, win a race, get to the next race. Times, each week, they’ll get faster, and faster and faster. We tried to see what everybody else would do.

“They jogged. First lap was 75 [seconds], second lap was 79. For Shelby, that’s jogging.”

Buckley took third in the CIF state meet last season with a time of 4:38.85, and Sumner said she’s been steadily improving.

Sumner didn’t give Buckley the thumbs up to turn up the heat Saturday until she was at the 2:50 mark, and by then, Buckley said, it was a little late.

For Buckley, Saturday’s meet was just an opening act for the April 12 Arcadia Invitational, where Buckley will be competing against some of the top runners in the country. The only jogging she’ll be doing there is in her warmup. She’s expected to run in the distance medley as well.

“The first big stuff is next week, Arcadia,” Sumner said. “Guaranteed they won’t go slow next week, she can bet on that one.”

Newport Harbor didn’t have any female qualifiers for Arcadia, but the boys’ team will send Whiteside, who finished third in the shot put at Trabuco Hills in addition to his first-place discus throw. Harbor boys’ coach Nowell Kay and throwing coach Tony Ciarelli both said it would be possible for Whiteside to break the sophomore discus record if he keeps improving at the pace he’s going.

Whiteside, the Newport-Mesa Defensive Player of the Year for football, was throwing 134 feet at the beginning of the season. He advanced to CIF preliminaries at Moorpark as a freshman, but fouled on his last throw, which cut his season short.

“We’ve still got a good chunk of the season left,” Ciarelli said. “It’s definitely within his reach, but it’s a state record for a reason. It’s not easy to throw ... He works hard and he’s got a knack, so I personally think he’s going to get it.”

Whiteside’s come close in practice; he hit 180 feet Thursday during warmups. Whiteside’s teammate Brandon Kula has been challenging him in the shot put.

“Time, and technique and just being relaxed,” will be the winning combination, for a record-breaking competition throw, Whiteside said. “During practice, there’s no pressure, but during competition, you actually have to perform.”

At the beginning of the season, Ciarelli thought Nate Talbott would be the team’s standout discus thrower. But Talbott is just beginning to improve after sustaining a back injury.

“When they all start pushing each other, I think they could go even farther,” Ciarelli said.

Kay wasn’t certain if senior sprinter Bucko Theriot would run because he’d been sick, but Theriot ran the 400 in the distance medley, where the Sailors took second place.

Sailors senior Mike Puncel surpassed his personal record by nearly six seconds in the 1,600 meters of the distance medley with a time of 4:20.52.

Sage Hill senior Cait Williamson was 14th in the 1,600 with a time of 5:16.5, a personal best that beat her own school record.

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at [email protected].