It wasn’t exactly winner-take-all at this year’s Mesa League track and field finals but it was close to it when the league’s top student-athletes convened May 12 at Otay Ranch High School.
“With the new format of only league champions — and not second-place finishers in each event — receiving guaranteed entry into the San Diego Section preliminaries, the Mesa League still qualified a very large number of athletes,” veteran Otay Ranch program director Ian Cumming explained.
“This is quite a compliment to our league’s student-athletes and their talent and competitiveness.”
Qualifiers — and indeed, a very large number of them — will stride onto the track surface at Saturday’s San Diego Section preliminary qualifying meet at Mt. Carmel High School (9 a.m. start). Runners, jumpers and throwers will be out to advance to the next stage in the road to the state championship meet by placing high in their events to compete in the following weekend’s section finals meet.
The same effort was placed on the league finals to qualify for the section prelims. If you didn’t give it everything you had, your season was likely over. Thus, there were a number of amazing performances at the league finals.
Bonita Vista junior Keenan Ellis earned recognition as the male track athlete of the meet while Otay Ranch sophomore Jace Fuamatu received honors as the male field athlete of the meet.
Olympian junior Betsabe Ornelas and Eastlake sophomore Leyla McFarland were both up for the female track athlete of the meet award while Bonita Vista junior Julianna Napoleon and Olympian senior Sydney Barnes shared honors as female field athletes of the meet.
Ornelas, who was named the league’s female track athlete of the meet, romped through the league finals by winning four gold medals. She captured first-place finishes in the 400-meter dash (57.19), 200 dash (25.78), 4×100 relay (49.34) and 4×400 relay (4:01.91).
Ornelas ranks third in the section with her season best time of 56.53 in the 400 dash.
“It feels great,” she explained. “I have to thank my teammates in the relays. We all won gold there. I’m thankful.”
She was otherwise speechless at her immediate fame.
McFarland won individual gold medals by doubling in the 800 run (2:21.22) and 1600 run (5:12.36). She also received a silver medal in the 4×400 relay (4:07.56).
“It’s going good,” said McFarland, the top finisher at last fall’s Metro Conference cross country finals. “I did a 5:04.33 at the Mt. Carmel Invitational and hope to break 5:00 at CIF.”
Her best in the 1600 was a 5:01.21 at last year’s section prelim meet.
Ellis was the undisputed king of the oval with gold medals in the 400 dash (50.13), 100 dash (11.16) and 200 dash (22.30) to go with a third-place finish in the long jump (20-5.75). His times in the 200 and 400 dashes and the long jump mark were all personal records.
The 400 and 100 dashes come back-to-back in the meet schedule and winning both is a rare double, according to coaches.
“It’s tiring but it feels good,” Ellis explained. “The 200 and 100 are pretty much all-out sprints. In the 400 you start out fast, then you stride and then the last 150 you blast it.”
Ellis was a member of the Barons’ section Division III championship football team. He and his BVHS teammates ended their season in December in the state bowl championship game in Hanford.
“I like football but I like track, too, but track is more of a love and hate thing,” Ellis commented. “The state bowl game was outstanding — the crowd, the intensity. It rained up there and the field was like a swamp. I have never played in anything like that before. It was hard for us because we had never experienced anything like that before, but it was also exciting.”
Neither Napoleon, Barnes nor Fumantu were water-logged in exceling at this year’s league finals.
Napoleon captured gold medals in the girls shot put (35-0.75) and discus throw (101-9.5).
Barnes won gold medals in the girls long jump (16-9.25) and triple jump (35-7).
Fumantu won the gold medal in the boys shot put (44-10) and received the silver medal in the discus throw (129-6).
“It feels great,” Fumantu explained about winning a league title. “I was the youngest one in the group — a sophomore. It was great being in first place with those other guys having more experience than me.”
Neither marks at the league finals were season bests for Barnes, who recorded a 17-9 in the long jump at the season opening Meb Keflezighi Invitational and a 38-3 in the triple jump at the Escondido Invitational. The triple jump mark ranks second in the section.
Going the distance
Bonita Vista sophomore Isaiah Labra doubled in winning the boys 1600 and 3200 runs. He finished runner-up last year in the 3200 as a freshman, and has an outside chance to qualify for the state meet this season in the event.
“The 3200 has been my main event this year,” Labra explained. “In both races, but especially in the 3200, you have to be strong mentally and maintain a pace. If you can stay strong mentally, you can do anything. It’s all about who can hurt the most.”
The BVHS runner took the lead halfway through the 1600 from Otay Ranch’s Harold Thomas, who finished nearly two seconds behind Labra at the finish line.
The 3200 event features eight laps. Otay Ranch’s Cale Parise led for much of the first half of the race. Mustang teammate Jeremiah Suzara assumed the lead on the fifth lap before Labra made his move with 700 meters to go — and pulled away to win by nearly five seconds over Parise.
“This is my first league double. It’s a great feeling,” Labra said. “I knew if I stayed with them (in the 3200) that I could win. Everything I did all year was gearing up this race at the finals.”
Labra’s best this season in the 3200 remains the 9:26.67 he posted at the mid-season Arcadia Invitational. It currently ranks ninth in the section. He’ll likely have to drop below 9:20 to contend for a state meet-qualifying berth, according to BVHS coach Matt Seat.
“The plan was to go for the double at the league finals,” the BVHS coach said. “He’s very physically fit. There are rumors that one of the county leaders may drop out of the 3200 to focus on another race. If so, there’s an outside shot that Isaiah could conceivably qualify for state as a sophomore.”
Labra smiled at the notion. “We’ll see what happens,” he said, offering no promises.
The girls 3200 race turned into a surprise sprint at the end between Olympian teammates Mariana Beltran-Picos and Alexandra Martinez. Beltran-Picos won in 11:30.42 — just three-tenths of a second ahead of Martinez, who appeared to have a slight lead heading into the final 10 meters.
“Eastlake had the lead, then Alexandra went in first for a while, then I went into the lead for three or four laps,” Beltran-Picos explained. “When it came to the fifth or sixth lap. I wanted to establish a good pace …. Then I heard Alexandra coming behind me. She was starting her kick. I thought to myself that I had to sprint it at the end.”
It was the first league championship for Beltran-Picos, who earlier in the meet posted a runner-up finish in the 1600 to McFarland with a time of 5:20.28 — nearly eight seconds behind the Titan distance standout.
“I’ve been working hard to accomplish things during the track season,” Beltran-Picos said.
Olympian senior Paul Thompson doubled in winning the boys 110 high hurdles and 300 intermediate hurdles. He timed 15.90 in the shorter distance and 40.48 in the longer distance.
Otay Ranch senior Jacob Mestre was second in both races. Mestre finished 0.11 second behind Thompson in the high hurdles with a time of 16.01; Mestre timed 41.84 in the intermediate hurdles.
Eastlake sophomore Jalyn Jackson was a close third in the 110 highs in 16.03.
Thompson placed third at last year’s 300 IH finals; this is the first time he swept both events. Both times at this year’s league finals were personal bests.
“Last year I really didn’t know come to come out of the blocks and that decreased my time by a whole second,” Thompson explained. “It feels great to work hard all year and it paid off to go to CIF in both events.”
Eastlake sophomore Jeffrey Page made a bold move up the section rankings by winning the boys 800 run with a personal record time of 1:55.65. He let out an emotion-filled whoop when crossing the finish line and was all smiles afterward.
The time ranks fifth in the section.
The boys 100 dash was a photo finish between three runners. While Ellis won in 11.16, Olympian’s Fernando Harris also clocked 11.16 while Otay Ranch’s Jacob Hoffer was third in 11.25. Otay Ranch’s Gabriel Navarro was fourth in 11.36, Mater Dei Catholic’s Christopher Verdell was fifth in 11.37 and Olympian’s Michael Hull-Littlejohn was sixth in 11.38.
That’s six runners finishing within 0.22 second of each other. That’s crazy.
Individual event champions also included Otay Ranch sophomore Alani Johnson in the girls 100 low hurdles (16.66), Bonita Vista senior Dominique Miranda in the girls 100 dash (12.84), Bonita Vista senior Hannah Goold in the girls 300 low hurdles (47.82), Otay Ranch sophomore Faufano Autele in the boys discus throw (132-9), Olympian sophomore Shaniyah Rankin in the girls high jump (4-10), Eastlake freshman Renna Cozza in the girls pole vault (7-9) and Mater Dei Catholic junior Ezekiel Campos in the boys pole vault (11-10).
Jumping for joy
Mater Dei Catholic’s Verdell, a member of the school’s state bowl game championship football team, won the league title in the boys long jump with a mark of 21-5. The junior’s best on the season is 22-6.75 to rank sixth overall in the section.
Verdell also placed third in the triple jump at the league finals with a mark of 43-5.5. His best of the season is 45-10.79 to rank fourth overall in the section.
Olympian senior Antonio Riggins flew past Verdell at the league finals to win with a personal record mark of 46-11.5 that catapulted him to the No. 2 section ranking in the event.
Eastlake’s Jackson finished second at the league finals in the triple jump with a mark of 43-6.5. His best on the season is 44-6 to rank seventh overall in the section.
Saturday’s section prelims should prove very interesting with three Metro jumpers ranked in the top seven.
Olympian sophomore Chayin Osgood won the league boys high jump title by clearing 6-0. His best on the season is 6-3 to rank in a tie for ninth in the section.
Fast lane
Olympian swept both the girls 4×100 and 4×400 relay events. Kolumbia Page, Jazzleen Wharry and Pariss Boyd joined Ornelas on the 4×100 unit; Adaeze Noble joined Ornelas, Wharry and Page on the 4×400 unit.
Ornelas, Noble (59.16) and Page (59.63) finished 1-2-3 in the girls 400 dash.
Wharry finished second in both the 100 dash (12.86) and 200 dash (26.23). Noble was third in the 200 dash (26.78).
Otay Ranch won the boys 4×100 relay in 43.63. Team members included Navarro, Tyshawn Cook, John Price and Hoffer.
Price also finished second in the 400 dash (50.53) and third in the 200 dash (22.94).
Eastlake finished first through fourth in the girls 800 run, with all four runners advancing to this weekend’s prelim meet. The fantastic foursome included McFarland, Jacqueline Van Liefde (second, 2:22.23), Emily Bonilla (third, 2:22.82) and Makena Cash (fourth, 2:23.47).
Eastlake senior Hunter Mickelsen was second in both the girls low hurdles (16.94) and 300 hurdles (49.26).
Soaring Eagles
Otay Ranch (boys) and Eastlake (girls) captured regular season dual meet championships but Olympian held the upper hand at the league finals.
Olympian won team titles in both the boys and girls league finals as the Eagles of both genders put on a showcase performance.
Ornelas’ four gold medals epitomized that effort. “It was awesome to take it all,” Ornelas said. “I got the job done — I did what I had to do.”
Olympian finished with a big bulge over runner-up Eastlake in winning the team title at the league finals. The Lady Eagles tallied 163 points to 122 points for the Lady Titans. Bonita Vista was third with 103.5 points, followed by Otay Ranch (87.5 points), Hilltop (14 points) and Mater Dei Catholic (three points).
Olympian and Otay Ranch tied for the boys team lead at the league finals with 126 points, followed by Eastlake (88 points), Bonita Vista (85 points), Mater Dei Catholic (45 points) and Hilltop (21 points).
Coaches of the year included Eastlake’s John McFadden (girls teams) and Ronald Moore (boys teams).
Cumming, who served as meet director, wished to thank all of the parents and friends who volunteer every year to help the teachers and coaches, who volunteer to officiate given events at the league prelims and finals.
“It is nice to see how many people are willing to give up their time to ensure our student-athletes have a first-class competition,” Cumming said.
