SATURDAY FIELD EVENTS
Boys Discus (Meet Record: Kami Kashmiri Reno-Nevada 214'11" '87)
For those Track and Field fans that think that Great Oak is just a distance power, think again. They are bringing a talented group of athletes that will contend in many events. The leading discus thrower in this competition is Great Oak senior,Jaime Navarro. He had a personal best throw of 185'8" at the Nike Redondo Track Classic. He will try to score another invitational victory here but will need to stay in front of Eric Werner of Granite Bay who also has recorded his best mark of 178'0" this season at the Lancer Invitational. Jesuit senior Sebastian Garcia has been undefeated so far in the discus and won the Mark Macres Invitational with a best of 176'10". The winner will definitely be one of those competitors.
Girls Shot Put (Meet Record: Jessica Pressley Laguna Creek-SJS 49'4" '98)
The leading thrower in this competition hails from the Central Section with Jocelynn Budwig of Fowler who has already established a new best of 46'9" to win the Larry Lung Invitational. She will be challenged by James Logan's Hannah Hall who is currently undefeated in all her throw's competition so far this season. The third thrower that has also thrown well this season is Faith Bender of Liberty, Bakersfield who has a new best of 43'8".
Girls Pole Vault (Meet Record: Greta Wagner Los Gatos-CCS 13'0.25" '13)
Santa Catalina senior Laurel Wong (Santa Catalina HS photo above) recorded a near-perfect junior season in this event and followed a CCS title with a 5th place finish at the California State Track and Field meet. She recorded a personal best of 13'2" at last year's Arcadia Invitational and has already secured a 13'1" jump this season. She will be the strong favorite and will take a shot at Wagner's meet record which is definitely in her wheelhouse. Tamalpais vaulter Lauren Ross has a best of 12'10" from the 2017 season and will need a personal best performance to challenge Wong.
Boys Triple Jump (Meet Record: Ken Frazier Mission-SF 50'6" '81)
With the defending state triple jump champion, CJ Stevenson of Great Oak, focusing on the long jump, this competition will have a sophomore favorite. St. Mary's Berkeley's Malcolm Clemons qualified to the California State Track and Field meet as a freshman in both events and made it to the finals in both events. That is remarkable for a freshman boy! His main competition here will be Natomas jumper DeAndre McDaniel who also made last year's state finals and has already surpassed 46' this season.
If you are looking for the most competitive field event for the girls, you have found it. The girls' triple jump is loaded with some of the best jumpers in the state. Silver Creek's Arianna Fisher is the defending champion and she recorded the best jump of her career at this meet (41'7.25"). She will have plenty of competition with Kali Hatcher of St. Mary's Berkeley (42'3") and Allanah Lee of Castro Valley (41'4"). A couple of other jumpers that should also be mentioned are Hawa Kamara of Leigh (39'5"), Anneke Moersdorf of San Luis Obispo (38'3.75") and Jazlynn Shearer of Silver Creek (39'5"). Missoula Sentinal, MT jumper Lauren Heggen is just a sophomore and has already jumped 38'11". She will have quite an eye-opening experience taking on this field.
Girls High Jump (Meet record: Celia Willis Clovis West-CS 6'0" '88)
The favorite to win this event will travel to California all the way from New Jersey. Montgomery HS jumper Abrianna Barrett had quite a busy indoor season with lots of competitions. She had a best of 5'6" indoors but has jumped 5'10" outdoors at least twice. She will need a near personal best performance to win this event as there are at least three jumpers who have sailed over 5'6" before. They are Katie Hurst of Fortuna, Delaney Peranich of St. Ignatius and Anneke Moersdorf of San Luis Obispo.
Girls Discus (Meet record: Pamela Amaechi Lincoln-SF 169'10" '17)
The same three girls that will chase the shot put title earlier in the meet will all return to potentially double up their win total in the discus. Fowler's Jocelynn Budwig has the best mark of the trio with a best of 169'10" last season. She has recorded a best of 159'10" already this season and seems on the cusp of a big breakthrough in this event. Liberty, Bakersfield thrower Faith Bender has thrown a personal best 160'2" so far this season. James Logan's Hannah Hall has a best of 156'3" and will more than keep the top two throwers within reach.
Boys High Jump (Meet record: Maurice Crumby Balboa-SF 7'4.5 '83)
The meet record for this event is quite impressive. It was set in 1983 when Maurice Crumby of Balboa set a then national record of 7'4.5" to win the meet. While that record seems to be quite safe, we still may witness two jumpers clearing 7'. Vista del Lago's Jake Grimsman (James Leash photo above) jumped over 7 feet earlier this season at the UW Indoor meet. He has since cleared 7'2" which places him as the 2nd best high jumper in California as well as the nation behind only Sean Lee of Trabuco Hills (7'3"). Grimsman's competition will come from an unlikely source. Last year, Helena, MT freshman, Trey Tintinger finished an undefeated season in this event with a best of 7'1.5" to claim the state title. AS A FRESHMAN! This should be quite an epic dual and hopefully, the crowd in the stands will turn their attention to this event as the bar may go to unprecedented heights.
The final field event of the competition will get underway at 1pm. Last year, Pittsburg senior Iffy Joyner won the Stanford Invitational shot put with a mark of 52'2". He went on to finish in 5th place at the California State Track and Field with a best of 59'9". That's quite a jump from his mid-season throw but Joyner was not done as the also claimed the state title in the discus with a monster 203'8" personal best. This year's winner could also use Stanford as a launching pad the way Joyner did last year. The favorite will be Great Oak's Jaime Navarro who has already launched the shot 57'11". He will be kept honest by teammate Harrison Gould who had his own 57 foot throw with a best of 57'9". Washington of Fremont thrower Nicholas Betchart has thrown 56'3" this season and is well within striking distance of the GO throwers.
And that's my best attempt to identify the top competitors this coming weekend. Feel free to include any deserving athletes/teams that I may have missed in the comment section below. You can also chat at us at @MilesplitCA on Twitter.