(Photo by Kirby Lee) Zach Shinnick was the star of the 2016 Winter Championships, but an injury at Arcadia forced an early end to his spring season.
Despite the cooler weather, winter competition is getting ready to heat up in California! There are 4 scheduled all-comers meets this weekend, followed by a whole passel of them the next weekend - and that weekend (of January 14th) is also when we will likely see the first true indoor competition for Golden State athletes, as well! It's time to take a detailed look at the athletes that are most likely to make a big impact this winter. Given the dual nature of the California winter season, where athletes can compete in both true indoor and outdoor "all-comers" meets, it seems best to preview the two event sets separately for the sprinters and hurdlers.
Returning Indoor Stars
Any list of sprint & hurdle stars in California right now starts with Joseph Anderson (Upland), whether we're talking about indoor or outdoor competition. Anderson not only made the trip to New York for New Balance Nationals, he finished 5th in the 60 Hurdles final there, clocking 7.82. That makes him the #2 returner in the nation coming into this winter season!
Myles Webb (Rio Mesa) first caught our attention with a 6.98 in the 60 Dash at New Balance Nationals Indoor, which ranks him among the top 40 returners nationwide. He then went on to have a very solid spring season, until an unfortunate off race at Southern Section Masters kept him one spot out of making the state meet. I'm guessing he has taken that disappointment and used it as motivation, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him run in the 6.8's this winter. The only other CA returner with a time close to Webb's is Rasaun House (Rancho Verde), who clocked 7.01.
Hard as it is to believe, no California sprinter cracked 50 in the 400 or 22 in the 200 during indoor competition! Anthony Easter (Eleanor Roosevelt) ran 50.46 and Thomas Graham (Rancho Cucamonga) 22.25 at Simplot, leading all Golden State athletes in those events.
Returning Outdoor (All-Comers) Stars
Not surprisingly, Anderson clocked the best outdoor time of the winter, as well. However, he did not compete at the Winter Championships, and the top 5 finishers there were all seniors. That leaves rising sophomore Caleb Roberson (Bishop Amat) in the driver's seat for this year's title (unless Anderson chooses to attend this time around). Roberson is also a strong candidate for breakout star of 2017: he made it to Southern Section Masters in the 300 Hurdles as a freshman, but apparently didn't race the 110's all spring.
Zach Shinnick (Damien) was the big star of the Winter Championships, taking the win in both the 60 and 300. He's back to defend those titles this season, and if he improves even a little bit he will be hard to beat. One guy that could give Shinnick trouble is Isaiah Cunningham (Rancho Verde), who was 2nd in both races before going on to put up some really eye-opening times in the spring - 10.35 and 21.21, both wind legal, plus a 47.68 to boot. Unfortunately, both Shinnick and Cunningham saw their spring end early, and so both should have plenty of fuel for the fire coming into their final high school track seasons. Carlos Martin del Campo (Monroe) is the top returner in the 600 with his time of 1:21.38, almost 2 full seconds better than any other returning athlete.
Stars We Hope to See
Shinnick and Cunningham are two sprinters with the ability to make a national impact if they choose to compete in true indoor meets this winter, and I sincerely hope they do. Most of all, though, I would love to see Myles Ellis (Antelope Valley) get in some competition this winter - he clocked 46.78 at Sac Joaquin Masters last spring, but did not compete either indoors or at all-comers. Based on last year, I don't expect Vista Murrieta to put much of an emphasis on winter competition, but it would be really cool to get an early look at Cole Dubots, who was 3rd in the CIF State Meet 100 and has a PR of 10.45. Watch out for Nick Moore (Oaks Christian), who only ran in one meet last winter but went on to lay down a wind-aided 21.17 (and a legal 21.44) in the spring. In the hurdles, I would like to see Kimball's Deion Lightfoot-Shelton get some exposure this winter; I think he's one of the more underrated athletes in the state.