Girls
Sprints
The best returning sprinter in this section will be Amador Valley senior Chinyere Okoro (Ray Chavez photo above). She had wind legal marks of 11.63 in the 100 and 24.08 in the 200. She will be a strong favorite to win both events at the NCS MOC meet. Tierra Robinson-Jones of Bishop O'Dowd recorded the fastest the 400m time in section history with her state meet victorious time of 52.37. With Robinson-Jones now at Texas A & M, the fastest returning 400m. runners will be Bella Aduaka of Foothill (57.52), Taylor Weidinger of Las Lomas (57.55) and Zoe McDonough of Washington (57.84).
Distances
Future Oregon State teammates Emily Perez (St. Joseph Notre Dame) and Gabrielle Peterson (Healdsburg) will be among the best distance runners in the section. Perez will be one of the leading contenders in the 3200m. with a best of 10:44.94. Peterson (Christopher Chung photo above) was one of the best 1600m. runners in the state and will be looking to improve her time of 4:48.91 from last season.
In the 800m., Concord senior Rayna Stanziano (Anda Chu photo above) is the odds on favorite to repeat as section champion. Last year, Stanziano defeated two-time defending state champion Alyssa Brewer of California and finished in 3rd place at the state meet with a personal best 2:09.44.
Hurdles
The fastest returning "high" hurdler from last year's NCS MOC meet is Camrin Dolcini of Fortuna who finished in 6th place last year at 15.74. The event appears to be wide open and a surprise winner might take the crown.
In the 300m. hurdles, Taylor Weidinger of Las Lomas was a state meet competitor last year and is the highest returning athlete as she finished in 3rd place at last year's NCS MOC meet. She also has the fastest returning time at 44.24 and will be a strong favorite to be section champion.
Jumps
The North Coast Section stretches from the south in San Francisco and extends all the way up to the Oregon border. That northern part of the state is where you will find the best jumper in the section as Katie Hurst of Fortuna (Ryan Sparks photo above) has the best-returning marks for the high jump (5-8), long jump (18-01.50) and triple jump (37-09.50).
Kelly Kern of Carondelet is the defending section champion in the pole vault and also has one of the top marks in the state at 13-00.
Throws
In the throws events, there are two clear favorites. In the shot put, Hayward's Joana Togial had a best of 41-00 and just missed making the state meet with a 4th place finish as a freshman. She will be the thrower to beat this year.
In the discus, Granada's Claire March also finished in 4th place last season and will be the top returning underclassman who finished behind three seniors. One of them was her own sister Emily March who finished in 2nd place. She will now be favored to win and qualify for her first state meet.