The California high school state track and field championship meet is regarded as the top high school track and field meet in the United States.
Many consider it an honor simply to be included in the top-flight field.
Those who bring home medals form a rather exclusive club.
Count Eastlake High School senior Jalyn Jackson and the Olympian High School girls 4×100-meter relay team among the latter after securing coveted medals at last weekend’s 100th running of the California state finals at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
State of mind
Jackson, who is bound for UC Berkeley on a rare track and field scholarship, captured two state medals for the second consecutive year in the boys long jump and triple jump.
He garnered the spotlight last year with a second-place medal in the triple jump and a sixth-place medal in the long jump. He upped the prestige points this year with a silver medal in the triple jump and a bronze medal in the long jump.
The top six place-finishers in each event receive medals at the state meet.
Jackson recorded a runner-up finish in the triple jump with a mark of 49 feet, 3 inches and posted a mark of 23-8.5 in the long jump in last Saturday’s finals.
Both marks fell short of personal bests. However, considering temperatures hovered near the 100-degree mark at the suburban Fresno venue and that Jackson has been battling an ongoing hamstring strain, the marks were good enough to merit hardware.
And merit a noteworthy place in the Metro Conference history book.
“My injury really started acting up, so I could only take three jumps in the (triple jump) finals,” Jackson explained. “But I’m satisfied with the marks I got and what I was able to do. I got second in the triple jump and third in the long jump this year. Last year, I got second in the triple jump and sixth in the long jump. I was especially happy with my mark in the triple jump (this year).”
Jackson entered last weekend’s gathering of the top prep performers in the Golden State with the top qualifying marks in both jumps after sweeping titles the preceding week at the San Diego Section finals.
Jackson won the long jump with a personal record mark of 24-10. He recorded a winning mark of 49-1.75 in the triple jump.
However, the opening day of competition at the state meet proved to be somewhat onerous for the Titan standout jumper.
He recorded just the eighth-best mark among the 33 competitors in last Friday’s long jump prelims with a jump of 22-7.5 — well behind the 24-3.25 posted by St. Mary’s sophomore Malcolm Clemons, who finished with the top prelim mark.
No one else was able to hit 24 feet and only four others managed to hit 23 feet. Jackson was among 13 jumpers in the 22-foot range.
There was some concern as only jumpers with the top 12 prelim marks advanced to the next day’s finals.
“There was some great talent but everybody had a bad day, so I was able to sneak in,” Jackson admitted. “I hit the 22-7 (in the long jump) on my first jump. I did two more (but) I scratched those. I knew they were both 23s.”
Jackson fared better in the triple jump prelims with the fourth-best mark of 47-10. However, that ranked nearly two feet under his season best of 49-10.25 posted at April’s Arcadia Invitational.
Great Oak senior C.J. Stevenson was the lone jumper in the 27-deep field to hit 49 feet with a jump of 49-11.75 and only one other jumper managed to hit 48 feet. Jackson was among five jumpers to hit 47 feet.
The top 11 triple jumpers made the finals cut.
“In the triple jump I definitely did better,” Jackson said. “There was only one over 49 feet. I was in the 47s, so I was up there. My leg was hurting a lot but I fought through it. I knew it was my second-to-last track meet.”
Jackson rose to the occasion in his last high school track meet the following day despite the hot weather conditions.
The long jump was up first on the events calendar.
Clemons topped the field again, this time with a personal record jump of 25-1 to win the event. St. Ignatius senior Alex Enos turned in a jump of 24-0.5 to finish second. Jackson was among four jumpers to land in the 23-foot range, all of whom earned medals with top six finishes.
Jackson beat out Clovis North sophomore Caleb Foster by 1.5 inches for third place and finished four inches ahead of Stevenson, who captured fifth place with a jump of 23-4.5. Clovis North senior Christian Wood claimed the last medal in the event with a jump of 23-1.75.
No one managed to set a PR in the triple jump finals.
Stevenson was back on top with a mark of 49-11.75 to match his top prelim mark. Jackson was the only other jumper to hit 49 feet, which assured him of second place in the event.
Clovis North senior Jared Whitt took third with a jump of 48-7. The field was spread out from there.
Natomas junior DeAndra McDaniel finished fourth with a jump of 47-9.25 while South Pasadena sophomore Tianhao Wei finished fifth at 47-4.5.
Sanger sophomore Kosi Agina secured the final state medal with a sixth-place jump of 46-9.
Three San Diego Section jumpers made the finals cut. Rancho Bernardo senior Glenn Mbamo finished 10th in the field with a jump of 45-3.75 while Oceanside junior Deondre Ruth finished 11th with a jump of 45-1.5.
Next year already looks to be competitive with four jumpers in each of the long jump and triple jump finals eligible to return.
New challenges await Jackson at the next level.
He plans on resting his body through the end of June and may begin some light workouts following that in preparation for college.
Some unfinished business remains.
“I still haven’t hit 25 feet in the long jump and 50 feet in the triple jump, so those remain my goals,” he said.
Fleet feet
Olympian made history for its program on two fronts at last weekend’s state meet. The Eagles qualified for their first finals event and, in the same stroke, also captured their first state medal.
Olympian had dazzled at the section finals with five Division I gold medals, including first-place finishes in both the 4×100 and 4×400 relays and individual gold medals in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes.
Senior Kolumbia Page finished with four gold medals herself by posting the top Division I times in the 100 and 200 dashes and running legs on the Eagles’ championship relay teams.
She teamed with Adaeze Noble, Alyssa Meeks and Alexis Meeks for a 47.32 time to place sixth in the finals field of nine teams.
Junipero Serra won the event in 45.69, followed by Calabasas (second, 45.91), Sheldon (third, 46.12), Long Beach Poly (fourth, 46.71) and Bishop O’Dowd (fifth, 46.86).
Olympian edged Santa Margarita (seventh, 47.65) by 0.33 seconds for the last medal position. St. Mary’s finished eighth in 47.66. Arcadia did not finish the race.
The finals time bettered the Eagles’ prelim clocking of 47.36 by a scant 0.04 seconds but was not the team’s best of the season. That came with a 47.18 at the section finals.
Olympian eased into Saturday’s state finals with the seventh-best prelim mark among the 25 entered teams. Serra posted the top prelim mark of 45.74 while St. Mary’s slipped into the finals field with the ninth-best mark of 47.70.
OHS head coach Michael Adkins was understandably elated by the positive turn of events.
“This was our first state medal and the first time we had made the finals in any event,” the Eagles coach beamed. “This was outstanding. Even Kamaile (Signo-Hawkins) got an assist for running in the prelims to get us here.
“These girls set a high mark for us to beat the next couple years.”
Page qualified to compete in four events at last weekend’s state meet. She didn’t miss by much of making the finals in multiple events.
She finished 11th in the 25-deep field in the 100 dash prelims in 12.08 — just 0.08 seconds off the cut for the finals.
She finished 15th among the 27 runners in the 200 dash prelims in 24.76, a personal record. She edged Noble by 0.13 seconds in the prelim list after her teammate recorded a PR of 24.89 (to place 16th in the field).
The prelim qualifying featured three heats, with the top finisher in each heat, plus those with the next six best times, advancing to the finals.
Upland senior Jada Hicks secured the last berth for the 200 finals with a time of 24.46. Again the cut for the finals was measured in tenths of a second for Page (0.30) and Noble (0.43).
Noble, the section’s top finisher in the 400 dash, finished 12th overall in prelim qualifying in that event with a time of 56.35. She missed the finals cut by 0.44 seconds.
Calabasas junior De’anna Nowling won the state title in the 100 dash in 11.47 while Bishop O’Dowd senior Tierra Robinson-Jones won the state title in the 200 dash in 23.66.
Robinson-Jones also won the state title in the 400 dash in 52.37.
Olympian finished 11th in prelim qualifying in the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:52.50 — just off the school record 3:52.35 clocking it posted at the section finals. However, the Eagles missed the state finals cut by 1.37 seconds.
Torrey Pines finished 12th, also a non-finals qualifier, with a prelim time of 3:52.61.
Bonita won the state title in the 4×400 relay in 3:42.62 after recording the top prelim time of 3:45.96 the previous day.
Page set school records this season in the 100 dash (12.00) and 200 dash (24.76), Noble set a school record in the 400 dash (56.17) while the Eagles also set school records in both the 4×100 relay (47.28) and 4×400 relay (3:52.35).
Olympian Gail Devers may be the only other female Metro Conference track and field athlete to win four gold medals at the section finals.
When Page was asked whether she had acquired the nickname of “Wonder Woman” on the team for her explosive exploits on the oval, she just smiled at the suggestion.
“I’m modest,” she answered.
Adkins was more forthright in his praise.
“She did an outstanding job, she had a great senior season,” the Olympian coach said. “She had a great off-season of workouts, and came into the season in great shape.”
Top marks
Coronado junior Alysah Hickey was the lone San Diego Section athlete to win a gold medal at last weekend’s state finals with her long jump mark of 19-9.75. She also became a double state medalist with her fourth-place finish in the girls high jump after clearing 5-8.
The section finished with 15 medals overall — 10 in boys events and five in girls events. However, the medals were thinly spread at the upper end of the scale with one gold medal, three silver medals and one bronze medal.
Section athletes accumulated five fourth-place medals, two fifth-place medals and three sixth-place medals.
This year’s state meet finished on a dramatic note as Murrieta Mesa won the boys 4×400 relay in the final event of the day to win the team title, finishing seven points ahead of runner-up Clayton Valley.
JSerra won the girls team state title by three points over runner-up Oak Ridge.
SAN DIEGO SECTION
2018 STATE MEDALISTS
First place medals
•Alysah Hickey (Coronado), long jump
Second place medals
•Jalyn Jackson (Eastlake), girls triple jump
•Jaden Rosenthal (High Tech High), boys 1600 run
•Kevin Ward (San Dieguito Academy), boys pole vault
Third place medals
•Jalyn Jackson (Eastlake), boys long jump
Fourth Place medals
•Morey Steward (Orange Glen), boys 100 dash
•Quoi Ellis (Mt. Carmel), boys 200 dash
•Kristin Fahy (La Costa Canyon), girls 3200 run
•Alysah Hickey (Coronado), girls high jump
•Jacob Rice (Rancho Bernardo), boys pole vault
Fifth place medals
•Joshua Farmer (Rancho Bernardo), boys 300 intermediate hurdles
•Mia Cervantes (Poway), girls pole vault
Sixth place medals
•Olympian girls 4×100 relay team
•Kenan Christon (Madison), boys 100 dash
•Kenan Christon (Madison), boys 200 dash
Long distance trip spotlights Metro’s long distance runners
It was a watershed year for the Metro Conference at last weekend’s California state high school track and field championship meet. Last Saturday’s finals at Buchanan High School in Clovis featured Chula Vista athletes competing in a total of five events.
For the first time in recent memory, the South County region was represented in both the boys and girls 3200-meter races.
Bonita Vista High School senior Isaiah Labra ended a spectacular career with maybe not the most spectacular result but still represented the conference with class in finishing 23rd in a field of 29 runners in 9:22.46.
Labra had electrified the Mt. Carmel High School stadium the previous week in winning the San Diego Section’s A-heat race in a personal best time of 9:10.0.
On the girls side, Eastlake sophomore Patricia Miessner placed 25th in a field of 29 runners in 11:03.17. The time was 18 seconds slower than the PR time of 10:45.65 she set in finishing third overall at the section finals.
The daytime high in Clovis last Saturday was 97 degrees. It was still in the 80s when the 3200 races were contested well after nightfall.
This was the first time for both Labra and Miessner competing at the state finals, and in Clovis at the start of summer.
“I was happy to be here competing but the competitive side in me was not happy the way it turned out,” explained Labra, a three-time cross country state meet qualifier. “The first half was very hectic. I was in the middle. People were passing me and I was passing people. That takes up a lot of energy. At the front, you’re not using as much energy.”
It’s staggering to reflect on the talent gathered on the oval at Buchanan High School. Fifteen runners dipped under 9:10, including three under 9:00.
Nine of the top 12 finishers, including the top four, either set season or personal records. Jesuit sophomore Matt Stangio used a final burst of energy to break away from El Camino Real senior Justin Hazell over the last 50 meters to win in 8:56.18.
Hazell finished runner-up in 8:57.90, followed by Mira Costa senior Xavier Court in third place in 8:59.56.
Canyon Country junior Ethan Danforth finished fourth in 9:00.30, followed by Larkspur Redwood junior Liam Anderson in 9:00.60.
Cathedral Catholic senior Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos, who finished three seconds behind Labra at the section finals, finished eighth in 9:05.34 as the top section finisher in the race.
Like Labra, Miesser started out in the middle of the group but fell back into a vacant gap by the midpoint of the race.
She steadily dropped back with each lap, placing ahead of only four other runners in the field.
Oak Ridge seniors Elena Denner (10:10.32) and Maddy Denner (10:11.56) finished as the leaders. The time was a PR for Elena Denner. Davis senior Olivia O’Keeffe finished third in 10:12.56, also a PR.
La Costa Canyon junior Kristin Fahy, who posted the top time (10:25.99) at the preceding section finals, challenged for the lead late in the race but dropped back to finish fourth with a 10:16.45 PR.
LCC senior McKenna Brown, the runner-up at the section finals, finished 20th in 10:51.69.
Time, however, appears on Miessner’s side. Twelve of the 24 runners who finished ahead of her at this year’s state finals are seniors.
While Labra moves on into collegiate running, crafting strategy on the race course, Miessner has two more years to prove herself at the prep level.
Best of the rest
Six individuals competing in 10 events plus three relay teams represented the Metro Conference in 13 events at last weekend’s state meet.
Otay Ranch senior Alani Johnson competed in two events in last Friday’s prelims, finishing 21st in the girls 100-meter low hurdles in 15.14 and 28th in the triple jump with a mark of 34-7.75.
She set a PR of 37-5 in capturing the Division I girls triple jump title at the section finals. She also set a 14.90 PR in placing third among Division I low hurdlers at the section meet.
Olympian advanced to compete in the boys 4×400 relay at last Friday’s state prelims, finishing last in the field of 29 teams in 3:36.07 — 13 seconds off the school record 3:23.09 posted at the section finals.
Surprise Valhalla entrant in state track finals produces surprise ending
Valhalla High School senior Alex Lieu was a surprise entrant in last weekend’s 100th running of the California state high school track and field championship meet at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
He was certainly in for the surprise of his life after recording a ninth-place finish in the boys 300-meter intermediate hurdles to cap his high school career.
Initially, Lieu — this year’s Grossmont Hills League champion in both the boys 110-meter high hurdles and 300 intermediate hurdles — did not qualify for last weekend’s state meet.
Only the top three place-finishers in each event at the San Diego Section championship meet May 26 at Mt. Carmel High School earned the right to advance to the prestigous two-day event.
Lieu had finished fourth in the 300 intermediate hurdles. However, when Southwest El Centro High School senior Tyler Saikhon (the second-place finisher) elected not to compete at the state meet that opened up a spot for Lieu.
“When my coach told me the news and asked if I wanted to go, I wasn’t going to say no,” Lieu explained. “You can’t say no to something like that. I didn’t make it at section finals because I finished fourth but still got a chance to go to the state meet.”
He did not waste the opportunity.
Including Lieu’s late entry, the Grossmont Conference advanced athletes to compete in 12 events at last weekend’s elite gathering of high school track and field athletes from around the Golden State.
Lieu was one of eight East County athletes who competed in 10 individual events. In fact, he was one of two East County entrants in the 300 intermediate hurdles, joining Granite Hills senior Dylan Coleman.
Lieu had beaten Coleman at the league finals but Coleman had placed higher than Lieu at the ensuing section finals — third in both hurdles events — to punch his ticket to the state meet.
Lieu got the better of the ongoing rivalry with Coleman at last Friday’s state prelims by advancing to Saturday’s state finals.
The top finisher in each of three prelim heats, plus athletes with the next six top times, advanced to the championship finals the following day
Lieu finished with the eighth-fastest qualifying time of 38.85 seconds, a school record, to secure a berth among the nine competitors in the championship finals.
Coleman finished farther down the list with the 18th-fastest prelim time of 40.49 and did not advance to the championship heat.
At the section finals, Coleman had timed and a personal record 14.63 in the high hurdles and 39.02 in the intermediate hurdles whereas Lieu had timed 15.23 in the high hurdles and 39.55 in the intermediate hurdles.
“I didn’t think I would make it to the championship finals at the state meet,” Lieu recounted. “It’s surreal.”
The following day, in the state finals, temperatures soared near the 100-degree mark at the suburban Fresno venue. Many athletes had difficultly matching their prelim marks.
Lieu was unable to match his school record time on Saturday, placing ninth with a time of 38.96 — 0.11 seconds slower than the previous day but 0.26 seconds faster than the 39.22 time he posted in winning the event at the league finals on May 9.
The Valhalla hurdler missed out on some shiny hardware: the top six place-finishers at the state finals receive medals.
Upland junior Caleb Lutalo Roberson won the state title in 36.61. Other medalists included Martin Luther King junior Reyte Rash (second, 37.17), Junipero Serra junior Tyler Mak (third, 37.50), Clovis senior Jake Woods (fourth, 37.57), Rancho Bernardo senior Joshua Farmer (fifth, 38.02) and Millikan senior Riley Williams (sixth, 38.23).
Visalia Redwood sophomore Brandon Andrade (seventh, 38.27) and Cosumnes Oaks senior Pierre Scott (eighth, 38.77) both finished ahead of Lieu in the championship heat.
Farmer had won the San Diego Section title in 37.81.
Lieu ended his high school career with school records in both hurdles events — 15.01 in the high hurdles (set at the league finals) and 38.85 in the intermediate hurdles (set at the state prelims).
Lieu will attend San Diego State University in pursuit of academics. Since SDSU does not have a men’s track and field team, his appearance at last weekend’s high school state finals turned out to be his last athletic competition.
“It was a great way to end my career,” he said.
Eastern exposure
Granite Hills’ Coleman and West Hills freshman Brandy Atuatasi each qualified to compete in two events at last Friday’s state prelims.
Atuatasi, the section’s Division II champion in both the girls shot put and discus throw, finished 19th in a field of 25 qualifiers in the discus throw with a mark of 133-9 and 22nd in a field of 30 qualifiers in the shot put with a mark of 38-5.75.
She had finished second at the section finals with a 135-0 mark in the discus throw and a 39-3 mark in the shot put.
Fowler junior Jocelynn Budwig won the state shot put title with a mark of 46-11 while Wheatland senior Erica Grotegeer won the state discus throw title with a mark of 174-9.
Coleman had clocked a personal record 14.63 at the section finals in the 110 high hurdles and 39.02 in the 300 intermediate hurdles. He could not duplicate those marks at last Friday’s state prelims, timing 14.83 in the high hurdles and 40.49 in the 300 hurdles.
Coleman finished 18th out of 25 entrants in the intermediate hurdles and 22nd in the field 25 entrants in the high hurdles.
Coleman was among three Granite Hills High School qualifiers for this year’s state meet, joining fellow seniors David Leber (discus throw) and David Gonzalez (shot put).
All were first-time state meet qualifiers. All admitted they were honored to compete alongside the state’s best high school track and field athletes.
“It’s like a dream come true,” Leber said. “I had been wanting to do this for so long. I’ve always wanted to do this against the best.”
“It’s something not everyone gets to experience,” Gonzalez added. “It’s a huge accomplishment.”
For Coleman, it proved to be an adventure of a lifetime — and not just competing amid temperatures that hovered near the 100-degree mark at the suburban Fresno venue.
The trip to Clovis was the farthest he had ever been away from home.
“The drive was one of the longest I’ve ever been on,” he said. “I had never been farther from Los Angeles before. It’s one of my biggest achievements and I was glad to have the opportunity to be here.”
None of the three Eagles advanced beyond the first day of competition.
The top 12 prelim finishers advanced to the state finals in the both the shot put and discus throw. Leber recorded the 17th best mark in the field of 28 qualifiers at 157-3 while Gonzalez finished 24th among 30 qualifiers at the state prelims with a mark of 49-8.25.
As a matter of reference, Mission Viejo Christian LaValle won this year’s state title in the boys discus throw at 182-7 while Bakersfield Liberty junior Daniel Viveros won this year’s state title in the shot put at 62-5.5
Gonzalez’s athletic career appears to just be taking off, however. A fullback, running back and tight end on the Granite Hills football team that advanced as far as last fall’s San Diego Section Division II semifinals, Gonzalez will be playing college football this fall at the University of Utah.
During his senior season with the Eagles, the 6-foot-3, 232-pound Gonzalez accumulated 1,020 yards in all-purpose offense and scored 11 touchdowns; he also recorded 94 tackles, 6.5 sacks and one fumble recovery on defense.
Other East County individual state qualifiers included Helix sophomore Eric Parker in the boys 400-meter dash and Mount Miguel senior Kiara Harrison and Steele Canyon senior Mya Cross in the girls long jump.
Harrison finished 16th out of 29 prelim qualifiers with a mark of 17-10 while Cross finished 17th with a mark of 17-7.25. Coronado junior Alysah Hickey won this year’s state title at 19-9.75.
Parker finished 18th out of 27 qualifiers with a time of 49.91 after setting a PR with a 49.11 time the previous week at the section finals. Marin Catholic senior Max Glasser won this year’s state title in 46.97.
Steele Canyon finished 16th out of 26 entrants in the state prelims in the boys 4×100-meter relay (42.51) while Helix finished 18th out of 29 entrants in the state prelims in the 4×400-meter relay (3:22.66).
State champions included Great Oak in the boys 4×100 relay (40.99) and Murrieta Mesa in the boys 4×400 (3:10.86).
Murrieta Mesa the state team title by winning the 4×400 relay in the final running event of the meet.
For complete results of this year’s state track and field meet, visit the website at www.cifstate.org.
