Eastlake High School sophomore Jaelyn Williams is now unequivocally the standard by which to measure in the girls distances events after claiming victory in both the 1600- and 3200-meter runs at last Saturday’s San Diego Section championship meet at Mt. Carmel High School.
Williams notched a personal record in winning the 1600 in 4:40.29 and came back with a 10:15.40 time to win the 3200. She easily qualified for this weekend’s state meet in both events.
The time in the 1600 set a new section record, eclipsing the 4:41.71 posted by Torrey Pines’ Alli Billmeyer in 2011.
The top three place-finishers in each event, plus those who achieved a pre-determined qualifying standard, earned the right to extend their season by at least one more week at the upcoming state championship meet in Clovis.
There was some doubt in the order of finish in the girls 1600 before Williams took charge down the final 200 meters to win by two seconds.
La Jolla sophomore Chiara Dailey finished second in 4:42.26, a personal record, while La Costa Canyon senior Gioana Lopizzo placed third in 4:50.97. Lopizzo had to fend off a personal-record showing by Bishop’s sophomore Ayanna Hickey (4:52.39) to secure one of the three guaranteed state-qualifying berths.
Five runners overall dipped under the five-minute mark as Sage Creek senior Kaya Scuba timed 4:56.15.
“I was hoping for 4:30 or 4:40 — if I did that, I knew I’d get the section record,” said Williams, who last weekend won both the 1600 and 3200 events at the re-formatted Division I championship meet at Del Norte High School. “I simply wanted to go out strong. I knew if I went out strong, it would be harder for the other runners to catch up to me. I knew I could maintain it.”
Her stamina is quickly becoming the stuff of legend. She timed 4:50.22 to win by 30 seconds in the 1600 and 10:26.38 in the 3200 to win by a whopping 85 seconds at the league finals. At the Division I finals May 11 at Del Norte High School, the Eastlake distance queen timed 4:45.00 in the 1600 to win by 11 seconds and 10:21.40 in the 3200 to win by 32 seconds.
There was little question she would win the 3200 event on Saturday after opening a gaping lead on Lopizzo. Dailey later moved up to capture second place while finishing 21 seconds arrears of the Lady Titan distance queen.
Dailey timed 10:36.30 while Lopizzo placed third in 10:40.87. Sage Creek junior Gabriella Peters finished fourth with a personal record 10:43.62. Overall, eight runners finished under the 11-minute mark.
Canyon Crest Academy junior Katja Dunayevich was fifth in 10:44.35, followed by Del Norte freshman Eliza Hong in sixth place in 10:55.09, Cathedral Catholic senior Scarlett Martin in seventh place in 10:55.87 and La Jolla senior Daphne Mayer in 10:58.01 in eighth place.
“In the 3200, I was just trying to get first – get a time to go under the state qualifying time (10:32.50),” Williams said.
La Costa Canyon’s Kristin Fahy continues to hold the 3200 section record at 10:11.38, set in 2019.
The distance double at the section level is a fairly big achievement for the diminutive Eastlake runner. She tripled at the league finals by sweeping the 800, 1600 and 3200 distances.
“It’s very satisfying because I’ve put in a lot of hard work in practice,” she said. “I got every bit of strength to push through. God gave me that today. It’s hard to keep that pace going. He was there every second, pulling me to state.”
Williams placed fourth at last spring’s 3200 finals in Clovis and was fourth in last fall’s cross country finals in Fresno. She said she has set new goals for the future, which begins at Saturday’s state finals.
“I keep getting fourth,” she said. “I want to get better than fourth.”
Williams will be joined in Clovis by three automatic individual state qualifiers in Olympian senior Angel Cordero (first, boys 800 run), Otay Ranch senior Gabriella Colon Gipson (second, girls shot put) and Bonita Vista senior Natalie Guevara (third, girls triple jump).
Off to the races
Cordero captured the Metro-Mesa League title in 1:55.11 but finished runner-up to Carlsbad senior Cain Evans at the ensuing Division I finals. Evans timed 1:52.84 to win while Cordero took second in 1:54.45.
Cordero had to put it into another gear to become a section champion while seriously challenged by two other runners down the final straightaway.
Cordero (personal best 1:52.02) reached down big time to cross the finish line 0.65 seconds ahead of Sage Creek sophomore Josiah Bowman (second place, personal best 1:52.67) and hold off Evans (third place, 1:53.22).
“I gave it everything I had in the tank,” Cordero said. “They (Bowman and Evans) were pushing so hard, I had to push with them.”
The Olympian half-miler, who will be making a return to the state meet in the event, called Saturday’s win the most satisfying of his career.
“I have the school record and I keep lowering it,” he said.
Olympian senior Anthony Estrella pushed as well to finish fourth in a 1:56.94 PR time after winning the preliminary heat by a sizable margin. The state qualifying time is 1:54.10.
Cordero and Estrella each ran legs on the Eagles’ fourth place 4×400 relay team that clocked 3:20.59. Also running legs were junior Jaylon Graves and senior Caleb Castro.
Silver lining
Colon Gipson placed second in the girls shot put with a mark of 39-10.25 to finish behind the monster throw of 42-0 unleashed by Helix junior Shani Ford.
Colon Gipson also competed in the discus throw, finishing 13th with a throw of 103-11.
Otay Ranch’s girls 4×100 relay team blazed to a second-place time of 48.56 to qualify for the state meet. Junior Zamaria Mack (more on her later), senior Arynn Sanders, freshman Shilah Coco and sophomore Anaya Carter each ran legs.
The Lady Mustang quartet finished between Steele Canyon (first, 47.09) and Helix (third, 48.64).
Bronze and more
Guevara won the Division I championship with a mark of 32-2.75 – six inches ahead of Rancho Bernardo’s Tayhlore Hoagland after jumping at 36-1 the league finals to place runner-up to Otay Ranch’s Anyah Stevenson.
Stevenson and Hoagland both competed at Saturday’s finals but couldn’t touch Guevara’s third-place mark of 37-7, a new PR. Oceanside freshman Malia Jones won the section title with a jump of 37-10 while La Jolla Country Day junior Siena Bateman finished second at 37-7, winning a tiebreaker over the Lady Baron.
Cathedral Catholic sophomore Kyla O’Donnell placed fourth at 37-3.75 while Stevenson finished fifth at 37-2.75.
Otay Ranch junior Zamaria Mack made a strong showing in both hurdles events at the finals by placing fourth in the 300 low hurdles (43.40) and fifth in the 100 hurdles (14.92).
She made the state qualifying standard in the 300 hurdles (43.77) but not in the 100 hurdles (14.48).
Her times continue to drop after winning league titles in 14.97 and 44.85. She won the Division I title in the 100 hurdles in 14.76 – 0.05 ahead of Steele Canyon senior Lillian Cook. Mack timed 43.53 in placing runner-up to Carlsbad junior Morgan Herbst (41.91).
San Diego Lady Caver junior Anisa Bowen-Fontenot won the section title in the 100 lows in 13.67 while Herbst claimed the 300 lows in 41.54.
Mack qualified for state last year in the 100 event.
“It made know I can make it both next year,” she said. “I know I can do that next year.”
The difference between both distances? “In the 300, I’m more clam,” she said. “In the 100, I’m a beast.”
Eastlake senior Isabella Robinson timed 15:33 to place sixth in the girls 100 low hurdles while Otay Ranch’s Stevenson was eighth in 15.49. Stevenson was ninth in the 300 hurdles in 46.87 while Robinson was 10th in 46.94.
Bonita Vista senior Jayden Peterson turned in a mark of 22-0.5 to place sixth in the boys long jump while Mater Day Catholic sophomore Mekhi Oluwa placed ninth at 21-1.
Otay Ranch senior Jaiden Ingram posted a mark of 44-8 to place sixth in the boys triple jump while Oluwa was 10th at 43-4.5.
Bonita Vista senior Tyler Scott and Baron freshman teammate Jerry Scott both cleared 6-0 in the boys high jump. Scott placed seventh while Scott tied for eighth.
Mater Dei Catholic Elise Datuin timed a 59.28 to place seventh in the girls 400 dash.
Eastlake placed eighth in the girls 4×400 relay in 3:59.22. (legs by junior Jenna Cesena, Robinson, junior Sheridan Roche and sophomore Samara Maldonado).
Otay Ranch senior Mara Savaiinaea placed eighth in the girls discus throw (115-6) while Mater Dei Catholic senior Zoe Cruz was ninth (113-2).
The Lady Mustangs recorded two medalists in the girls high jump – senior Samone Cable (fifth, 5-2) and junior Claire Schroeder (eighth, 5-2).
Schroeder previously came out on top of the field at both league and division finals, scoring a personal best 5-6 to win the Division I championship.
“It was great being with my friends and family,” she said. “I’ve competed with them all season. I love being with these girls. The experience was amazing.”
Eastlake senior Caleb Addleman placed ninth in the boys shot put (46-3) while Roche finished ninth in the girls triple jump (36-0.5).
Olympian was ninth in the girls 4×400 relay in 4:01.22 (legs by sophomore Kelena Gallardo, senior Leilani Tello and juniors Ari Anderson and Gabrielle Hawkins).
Eastlake was ninth in the girls 4×800 relay in 9:56.91 (legs by sophomore Andrea Prado-Tamayo, seniors Sienna Blanco and Vanessa Vuong and freshman Greysen Mains).
Helix and Steele Canyon each won respective gender team championships after repeating as Division I champions the previous week. Metro-Mesa champion Otay Ranch was fifth in the girls field among 60 scoring teams.
