Weekend in review: Big Winter Track results posted by CA standouts

Feb 06, 2018

Three weeks out from the start of the CIF season didn't stop more than a handful of CA athletes putting up big numbers over the weekend. A recap:

Jalyn Jackson (Chula Vista Eastlake/SD) went 23-4 in the long jump at the Del Norte Winter Championships qualifier. Jackson's outdoor PR is 23-4 established at the CIF-State meet prelims in June. He went 23-2.25 aided by a 2.7 meters-per-second wind for fifth in the final. Jackson, one of the state's premier returning jumpers, popped a 48-5.25 PR in the triple jump at the State final for second place behind Great Oak's CJ Stevenson, who's also returning.

Among the CA standouts at the UW Indoor High School Invitational in Seattle was Jake Grimsman (Folsom Vista del Lago/SJ) won the high jump with a clearance of 7-0.50, the No. 2 indoor jump in the U.S. this winter. Grimsman, a senior, cleared 6-9 for 2nd at the CIF-State meet in June behind winner Sean Lee (Trabuco Hills/SS), both of whom are back this spring. Grimsman outdoor PR is 6-11, achieved at the Golden West Invitational a week after the State meet.

Also in Seattle, junior sprinter Jazmyne Frost (Gardena Serra/SS) who won the 200 meters in 24.67.

There were quite a few top athletes at the Berkeley All-Comers, including returning two-time State 800 champion Alyssa Brewer (San Ramon California/NC).

Testing herself in that event against an open field, she posted 2:15.79 for second in her heat and overall. She said she had hoped to hit 1:31 at the 600 and try to hang on but ended up hitting 600 at 1:36, she said.

"It wasn't what I was hoping for," she wrote in an email exchange. "It was still nice to get in a race even though my times weren't where I would have liked."

Brewer went 2:06.86 to win the State title as a sophomore. Last year's winning time was 2:07.07. Brewer has won 24 of 27 800-meter races in her HS career to this point. Her only non-wins were a 2nd at the East Bay Athletic League prelims as a sophomore, 8th at Brooks PR as a sophomore and 5th at Brooks last summer.

Also at Berkeley, Brewer's 800 heat include CIF-State Cross Country Division 1 champion Corie Smith (Buchanan/CS), who clocked 2:30.93. Smith was joined by HS teammates Sydney Fox and Meagan Lowe in a heat of the 1,500. In the race won by an open runner, Lowe (4:48.20), Smith (4:51.66) and Fox (4:54.88) went 2-3-4.

The girls weights should be a marquee event throughout this track season. Los Alamitos standout Faimalie Sale went 41-6 in the shot put in the Winter Qualifier at her school. At about the same time, Hannah Hall (Union City James Logan/NC) was up at Berkeley going 41-10.75!

Also at Los Al, Davis senior Sondre Guttormsen, who earlier this winter went 18-feet in the pole vault, hit another big vault, 17-8.75. The state's top pole vaulter plans to skip the Winter Championships Feb. 17 at Arcadia HS for the Simplot Games indoors in Boise.

Also at Del Norte in San Diego, State sprint finalist Quoi Ellis (Mt. Carmel/SD) blazed a 6.93 PR for 60m. He was second at the 2017 Winter Champs, running 7.05. Ellis is the defending CIF-SDS champion in the 100 and 200 and was third at the State meet in the 2 (21.25).

Of the five all-comers meets Saturday designated as official Winter Championships Qualifiers, the talent really turned out at Eastvale Roosevelt in SoCal where they produced 144 qualifying marks and noted on Twitter "That's the most of any qualifier so far! We we're one of the largest as well with almost 500 athletes."

There were 14 individual performances from that qualifier that hit the MileSplit "Gold" elite standard including Emerald Bowens (Redlands East Valley/SS) in the 60m (7.49), Jada Hicks (Upland/SS) and Breanna Bernard-Joseph (Roosevelt/SS) in the 60m hurdles (8.60 and 8.76, respectively), Chelsea Daye (Rancho Cucamonga/SS) in the 300m (39.62), Kalea Ibarra (Riverside Poly/SS) in the 600m (1:38.90), Jalen Johnson (Roosevelt/SS) and Namir Hemphill (Upland/SS) in the 300m (35.46 and 35.50, respectively).

Miles Zoltak (Thousand Oaks/SS) put on a bit of a show at the Winter Qualifier hosted by his school, blazing 300m in 35.11 and 600m in 1:23.90. Also at Thousand Oaks, Daniel Viveros (Bakersfield Liberty/CS) threw 55-6 in the shot put. Silas Hurst (Corona Santiago/SS) had the previous CA best SP from Winter Championships Qualifier meets coming into the weekend at 53-9.25.