FRIDAY PREVIEW
Girls 3200m. (Meet record: Megan O'Reilly Mt. Spokane-Washington 9:29.18 '06 for 3000m.)
The first high school event that will take place on the track will be the girls' 3200 meters. This is a new event which replaces the 3000 meters so the winner here will establish a new meet record. Claudia Lane of Malibu (Kirby Lee photo above) will be strongly favored here as she is the defending state champion in this event as well as two-time Foot Locker national champion in cross country. She will look to end the race at the gun as she always charges to the lead leaving little drama for the rest of the race. Her main competition should come from the following runners. Maddy Denner of Oak Ridge is the defending state champion in the 1600m and will be looking for a fast time here. Two more athletes from the south that will also be near the front are La Costa Canyon's Kristin Fahy and Mission Viejo's Kelli Hines. Gabrielle Peterson of Healdsburg finished an impressive 3rd at the Dublin Distance Fiesta and will be looking for a top finish here. Great Oak will put their aces in the Distance Medley Relay but they will have a couple of girls that will more than hold their own in Sandra Pflughoft and Audrey Dang.
Boys 3200m. (Meet record: Eduardo Herrera Madera South-CS 8:15.01 '16 for 3000m.)
With the defending 3000m champion (Michael Vernau of Davis) now competing for the Stanford Cardinal, the favorite in this year's 3200m will be Redwood's outstanding junior, Liam Anderson (Anda Chu photo above). He finished in 3rd place at the 2017 NXN meet and was the top underclassman in the event. At the Dublin Distance Fiesta, Anderson dipped under the 2-minute mark in the 800m and then doubled back to a finish a very competitive 3rd in the 3200m. with a personal best 9:07.12. His main competition should be a combination of familiar and unfamiliar teammates with the Dublin duo of Adrian Schroeder and Gaurav Phanse and the Great Oak duo of Tyler Tickner and Gabriel Abbes.
Girls 400m. Hurdles (Meet Record Angela Harris Skyline-OAK 60.53 '94)
The 400m. hurdles race is a unique event for most of the athletes attending this meet. It will really test most of the hurdlers entered in this event as many of them will be navigating the one lap version for the first time in a competitive setting. The favorite in this event will be Santa Rosa's ultra-talented Kirsten Carter (John Burgess/Press Democrat photo). During her high school career, Carter has run an 11.78 100 meters, 23.86 200 meters along with a 54.24 personal best in the 400 meters. She has also long jumped 18'11" and thrown the shot put 33'8". As if that is not impressive enough, Carter has also launched the discus 121'9". This year, the UC Davis commit has added the 300m. hurdles to her arsenal with a 42.68 best which ranks her 3rd in the nation. It's possible she may give the long-standing meet record a scare which will leave the crowd quickly turning their attention to the scoreboard once she completes her race. Ponderosa's Mackenzie Fletcher has the 6th fastest 300m. hurdles times in California this year with a best of 43.68.
Boys 400m. Hurdles (Meet Record: David Klech California-NCS 50.35 '06)
For many hurdlers, the 300m. version is just the right distance that allows high school athletes to race confidently without fear of hitting the proverbial wall down the stretch. The full lap encounter over 10 hurdles is not quite as forgiving and this race may turn into a survival event. The meet record held by former California-NCS star David Klech is quite formidable and I don't see anyone breaking that record anytime soon. The favorite to win here is the fastest 300m. hurdler in California, Clayton Valley's Aidan Jackman (38.18). He seems to be clear of the field but don't count out the other hurdlers who have dipped under the 40 second mark this year, Jake Woods of Clovis (39.78), Jaelen Craft of Newark Memorial (39.82) and Brandon Andrade of Redwood, Visalia (39.84).
Distance Medley Relays-Girls (Meet Record: Oak Ridge-SJS 11:51.00 '07)
The fastest DMR team in California this year is the La Costa Canyon girls with their 12:01.34 best from the Falcon Relays. They are not entered here even though they will have several of their runners competing in individual events. As with most Southern California meets, the favorite to win here will be the Great Oak girls. This is their first appearance at this meet and they will be looking to make a major statement against some of the best teams from Northern California. Their 12:03.64 is the 2nd best time in California and with a little competition, they should dip under the 12-minute mark. Keeping them honest will be the Santa Cruz girls. At the Dublin Distance Fiesta, the SC girls won with a best of 12:07.58. Their anchor Mari Friedman can run with anybody in the state and if she is close to the lead, that could be bad news for that other team. The wildcard in this event is the Oak Ridge girls. They finished in 2nd place last year and then won the Arcadia Invitational. If they decide to focus on this event, Oak Ridge could give Great Oak and Santa Cruz a definite run for the front spot.
Distance Medley Relays-Boys (Meet Record: Bellarmine-CCS 10:03.67 '17).jpg)
With the elimination of the 4 x 800m. relay after the 2014 Stanford Invite, the distance medley relay is now the lone distance relay although sprinters may disagree and insist on including the 4 x 400m. relay. Last year, the Bellarmine boys (photo above from the Arcadia Invitational thanks to Kirby Lee) lowered the meet record that was set the previous season by the Armijo boys. They blistered the field with a best of 10:03.67 and then proceeded to add victories in this event at the Arcadia Invitational as well as the Penn Relays. This year, Bellarmine returns the dynamic duo of Alex Scales and Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau but will miss their 800m. ace, Ben Micallef. The favorite this year should be the Great Oak boys. They will save their best runners for this relay and will be looking to make a major statement here. They should be pressed by the already mentioned Bells but it may be too difficult for the rest of the field to keep up with the depth of the Wolfpack. The race for second should be between Bellarmine, Carlmont and Heritage, three teams that battled at the Dublin Distance Fiesta for the win there.
Long Jump (Boys and Girls)
Meet Record Boys: Ken Frazier Mission-SF 24'0.25 '08
Meet Record Girls: Brittany Daniels Merrill West-SJS 20'0.25 '05
The boys' long jump will be the first field event here and the favorite will be Alex Enos of St. Ignatius (photo courtesy of siprep.org). He has a California best of 24'2.5" which he accomplished at the K-Bell Invitational earlier this season. He will need to jump over 24 feet again at this meet if he wants to claim another invitational victory here. Challenging him will be St. Mary's Berkeley sophomore Malcolm Clemons who has a season-best of 23'11.25". Also in the field is the defending state champion in the triple jump, Great Oak senior, CJ Stevenson. He has a season-best of 23'6.5". Pittsburg's Teaun-Tr'e Pierce has also surpassed the 23 foot mark this season with a best of 23'3.5" and is the defending meet champion from last year.
In the girls' long jump competition, the defending champion, Jaala Downes of Kimball HS is back to defend her title which she won last year when she competed for Lincoln of Stockton. She had the only 19 foot jump of the competition last year and has a season best of 19'5" with a lifetime best mark of 19'7.5" from last season. Her main competition will come from two other jumpers that have surpassed the 19 foot mark in their careers. St. Mary's Berkeley has had a string of terrific jumpers and Kali Hatcher is the latest star jumper. She has a lifetime best of 19'4.75" and finished in 6th place at last year's California State Track and Field meet. Silver Creek's Arianna Fisher has a best of 19'4" and finished in 4th place last year.
Pole Vault (Boys)
Meet Record: Mike Kibort Saratoga-CCS '83, Casey Roche St. Francis-CCS '07, Nico Weiler Los Gatos-CCS '08, Dylan Duvio John Curtis-Louisiana '13 (all 16'6")
The final field competition for Friday that we will preview will be the boys' pole vault, one of the premier events for California track athletes. The top returner from last year's competition is Adam Obrien of Whitney, Rocklin who finished tied for 9th last year. The leading pole vaulter for this season is Moreau Catholic's Thomas Slakey who has a season and lifetime best of 15'4.75". That mark currently ranks him 5th in California for this season. The other vaulter that has sailed over 15 feet in this competition this year is Logan Flores of Gilroy who won the competition with that mark at the Don Christopher Invitational. Other vaulters that will be looking for big jumps at this competition are Turlock's Nathan Garibay (14'10") and Del Oro's James Baker (14'7").