State Meet, Day 1: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

The Good



Most of the top seeds performed well, and some even exceeded expectations.  Take the Carson girls for example: their 4x100 clocked 45.16, almost a full second ahead of the next-best qualifier, moving them up to US #2 this season and making them the 9th-fastest school in US history!  Their biggest star, Kaelin Roberts, also shone brightly on Friday: she ran 53.15 CA #1 US #5 in the 400, leading 6 athletes under 55 seconds, and then posting the 3rd-best time in the 200 trials. The top seeds in the boys' 4x100 all advanced, setting up what should be an intense final - all 9 teams ran within 0.45 of each other in the prelims!  Vista Murrieta leads the way in that event as well as the 4x400, while their superstar Michael Norman cruised through to the finals in the 400 (47.26, #1 qualifier) and 200 (21.36, #3 qualifier).

Destiny Collins and Amanda Gehrich topped a girls 1600 qualifying that had no major surprises, as 10 athletes wen 4:52 or faster (it took 4:54 to make Saturday's final).  The top 11 girls in the state rankings all advanced in the 800, led by CA #1 Alyssa Brewer. On the boys' side of the distance races, Tyler Janes and Camden Smith were the heat winners, with Great Oak's trio of Isaac Cortes, Spencer Dodds, and Solomon Fountain all advancing as well as Eduardo Herrera and Jake Ogden.  That's going to be one of the best races of day 2!  Just like the girls' 800, everyone seeded in the top 10 of the boys' race advanced, with Willie Hall leading the way in 1:53.33.

Tara Davis turned in a solid day's work, leading the 100H qualifying in 13.50 CA #2 US #12 while also topping the triple jump prelims and advancing 2nd in the long jump. She joined Destiny Longmire and Rhesa Foster as the only three beyond 20 feet in that event, and Ciynamon Stephenson was the only other 40-footer in the triple.  Her Agoura teammates may have had the best race of the entire day in the boys' 4x400, dropping almost two seconds from their season best to post the #2 qualifying time, 3:17.33 (Juniero Serra also had a great race).  Joseph Anderson got back in rhythm with a 13.78, his first wind-legal sub-14 time in a month.  Koty Burton shook off what could have been a disastrous 110 Hurdles outcome and still led all qualifiers in the 300 Hurdles, which shows a lot of mental fortitude.

Both the girls' and boys' 100 dash went pretty much as predicted, with Lauren Rain Williams and TJ Brock both leading all qualifiers. Cole Dubots and Antonio Mitchell both advanced for Vista Murrieta, giving the Broncos even more confidence in their ability to repeat.  The girls' 200 also went off without any major surprises, the top 6 girls all running under 24 to set up a great final.  The same is true for the boys' race, where the top 6 are as expected - although Colony's Ryan Moya-Chapon had a particularly good race, making him a serious threat for second place.

Do you think the Calabasas girls had a point to prove in the 4x400?  They destroyed the competition, clocking 3:44.71 CA #2 US #17, with Rancho Cucamonga right behind, as the Sac Joaquin teams that lit it up last weekend struggled.  Watch out for Carson in the 4x4 - they ran a season best to get into the final, but you never know what can happen at the end of a long two days, and when you have a girl like Roberts to run anchor.

Cassie Ackeman (San Lorenzo Valley) came out on top of a jumbled high jump qualifying round, one of 4 jumpers to clear 5' 7".  The top 5 vaulters in the state rankings advanced, all of them over 12' 6" on Friday.  The boys' high jump final should be a blast, as all five 7-foot jumpers made it through easily. Elena Bruckner and Bronson Osborn both did exactly what you'd expect from the state's top throwers: they led qualifying in both their events, and by fairly comfortable margins (the closest was the boys' discus, where Osborn is 3 feet up on the next best qualifier). Nate Esparza had a great day, advancing 2nd in the discus and 3rd in the shot put.

Isaiah Holmes came through in his field events, tying for the lead in the high jump and claiming the top seed in the long jump outright; he also advanced as the 5th-best performer in the triple jump. Dennis Hicks was right there with him in both horizontals, getting the 2nd seed in each case, as CA #1 Michael Thompson lived up to his ranking in the triple.


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