SOME 1600
League championships usually see those who are on the edge of qualifying for the section prelims going as hard as they can and those who are guaranteed a spot cruising.
Apparently no one told La Costa Canyon's terrific trio of senior McKenna Brown and juniors Kristin Fahy and Jessica Riedman in the Avocado West League 1600-meter finals.
With all three running fresh, Brown sped to a 4:49.30 and didn't even have to turn around to see Fahy (4:50.26) and Riedman (4:50.74) finish a step behind.
Looking for a team title, all three are expected to double in the prelims-Brown and Fahy (Clark Kranz photo above) in the 1600 and 3200 with Riedman going in the 1600 and 800 where she will be one of the favorites.
NO HURDLE TOO HIGH FOR CLAY
In the very first invitational of the year, Valley Center's Jeremy Clay looked to be in midseason form as he won the 110-meter high hurdles at the Rancho Bernardo Bronco Invitational in 14.91 seconds. Two weeks later he captured the Mt. Carmel Invitational at 14.88.
Then his name disappeared from the results -- he had suffered a pulled hamstring. Every time Valley Center coach Mike Cummings was asked about Clay, he'd just shake his head and say he doubted the senior would be able to make it back.
But a week before the North Country Conference Valley League championships, Clay was given the go-ahead.
"His doctor and physical therapist said he was ready to run," said Cummings. "He really wanted to double in the 110s and 300s, but the 300 wasn't practical."
The result: a personal best 14.59 with a legal aiding wind of 1.2 mps.
A few days earlier El Centro Southwest's Tyler Saikhon had lowered the San Diego Section-leading best to 14.43 but Clay was back and if both survive Saturday's prelims at Mt. Carmel, a close championship seems inevitable.
"Recovering from a hamstring injury is a long, slow process," said Cummings. "We didn't want to hurry him back-if he wasn't ready by the end of the year, he wasn't ready.
"It was good to see how he came back. He raced well and at least he was well-rested."
POLE VAULTERS SOAR
Rancho Bernardo's Jacob Rice has slowly improved this season after opening at 15-feet in early March until last weekend at the Palomar League championships where he soared 16-2, tied for second in California and one inch ahead of San Dieguito's Kevin Ward.
Count in Mission Hills' Trevor Sheldon and that's three SD Section vaulters at 15-6 or better.
Rice has had 10 meets where he cleared 15-feet or more, a consistency that should help him as he looks forward.
The three vaulters should easily qualify this weekend and then push each other in the SDS championships May 26 where the section record of 16-8 by El Camino's Derek Scott (2005) might get threatened.
HERE COME THE RELAYS
Usually one of the last events to show dramatic improvement, at least in San Diego, all four relays had section-best times out of the league championships.
On the boys' side, St. Augustine sped to a 42.27 in the short relay and Mt. Carmel clocked a 3:23.07 in the 4x400.
For the girls, San Marcos regained the lead in the 4x100 at 47.71, edging crosstown rival Mission Hills 47.79 while Chula Vista Olympian moved to the top of the 4x400 with a 3:55.53 that has potential for a much faster time.
FROSH PHENOM
While Oceanside El Camino's Nu'u Tuilefano (44-5) remains the prohibitive favorite in the section shot put, Santana West Hills Brandy Atuatasi is making plenty of noise on her own, surpassing 40-feet at 40-7 in the Grossmont Conference finals.
No big deal? She a freshman.