Mikaela Smith (Clovis North) starts her pursuit of a state title in the 800, while Buchanan's girls prepare for a big team battle in two weeks.
Two weeks from today, the state's best athletes will gather at Buchanan High School in Clovis for the CIF State Championshp. For those from the Central Section that aspire to be there, they have to earn their return trip at Saturday's Masters Meet. The top 3 performers in each event will advance, then have 2 weeks to train and sharpen in preparation. The Valley Championship, as the meet is also known, boasts some of the top talent in the state, including at least one team that has a chance at contending for the overall state title. Check out the top entries by event group below!
More Central Section Masters Coverage
Sprints & Hurdles
Hanna Waller (Buchanan, above) is gonna roll Saturday. She is the top seed in the 200 and 400, and nobody else is really close. Teammate Amari Spelling could end up second in the 200, and she is also the leading qualifier in a competitive 100 Dash. There, Spelling will try to stay ahead of Jazmine Ramey (Centennial), whose season best is only a tenth behind - enough that a good start or a stumble could determine the outcome. As dominant as Waller is in her events, Morganne Hill (Liberty) looks just as dominant in the hurdles - she ran 14.11 and 42.49 in her area meet, more than enough to earn favorite status.
Isaac Leppke (Dinuba) is the top seed and heavy favorite in the 110 Hurdles, but he will have a hard time earning the double win with Paramveer Chohan (Buchanan) and Kyle Lawson (Clovis) both running well in the 300 Hurdles. Darius Smith (Ridgeview) ran 10.78 in the 100 Dash, the best of the area meets by a good bit. In the 200, though, it's Charles Williams (Bullard) with the top seed as one of three athletes in the race that have broken 22. Bakersfield's Marcus Watkins and McLane's Michael Lankford are the other two, the latter with a 21.67 on his resume that makes him a threat to win. Lankford's also the top seed in the 400, where Mahmoud Adams (Bullard) is his chief challenger.
Field Events
Alycia Viveros (Liberty) is way ahead of the competition in the discus throw; her season best of 144' is 17 feet beyond the next-closest competitor. On the other hand, the shot put is shaping up to be pretty competitive: Allyssa Klinger (Shafter) threw 42' 11.25" last week to earn favorite status, but Addyson Smith (Madera) is in the 41's and Elizabeth Akindele (Clovis North) has been over 40 feet. This section lacks a dominating girls' long or triple jumper, which should make those two events entertaining. Breanna Covington (Central) gets the top seed in the long jump by virtue of being the only girl over 18 feet, but there is a fleet of 17-footers behind her that are capable of winning with a good jump. Damaris Hamilton (Clovis West) had the best triple jump mark of the area meets and is one of four girls over 37 this season, but Justice Smith (Highland) has the top mark on the season at 37' 11".
The girls' vertical jumps are going to be tightly contested, with no clear favorites in either event. Alexis Vincent-Walker (Clovis) has a slight edge in the high jump after having cleared 5' 7" this season, while Brooke Tjerrild (Clovis North) and Jenny Wilson (Buchanan) are the only two vaulters in the section to have gotten over 12 feet this season. On the boys' side, though, the opposite is true: Michael Burke (Lemoore) and Mason Vanhelsdingen (Clovis North) look like dominating favorites in the high jump and pole vault, respectively.
If Jacob Wilson (Buchanan) throws his best, he has a good chance to win both the shot and the discus. He did not throw his best in the area meet, which is why he is seeded , but his top marks of 57' 2" and 175' 8" both lead the section on the season. Greg Richardson (Shafter) is the main challenger in the shot put, while Nicholas Hudson (Kings Christian) had the top discus mark among the area meets. Bryce Huggins (Bakersfield) jumped 24' 5.25" last week, which would seem to make him the heavy favorite - except for Joey Souza (Kingsburg, above), who didn't jump in the area meet but has gone a half-inch further on the season. The triple jump is also a close affair: Seth Brooks (Kingsburg) is the favorite with his 48' 7" season best, while Donovan House (Clovis West) and Kaelin Edwards (Stockdale) have both been in the 46's.
Distance Races
Mikaela Smith (Clovis North) leads the state rankings in the 800, but she might not even win her section. That's because Hannah Benoit (Buchanan) is also tough, although she has yet to break through the 2:10 barrier as Smith has done. One thing that might not favor Benoit's upset effort: she runs the 1600 earlier in the meet, where she has to contend with Gabby Satterlee (Central Valley Christian) and Lauren Moffett (Clovis North), both very strong runners. At the end of the day, Moffett will battle Mikayla Sodersten (Clovis) for the 3200 crown.
With Isaac Trevino (Centennial) and Connor Morello (Clovis, above) both opting to focus their full efforts on the 800, there is a very real possibility that they will push each other to the 1:50 barrier (or beyond). Meanwhile, with Morello out of the 1600 it becomes Eduardo Herrera's race to lose, as the Madera South runner has a 4-second advantage over anyone else from the area meets. The one runner who could throw a monkey wrench into Herrera's plan to win the mile is Kasey Knevelbaard (Immanuel), who has run 4:13 this season but was much slower last week. Herrera also holds the top seed in the 3200, with Psalm Ocampo (Clovis North) the best candidate to unseat him there (as well as Knevelbaard).
Relays & Team Scores
Not surprisingly, Waller and Spelling are likely to power the Buchanan girls to titles in both relays. In the 4x100 nobody is within even a second of the Bears' season best, but Liberty and Bakersfield are threats in the 4x400. Overall, though, there appears to be little that anyone can do to derail Buchanan's team championship. The real battle will be for second place in the team scoring, where Liberty, Clovis North, and Clovis West are all fairly evenly matched.
The boys' 4x100 is shaping up to be crazy! The top 3 teams have season-best times between 42.23 and 42.31, which means any of the four could win. Bakersfield ran the fastest during area meets, but Ridgeview and Bullard will be right with them. Edison has the top time in the 4x400, meanwhile, having run 3:18 this season - the only team under 3:20 in the section. Bakersfield is likely to be the closest challenger in that race. In team scoring, there is no clear favorite, so this one could come down to which team catches the most breaks. Bakersfield, Buchanan, Kingsburg, Bullard, and Liberty are all contenders for the overall boys title.