The United States Olympic team’s motto for the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing was “Amazing Awaits.”
With qualifiers in a whopping 13 events for this weekend’s California state championship track and field meet at Buchanan High School in Clovis, the Metro Conference might also want to borrow that tag line.
It’s a noteworthy number for one of high school track and field’s biggest championship events.
It all will unfold with the state prelims Friday, June 1, followed by the state finals on Saturday, June 2. A live stream can be accessed through www.cifstate.org.
Highlighting the parade of South County qualifiers are Olympian senior Kolumbia Page, who walked off the track with four Division I gold medals, junior teammate Adaeze Noble with three Division I gold medals, Eastlake senior Jalyn Jackson with a pair of Division I gold medals in the long jump and triple jump, and Bonita Vista senior Isaiah Labra, who turned in one of the most inspirational and electrifying moments in section history by recording an intrepid victory in the boys 3200 run.
Athletes qualified for this weekend’s state meet through marks earned at last Saturday’s San Diego Section championship meet at Mt. Carmel High School.
The top nine place-finishers from the preceding prelim meet qualified to compete in A-heats at the section finals while the next nine place-finishers from the prelim meet qualified to compete in B-heats.
The top three place-finishers in the A-heats qualified to compete at the state meet.
However, athletes in both the A-heats and B-heats competed for place-finishes in the Division I and Division II finals.
The weather conditions were perfect for competition, and the field did not disappoint.
Top marks
When was the last time a South County high school female athlete won four gold medals at the section track and field finals?
Sweetwater alumnus Yolanda Gail Devers certainly would have been capable of that. In fact, the future multiple Olympic gold medalist held six of 13 section girls individual event records during her time competing for the National City school in the early 1980s.
At the 1984 section finals, for instance, she captured gold medals in the 100 dash (11.62), 100 low hurdles (14.20), 300 low hurdles (43.52) and long jump (18-11.5) events.
At the ensuing state championship meet, she won 100 dash and 100 hurdles and placed second in the long jump.
Page, the female track athlete of the meet at this year’s Mesa League finals, earned gold medals in the 4×100 relay, 4×400 relay, 100 dash and 200 dash.
She qualified for this weekend’s elite state meet in all of those events, finishing with Division I gold medals in all of them and top marks in three of them at last weekend’s section finals.
All four times set school records.
Page started off the day by winning the 4×100 relay in a section best 47.28 seconds along with teammates Kamaile Signo-Hawkins, Alyssa Meeks and Alexis Meeks). The unit slipped past runner-up San Marcos (47.46) and third place Mission Hills (47.84) by a fraction of a second.
Page then competed in the 100 dash, finishing third in a personal record 12.00 behind race-winner Aysha Shaheed (11.84), a freshman from Madison, and runner-up Alysah Hickey (11.91), a junior from Coronado, to punch her ticket to the state meet.
Shaheed and Hickey finished first and second, respectively, among Division II athletes in the race while Page earned the distinction as the top Division I finisher in the race. Alyssa Meeks finished fifth in the A-heat field with a time of 12.26 to rank third among Division I entrants.
Page won the 200 dash in a section best 24.77 to win her third Division I gold medal. Noble was not far behind in a season best 24.90 to place third in the field behind runner-up Leia Salongo (24.88), a senior from Mira Mesa.
Page teamed with Noble and both Meeks sisters to win the meet-ending 4×400 relay in a season best 3:52.35 to cap her day with her fourth Division I gold medal.
Combined with Noble’s first-place finish in the girls 400 dash (a school record 56.17), Olympian racked up enough points to finish second in the Division I team standings — two points behind division champion Torrey Pines.
Torrey Pines finished the meet with 74 points, followed by Olympian with 72 points. Poway finished third with 67 points, followed by Scripps Ranch in fourth place with 47 points and Mission Hills in fifth place with 46 points.
It was elite company for the Eagles, no question about that.
Page, who has competed the last two years in the 4×400 relay at the state meet, remained humble about her achievements at this year’s section finals.
“It feels good,” she said. “I’ve been to the state championships in the 4×400, now I’ve got more opportunities.
“Everyone (on our team) pushes everyone. When one of us makes a PR, another one makes a PR.”
Three Olympian runners competed in the girls A-heat 100 dash, with both Meeks sisters joining Page. Alyssa Meeks finished third among Division I runners while Alexis Meeks (12.37) was fifth.
Noble, a returning state meet qualifier in two events, edged Mission Hills senior Dakota Stanly (56.38) and University City freshman Katriina Wright (56.86) to win her second consecutive section title in the 400 dash.
Noble’s time, a new PR, beat last year’s winning mark of 56.52.
“I’m still in shock,” she said after the race. “I hunted my PR all year and I hit it today. My coach tells me to relax at the start because there are runners ahead of me. As I am moving up, I just want to keep my composure and form.”
Eastlake junior Ana Mercado finished with the sixth-best time in the 400 A-heat in 56.26 (fourth among Division I runners).
Olympian’s Alyssa Meeks (25.50) finished seventh among Division I runners in the girls 200 dash while Eastlake senior Saisha Banks (25.87) placed eighth.
Distance duo
Eastlake sophomore Patricia Miessner and Bonita Vista’s Labra qualified as a rare distance double for this weekend’s state meet.
Miessner, a participant at last December’s posh Foot Locker Nationals cross country meet at Morley Field, finished third in the girls 3200 in a personal best 10:45.65. Not many female athletes from South County have qualified for this event at the state meet.
Former Hilltop standout (and 2018 Boston Marathon champion) Desiree Davila is certainly one of the most prominent local athletes to grace that field at the state finals (placing fourth in 2001).
Miessner locked into the third-place position early in last Saturday’s eight-lap race and held on to qualify for the state meet. It appeared that she might be challenged for the final state qualifying spot with two laps to go, but she put on a short burst to extend the distance between herself and Canyon Crest Academy sophomore Carlie Dorostker, who finished fourth in 10:49.56.
The La Costa Canyon tandem of junior Kristin Fahy (10:25.99) and senior McKenna Brown (10:42.73) locked up the first two state qualifying positions in the race and locked up the gold and silver medals among Division II entrants.
Besides qualifying for the state meet, Miessner also won the Division I gold medal in the event.
But it took a lot of digging deep to accomplish the feat.
“It’s a big accomplishment,” she admitted. “This was my goal all year long. I paced off Fahy.
“I felt good (but) before the race I felt sick. I didn’t expect anything like this; I didn’t expect to make it. It was an amazing race.”
The Eastlake distance runner ranks 18th on the list of 29 entrants for this weekend’s state meet. Saugus senior Mariah Castillo has the top-seeded time of 10:22.24.
Labra had turned heads at midseason by posting a 9:16.32 time at the Mt. SAC Relays. He won the 3200 event at the Mesa League finals in a somewhat leisurely fashion by comparison 9:40.09 and then recorded the fourth-best time at the ensuing CIF prelims at 9:22.0.
But only the top three finishers at the section finals are guaranteed to advance to the state meet.
Labra quickly moved into the pod of top five runners in the finals, then into the top three and finally into the top two, trailing only Cathedral Catholic senior Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos, like Miessner, a qualifier for the 2017 Footlocker Nationals.
Martinez de Pinillos held the lead but had to expend a lot of energy as Labra pushed him on the oval.
Finally, in a bold move, the Baron distance runner passed Martinez de Pinillos with two laps to go. It was a shocking turn of events for those watching in the stadium.
The Cathedral runner appeared poised to put a move on Labra over the course of the final lap, but that did not happen.
Labra maintained his lead, winning by an unimaginable three seconds with a personal record time of 9:10.00 to become the first BVHS runner to win the event since Eric Avila did so in 2007 with a time of 9:17.95.
Martinez de Pinillos finished second in 9:13.24, followed by Mira Mesa senior Stefan Rasmuson in third place in 9:17.90.
Avila’s name has become hallowed in the annals of local track lore after going on to win the state 3200 event in a school record time of 9:01.77.
Labra continues to rank second on the school record list in the event (as well as third in the 800 and fourth in the 1600 distances).
Otay Ranch’s Jeremiah Suzara, make note, won last year’s Division I boys 3200 title in 9:21.96 to allow Labra to make it back-to-back Division I titles in the event for the Metro Conference, which is not an everyday occurrence.
“It was phenomenal to come in with a 9:10 today,” Labra gushed. “I had to work hard to make a good showing with a runner the caliber of Joaquin. It was a privilege to just be able to run beside him.
“I knew if I could stay with him the last two laps that I could be there at the end of the race. I knew I could compete. That’s my mentality.”
Labra’s time ranks 15th on the state leaderboard heading into this weekend’s state meet. Mira Costa senior Xavier Court has the top-seeded time of 9:01.78, followed by Canyon junior Ethan Danforth at 9:03.03 and Burroughs senior Jagdeep Cahal at 9:04.83.
“I would really like to go under 9:10 at the state meet if I can but I just want to be in the race and experience running at the state meet.”
Jumping for joy
Jackson, a returning state medalist in the triple jump (second) and long jump (sixth), was the lone male competitor in last week’s section finals to win two individual events. He recorded a mark of 24-10 (a personal best though wind-aided) to win the long jump and 49-1.75 to win the triple jumps.
Jackson’s bests on the season in the two events are 24-3.5 (non wind-aided) in the long jump and 49-10.25 in the long jump. He enters this weekend’s state meet as the top-seeded jumper in both events.
Natomas junior DeAndra McDaniel enters this weekend’s competition seeded second in the triple jump at 48-1.5 while St. Mary’s sophomore Malcolm Celmons is seeded second in the long jump at 24-4.5
“It was a great PR,” Jackson said of the long jump mark. “It was wind-aided, so it wasn’t legal. But it was a good jump.”
When Jackson hit the 49-1.75 on his fourth jump in last Saturday’s section finals, he passed on his final two jumps.
“I started off a little slow,” Jackson related. “I knew that second place was creeping up, so I wanted to get a big jump. I popped a good jump and wanted to rest my hamstring strain.”
He can’t rest on his laurels this weekend.
Double the fun
Otay Ranch senior Alani Johnson won Mesa League titles in the girls 100 low hurdles and triple jump this year. She qualified to compete in both those events at this weekend’s state meet after recording personal record marks in placing second overall in the triple jump (37-5) and third overall in the 100 hurdles (14.90).
“It feels unbelievable,” she said after securing the state-qualifying berth in the triple jump, one of the last field events of the day.
Johnson said she prefers the hurdles as a favorite event. “It’s faster and the competition is right next to you,” she said. “You get that extra push. That’s something I value.”
Olympian closed out last Saturday’s section finals with a school record time of 3:23.09 in the boys 4×400 relay to secure a third-place finish to qualify for the state meet.
The foursome included Hugo Soberanes, Trent Yamamoto, Mikael Tyler and Adrine Sermons. This is the second consecutive year the Eagles have qualified a boys 4×400 team for the state meet, though with a different lineup.
“Different group but same result,” Soberanes quipped.
Locals only
High Tech High Chula Vista sophomore Drake Prince won the B-heat in the boys 800 run in 1:57.11 — a time good for fourth overall among combined A-heat and B-heat marks and the third best time posted by Division II runners.
He set a PR of 1:56.98 at April’s Viking Relays. “I wanted to go for a good place in Division II,” he said. “I was hoping to run in the A-heat, so I wanted to make the best of things. Hopefully I can go even faster next year.”
The A-heat in the 800 run featured a pair of Metro Conference champions in Eastlake senior Jeffrey Page (Mesa League) and Southwest senior Jacob Fierro (South Bay League).
Fierro challenged early in the two-lap event but fell back, placing sixth in 1:58.04. Page, a two-time state qualifier in the event, was fifth early on but was unable to move up on the final straightaway, finishing in 1:58.37.
Coronado senior Ian Hulburt won the A-heat in 1:54.59, followed by Crawford junior Nader Ali (1:55.28) and Rancho Bernardo senior Bobby Santos (1:56.63) in a fast field.
Page placed fifth overall among Division I runners while Fierro placed seventh among Division II runners.
Page had posted a season best time of 1:57.42 at the preceding section prelims after winning the Mesa League title in 1:58.03.
Metro Conference State Meet Qualifiers
(Top 3 place-finishers from section finals qualify for state meet)
Boys Running Events
3200: 1. Isaiah Labra (Bonita Vista) 9:10.00
4×400 relay: 3. Olympian 3:23.09
Boys Field Events
Long jump: 1. Jalyn Jackson (Eastlake) 24-10
Triple jump: 1. Jalyn Jackson (Eastlake) 49-1.75
Girls Running Events
100: 3. Kolumbia Page (Olympian) 12.00
200: 1. Kolumbia Page (Olympian) 24.77, 3. Adaeze Noble (Olympian) 24.90
400: 1. Adaeze Noble (Olympian) 56.17
3200: 3. Patricia Miessner (Eastlake) 10:45.65
100 low hurdles: 3. Alani Johnson (Otay Ranch) 14.90
4×100 relay: 1. Olympian 47.28
4×400 relay: 1. Olympian 3:52.35
Girls Field Events
Triple jump: 2. Alani Johnson (Olympian) 37-5
East County athletes are state bound in track and field
With qualifiers in 11 events for this weekend’s California state championship track and field meet at Buchanan High School in Clovis, the Grossmont Conference also will be well represented at this weekend’s state championship meet, and possibly in the medal department as well.
Highlighting the parade of East County qualifiers are the San Diego Section champion Helix boys 4×400 rely team and a pair of student-athletes who qualified in two individual events: West Hills freshman Brandy Atuatasi in the shot put and discus throw and Granite Hills senior hurdler Dylan Coleman.
Top marks
The Helix foursome of junior Ty Sheridan and sophomores Gabriel Martinez, Nic White and Eric Parker timed a section-best 3:21.86 to win the A-heat in the boys meet-ending 4×400-meter relay. The Highlanders pulled away in the final 100 meters to top runner-up Mt. Carmel (3:21.87) and third place Olympian (3:23.09).
The Highlanders’ winning unit was quick to note that it is not done.
“We have one more year together,” Parker said enthusiastically.
Parker is also not done this season after qualifying to compete in Friday’s state prelims in the 400-meter dash after recording the third-place time of 49.11 seconds (a season best) in the A-heat.
Mira Mesa junior Marcus Dean finished first in the A-heat with a time of 48.37, followed by Calvin Christian junior Wesley Salzman in 48.43. Dean finished as the Division I champion while Salzman earned honors as the Division II champion.
Parker finished runner-up among section Division I quarter-milers.
Atuatasi finished runner-up in both the A-heat shot put (39-3) and discus throw (135-0) to emerge as the Division II champion in both events.
El Camino senior Nu’u Tuilefano recorded the top section marks in both the shot put (40-2) and discus throw (139-8) as the Division I champion.
There were plenty of top marks to spread around among East County athletes.
Granite Hills senior David Leber recorded the top mark at last Saturday’s section finals in the boys discus throw (165-0) while teammate David Gonzalez finished runner-up in the boys shot put (a season best 54-2).
Both throwers claimed the Division I title in their respective events.
Leber, the regular season section leader with a 171-2 mark, out-threw runner-up Shawn Poma (155-10), a junior from Cathedral Catholic, to win the event.
Gonzalez finished second behind section champion David Folsom, a senior from Point Loma, who recorded a put of 55-10. Southwest El Centro senior Alexis Paco de la Cruz finished third with a mark of 54-0.
Three proved to be the magic number for Granite Hills’ Coleman after his third-place times in both the 110-meter high hurdles (a personal record 14.63) and 300-meter intermediate hurdles (39.02) allowed him to punch his ticket to the state meet.
He finished as the Division I runner-up in the high hurdles and the Division I bronze medalist in the intermediate hurdles.
This marks the first time he has qualified for the state meet.
“It worked out pretty good,” he offered in somewhat of an understatement. “My mind-set was to believe in myself and don’t back down when the competition got tough. It’s exciting to be able to compete at the state meet. I’m grateful to be able to race against such good competition.”
Valley Center senior Jeremy Clay turned in the top time at the section 110 high hurdles finals in 14.29 while El Centro Southwest senior Tyler Saikhon, the regular season section leader in the event, finished second in 14.36. Both times were personal bests.
In fact, the top four finishers in the race all turned in personal bests.
Coleman clipped Tri-City Christian senior Eric Wojnowski (14.77) by 0.14 seconds to secure the final state-qualifying berth.
Coleman set a personal record with a time of 38.88 in the 300 intermediate hurdles at the preceding section prelim meet. He finished behind Rancho Bernardo senior Joshua Farmer (37.81) and Saikhon (38.75) at the section finals.
The event was highly competitive as six of the eight hurdlers in the A-heat finished under the 40.00 mark.
“I gave it all my effort,” Coleman explained. “I was tired, sore, weak in the legs. I just pushed through. I’m proud of all the other competitors; I’m also proud of myself.”
Valhalla’s Lieu finished fourth in 39.55, followed by El Capitan senior Dylan Burke in fifth place in 39.72 and Grossmont junior Leyikun Solomon in sixth place in 39.89.
Burke finished as the Division II champion in the event.
Coleman also competed in the A-heat boys high jump, clearing 6-2 to tie for fifth in the state-qualifying field and third overall among Division I jumpers. His best on the season is 6-6, which tied for the regular season top mark.
Sage Creek senior John Walther cleared 6-6 to win the event at the section finals.
Mt. Miguel senior Kiara Harrison (18-7.5) and Steele Canyon senior Mya Cross (18-5) were among five section state qualifiers in the girls long jump, including the three automatic qualifiers and two additional jumpers who met the state qualifying standard.
Harrison finished as the Division II runner-up while Scott finished as the Division I runner-up in the event. Both notched season bests on the day.
Meanwhile, the Steele Canyon foursome of Jordan Anderson, Cullin Paisley, Javon Woodbridge-Mason and Marvin James Jr. finished second among section teams in the meet-opening boys 4×100 relay with a time of 41.91 to qualify for the upcoming state meet.
The Cougars finished a mere 0.01 seconds behind section champion St. Augustine (41.90) in a photo finish.
St. Augustine finished as the Division II champion in the event while Steele Canyon finished as the Division I champion.
Both times rank first and second, respectively, in the section on the season.
Steele Canyon finished third in the Division I boys team standings with 53 points, followed by Granite Hills in fourth place with 45 points.
West Hills finished fourth in the Division II girls team standings with 49 points.
Team champions included Rancho Bernardo (Division I boys), Cathedral Catholic (Division II boys), Torrey Pines (Division I girls) and Coronado (Division II girls).
Grossmont Conference
State Meet Qualifiers
Boys Running Events
400: Eric Parker (Helix)
110 high hurdles: Dylan Coleman (Granite Hills)
300 intermediate hurdles: Dylan Coleman (Granite Hills)
4×100 relay: Steele Canyon
4×400 relay: Helix
Boys Field Events
Shot Put: David Gonzalez (Granite Hills)
Discus throw: David Leber (Granite Hills)
Girls Field Events
Long jump: Kiara Harrison (Mt. Miguel), Mya Cross (Steele Canyon)
Shot put: Brandy Atuatasi (West Hills)
Discus throw: Brandy Atuatasi (West Hills)
