Field Events
The Central Section has been a hotbed of throws talent for a long time, and this could be one of its strongest years ever. Daniel Viveros (Liberty) won both the shot put and the discus at last May's section finals, but Christian Johnson (Buchanan) had the best throw of the year with his 191' 9" season-opening mark. Both of them made the discus finals at the state meet, as did Kyler Van Grouw (Buchanan), who also threw over 180 feet (Van Grouw transferred to Buchanan this year after competing for Central in 2018.. Viveros won the state title in the shot put, where he will be a formidable favorite both within the section and state-wide this spring. Johnson and Tobin Phillips (now at San Joaquin Memorial) are the top challengers in the shot, but they both have a lot of ground to make up on Viveros.
The top 4 finishers in the 2018 section high jump final all graduated, leaving a wide-open field for this year. Jesus Alvarez (Arvin) and Desmond Howard (Hanford West) both cleared 6' 6" during the regular season, making them co-favorites, although both settled for 6' 0" at the section finals. A similar situation exists in the pole vault, where the top 8 competitors were seniors - that puts Nathan Brown CA (Central) in the driver's seat with his best returning mark of 13' 6". Keep your eye on sophomore Caleb Puliot (Buchanan), who could make a big step forward and compete for the section title this spring.
Caleb Foster (Clovis North) is the top returner in the long jump with a season best of 23' 8", making him a heavy favorite this spring. Howard leads a deep crew of returning mid-22 jumpers, which should make the battle for state meet spots very interesting, but they will have to make big strides to take the section title. Speaking of heavy favorites, Kosi Agina (Sanger) has the best returning triple jump mark in the section by an eye-popping 3' 4" over the closest competitor. Daniel De La Torre (Roosevelt) sits atop a big group of 44-footers that also includes Foster - but I doubt he has room in his schedule for the event come championship season, as I am sure Clovis North will count on him in the 4x100.
A trio of sophomores is set to duke it out this spring in the girls' long jump: Lauren Fowler (Buchanan), Reese Renz (Liberty), and Macayla Wells (Taft) are three of the four returning 18-foot jumpers in the section. Junior Simone Johnson (Central) is the other, and in truth any of the four could become this year's champion. Johnson and Wells are also 39 foot triple jumpers with the capacity to crack 40 this spring (Wells was the #9 freshman in the country in 2018). Buchanan's Helen Chu and Haley Abirached both jumped over 38 last year, putting them in striking range. Mallory Elick (Tulare Union) is the favorite in the high jump by a narrow margin over Sayda Taylor (Yosemite), although there will be a very large group of challengers that are not far behind them.
It will be hard to find a bigger star anywhere than Jocelynn Budwig (Fowler) in the discus and shot put. She is the defending section champ and returning state leader in both events as well as the state champion in the shot put, but she may have a chip on her shoulder after finishing 3rd in the discus. It will take another superstar to dethrone her - and it just so happens that the Central Section might have one in Faith Bender (Liberty), who had an outstanding freshman season in 2018. Maren Butler (Buchanan) would be the favorite in many sections after putting the shot 44 feet last spring, but she has the bad luck to have to challenge two of the state's best just to fight through to the state meet. The only athlete that may be more heavily favored than Budwig is Elizabeth Funk (Clovis West), who enters the season with a 14-inch advantage in the pole vault. She is the #2 returner in California and #12 nationally, and we can't wait to see what she can clear in 2019!