Girls Highlights
As we expected, Aaliyah Wilson dominated. The Stockdale junior won the 100 Hurdles in 14.00, over a second ahead of the second-place finisher. She then clocked a (wind-aided) season best of 11.67 in the 100 Dash, moving her up to a tie for CA #4 all-conditions this spring. The only thing that didn't go perfectly for Wilson was the long jump, where she finished 6th. Still, I think she has another gear coming for the state meet, and she has a real shot to make the podium at the state meet with good races. Kyra Bailey (Tulare Union) also had an impressive day in the sprints, winning the 400 in 55.54 and the 200 in 24.71.
In the distances, Corie Smith (Buchanan) continued to assert her dominance over the section, winning the 1600 in 5:00.27 and the 3200 in 10:47.95. It will be interesting to see if she runs both at the state meet, or decides to focus on the 3200, where she is CA #8 and competitive with everyone except Claudia Lane. Mikaela Romanini (Bakersfield) had an impressive run in the 800, winning by 4 seconds in 2:13.04. The question is, did she push herself to the max in that race, or does she have more to bring at the state meet?
The other two-event winner among the girls was Asia Mallory (Desert), who won the long jump (18' 11.25") and triple jump (38' 6.5"). However, the most significant performance came from Brooke Tjerrild (Clovis North), who upped her PR to 13' 5" and vaulted up to CA #2 in preparation for a showdown with Rachel Baxter in two weeks. Chinenye Agina and Iesha Hamm continued their season-long duel in the high jump: both cleared 5' 7", but Agina won on misses. Both will need to do better on their return to Memorial Stadium for the state meet but both are capable of competing for the title.