Four is the magic number.
The absolute maximum number of events a high school track and field athlete is allowed to compete in during a single meet.
So what did freshman sprint phenom Camilla Peltonen and junior multi-event star Davis Benson do at the Coastal Canyon League Track and Field Championships on Friday, May 1, on their home track?
Everything they could.
The pair each won four events, accounting for eight of the Musketeers’ 15 total titles at the meet. Benson won four league titles for the second straight year.
“The kids have no quit,” Moorpark head coach Christian Dearborn said. “Everything they do, they are competitive, they are team-first. That leads to some really positive things. I am honestly not surprised seeing Davis be a back-to-back four-time champion and Camilla as a freshman being a four-time champion.”
Benson started his day anchoring the Moorpark 4×100 meter relay to an easy victory in 42.47 seconds, sending Ventura County’s second-fastest quarter-mile relay to the CIF-Southern Section prelims next weekend.
He then tore through the 110-meter hurdles in a personal-best time of 14.08 seconds, the No. 15 time in California this season.
For his final trick, Benson and teammate Dean Guzman battled in the high jump to both clear 6 feet, 10 inches, with Benson winning with fewer misses at lower heights.
Peltonen lit up the track on the way to a sprint triple crown in her league championship debut, winning the 100 meters in 11.87 seconds before setting meet records in the 400 meters in 56.08 and the 200 meters in 24.50.
She also ran a leg of the Moorpark’s 4×400 meter relay team, which finished in a meet-record time of 3:58.07.
“Being a freshman at these meets is really scary, so props to her,” Benson said of Peltonen’s success. “It was kind of the mindset my freshman year, ‘I have three more years to just have fun,’ and I think that lighthearted mindset of just having fun takes you far. She is having fun, I am having fun, and I think that is the key to success.”
The fun didn’t stop there for Moorpark.
Senior sprinter Jalen Aguilar-Carnes had a big day, winning the boys 100 in 10.59 seconds before setting a meet record in the 200 in 21.18. The 200 time was the area’s No. 5 all-time best mark in the event.
On his home thrower’s ring, Moorpark’s Colby Cronquist threw the shot put 42-2.25, beating teammate Brody Ordelheide (41-5) out for the title. In the discus, Camarillo’s Aron Ratajczak tossed 155-3 to win the discus over Cronquist, who threw 134-0.
Moorpark throwers Samantha Espinoza (117-7) and Else Roesel (106-8) went 1-2 in the girls discus, with Roesel coming back to win the shot put with a throw of 34-3.75. Teammate Ella Festerling was second at 30-10.
Moorpark’s Jenna Murray won the girls 1,600 meters in 5:04.74. Oak Park’s Kathleen Lambe was second in 5:08.01 and Sophia Perez was third in 5:08.16.
The Oak Park girls 4×100-meter relay team of Keira Ayivi, Emma Baskin, Meirav Zarin and Cherish Anthonio won with a time of 49.28 to narrowly beat out Camarillo (49.40) and Moorpark in (49.84).
Led by champion Dhruv Kulkarni (4:27.39), Oak Park swept the top four spots in the boys 1,600 meters. Ari Kalan was second (4:29.75), Jaiden Chan was third (4:31.27) and Vladimir Kostadinov was fourth (4:31.60).
Camarillo’s Monet Taylor won the girls 100-meter hurdles in 15.58, followed by teammate Lilyanna Tesch in 16.68.
In just the fourth 400-meter race of his life, Oak Park senior Carson Casella surged past Colin Davis of Camarillo (49.92) and Caleb Clarizio of Simi Valley (50.31) on the final turn to win the league title in 49.91.
“Coming around the curve I felt them slowing down and I knew I had a little bit left in the tank,” Casella said. “I just pushed as hard as I could.”
The 2025-26 Coastal Canyon League Offensive Soccer Player of the Year decided to run track his senior season and found immediate success.
“There is something about him,” Oak Park head coach Steve White said. “Where a lot of people get tackled by the bear at 300 (meters), he shakes the bear off and keeps going. It is awesome.”
Both Oak Park and Camarillo dipped under the previous Coastal Canyon League meet record in the boys 4×400 meter relay. Oak Park ran a 3:19.61 to win by just hundredths of a second ahead of Camarillo’s run of 3:19.73.
Emily Peterson of Simi Valley leapt 35-6 to win the girls triple jump. On the boys side, Camarillo’s Thatcher Carroll jumped 41-4.50 to win the title.
The girls 3,200 meters came down to a phenomenal finish between three runners, with Simi Valley’s Cecilia Vasquez winning with a time of 11:1.04 over Oak Park’s Perez and Moorpark’s Murray. The three runners were separated by just more than a half-second.
Simi Valley’s distance excellence continued into the 800 meters, where sophomore Naveah Valencia winning in 2:17.2 to defeat Royal’s Madison Boucher (2:18.13) and Oak Park’s Michelle Vu (2:23.3).
In a rematch of a Ventura County Championships matchup, Oak Park’s Kean Castaneda won the boys 800-meter title in 1:55.46 over Moorpark’s Elijah Luekenga (1:56.54).
Simi Valley freshman Briana Peterson won the girls 300-meter hurdles in 51.42 over Royal’s Grace Parle (52.57).
Easton Bell of Camarillo ran 40.75 to win the boys 300-meter hurdles. Jayden Stanislaus of Oak Park was second in 41.61 and Camarillo’s Cameron Miller finished third in 41.69.
Malcolm Caughey of Oak Park won the boys 3,200 meters in 9:33.93. Teammate Ethan Marley ran 9:40 to place second and Jack Maynard of Camarillo was third in 9:49.81.
Simi Valley’s Sonali Banerjee cleared 9-9 to win the girls pole vault.
Vincent Pizza of Camarillo won the boys pole vault with a clearance of 13-06. Pizza qualified for the CIF-SS Prelims in two other events after finishing third in the 110-meter hurdles and fourth in the long jump.
Dominic Massimino is a staff writer for The Star. He can be reached at dominic.massimino@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcsdominic on Twitter and Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Moorpark duo max out on titles at Coastal Canyon League finals
Reporting by Dominic Massimino, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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