If you love close races without clear favorites, then the 400 is right up your alley. Although Ceili Tuttle (Fullerton) is the only girl to run under 57 in the prelims, Kennedy Gillian (Mission Viejo) actually has the best time on the season with her 56.02. With a strong group of low-57 runners also trying to pull themselves into the 56's, this one could come down to which runner is strongest on the final stretch.
The Division 2 800 could be the race of the weekend, with Bianca Tinoco (Golden Valley) being challenged by 4 sub-2:13 girls. To make things even better, only Michelle Magnani (Moorpark) is doubling in the 1600, which means that Tinoco, Claire Crowley (Redlands), Sabrina Janes (Saugus), and Talley Hill (Arroyo Grande) will all be putting their full effort into the 800.
You could say the same for the 300 Hurdles, where there could be a 2-girl battle up front between Juanita Webster (Redlands) and Hope Bender (Newport Harbor), who have both been under 43.5, and could push each other into the 42's. Behind them are up to 5 more sub-45 runners fighting for spots in the Masters meet.
Samantha Ortega (Saugus) enters the weekend as the favorite in a 3200 that features 4 sub-10:40 girls. It's hard to bet against Amanda Gehrich (Tesoro), who had the leading time from the prelims. Factor in Claire Graves (Citrus Valley) and Kimberly Coscia (South Torrance) and you've got quite a race!
Mission Viejo and Redlands already dueled to nearly identical 3:54's in last weekend's prelims of the 4x400, with J.W. North at 3:55 and Newport Harbor at 3:56 on the same day. All 4 teams will be in the same section on Saturday for round two, and it's not unreasonable to think they will edge closer to the 3:50 mark.
The shot put should be extremely competitive, as the top 3 seeds were separated by only 5.5 inches last weekend, and by only 14 inches on the season as a whole. Samantha Henkel (Arroyo Grande) has thrown 41' 9", with Nikaela Harris (Golden Valley) close behind at 41' 3", and Taylor Crockem (Chino) definitely in striking range at 40' 7.5". Rachelle A La Torre (Newport Harbor) has also thrown over 40 feet, although she didn't have her best day in prelims. A La Torre has also tossed the discus over 140 feet this season, as has Alexa Coubal (Thousand Oaks).
Athletes to Watch
Mater Dei and Rio Mesa are the only two squads in the division to have run under 48 in the 4x1, although a few other teams have been close.
Gehrich is going to be pretty hard to beat in the 1600, where her season best of 4:47 is 8 seconds better than anyone else's.
If you want to look for a candidate to be a multiple-event champion this weekend, look no further than Tara Davis (Agoura). She is the top seed by almost half a second in the 100 Hurdles, where she is the only athlete to have broken 14 this season. She has her hands full in the long jump with Margaux Jones (Redlands), as both girls have identical 20' 4" marks this season. In the triple jump, though, Davis is dominant - her US #11 40' 11.5" mark is over a foot beyond her main challenger, Juanita Webster (Redlands).
Zaria Francis (Rio Mesa) should dominate the 100 and 200, as she looks forward to yet another showdown with her chief rival next weekend at Masters. Only Lonsha Bradford (Elsinore) can come anywhere close to Francis' mark of 11.41 in the 100, and nobody is close to her 23.60 200 time.
Erinn Beattie (Buena) is the state leader in the high jump with her mark of 5' 10". Bria Palmer (J.W. North) has been over 5' 7".
Rachel Baxter (Canyon) has the best vault of the season in this division, having cleared 13' 3". Her closest challenger is McKenna Caskey (Mater Dei), at 13 feet even, and after those two there is a pretty steep drop-off.
