BOYS
San Diego was well represented in the 100-meter final at the 2018 CIF-State Meet, including returners Moray Steward (far left) and Kenan Christon (far right). (Pat Rhames photo)
SPRINTS
Considering that two of the nine state finalists in both the 100 and 200 will be looking to improve their finishes, this event is as loaded as in any year heading into the season.
Madison's Kenan Christon (6th in both the 100 and the 200 with bests of 10.58 and 21.42), who is headed to USC in the fall, survived football season and is a proven commodity. Escondido Orange Glen's Moray Steward (4th in the 100 with a best of 10.64) is the top state returner in the event and since he came out of nowhere at the end of the year, will be in spotlight right from the start. Add to that group Westview's Izel Smith (21.68), who was 9th in Clovis in the 200, and the section is loaded.
Then there are two other strong candidates. La Costa Canyon's Karson Lippert (21.57 as a sophomore) will test legs that have been injured since his sensational sophomore season, and Morse's Shamar Martin (10.68 as a sophomore) will return after focusing on football last spring.
Grade: A+
MIDDLE DISTANCES
Here is where the focus really turns on Lippert, who will be attending Stanford on a track scholarship. His 
46.91 400 as a sophomore (#4 in Eric Taylor photo at right) makes him the early favorite and even his 47.44 last year before a hamstring injury sidelined him in the section finals would put him among the challengers. But the football injury in the fall is a major question mark.
Actually, in the section the top seven runners from a year ago return. If Lippert falters, Mira Mesa's Marcus Dean (48.37) and Calvin Christian's Wesley Salzman (48.43) are ready to battle for supremacy. Remember how much Lippert improved between his freshman and sophomore years? His brother, Aiden Lippert, ran 49.25 last year.
Three runners under 1:57 give the 800 some potential. Crawford's Ali Nader (1:55.28), San Marcos's Aiden Carson (1:56.14) and Chula Vista High Tech's Drake Prince (1:56.98) could make some noise with improvement.
Grade: A- if Lippert returns to form, B- if not.
DISTANCE EVENTS
The Stanford twins, coming off quality cross country seasons, figure to be in the mix in the 1600. BYU-bound Garrett (4:13.56) and Jacob (4:13.62) are the clear front-runners.
As for the 3200, Mission Vista's Jonathan Velasco (9:20.54) improved in a major way in cross country and will be eyeing a similar move on the track. LCC's Caleb Niednagel ran 4:17.46 and 9:14.08 while at Dana Hills and figures to improve with the Stanfords around providing a push every day.
Grade: B
HURDLES
These are events where someone will have to surprise to make any kind of noise. El Capitan's Yaphet Yokley has the fastest returning mark at 15.01 with six runners under 15.25. Maybe juniors Jarel Sayles of Steele Canyon (15.13) and Zion Jackson of El Camino (15.17) will make major improvements.
The 300IH are no stronger with San Diego's Dayo Fateropa (38.78) the lone returnee under 39.5.
Grade: D
RELAYS
St. Augustine returns its top runners off a quartet that sped to a 41.90 in the 4x100 a year ago and, of course, Madison (42.08) has Christon on the anchor.
Maybe this is the year the Lipperts are healthy and get some help in the 4x400. Helix has big potential, too.
Grade: C.
VERTICAL JUMPS
Have to give two grades here.
The high jump is, and has been for a couple years, pretty much below average. And that's being nice. The 
top returnees are Steven Marquez of El Centro Central and Rancho Bernardo's Jackson Carpenter, both of whom cleared 6-4.
Contrast that to the pole vault where Rancho Bernardo's Jacob Rice has already cleared 16-4 indoors in Reno after a best of 16-3 a year ago when he placed 4th in the state championships. A trio of 15-footers, RB's Bryan Sperry (15-1) and Vince Elamparo (15-0) plus San Marcos' Zack Volpe (15-0) figure to be pushing 16 as well. Being the pole vault, even a pair of 14-6 vaulters could be pushing 16.
Grade: D and A.
HORIZONTAL JUMPS
The graduation of Jalyn Jackson leaves the long and triple big question marks.
If Christon jumps, he's gone 23-09.50. That's a big 'if.' Behind him, Point Loma's Altan Mitchell (23-00.50) has potential. Mission Vista's Connor Luck (22-09.50) and Oceanside's Deondre Ruth (22-07.50) could easily add a foot on to their bests.
Mitchell also hit 47-02.25 in the triple jump while Ruth reached 45-11.
Grade: C-
WEIGHT EVENTS
This is a section that has had great success in the past from athletes like state record-holder Brent Noon (76-02) of Fallbrook in the shot and two-time state discus champ Darius Savage of Morse (212-01).
This year the section returns just three shot putters over 50-feet and one discus thrower better than 150. Yikes. The top returnee in the shot, Cathedral Catholic's Shawn Poma, was a star running back for the Dons' state D-1AA runner-up football team. He hit 54-2 a year ago. Maybe a bigger chance for a 55-170 double is Morse's Courvosiea Irby, who went 51-02.25 and 149-01 last year as a freshman.
The top returnee in the discus is Poma at 155-10.
Grade: D-.
TEAMS
It seems like the only place to start for the boys in Division I is Rancho Bernardo which annually has the quality and quantity. La Costa Canyon could score big on the track. Division II is always a crap-shoot but Sage Creek has some scorers.