The K-Bell Invitational, the largest early-season Northern California Track and Field Invitational, will take place tomorrow at Wesmont HS. According to its meet directors, this year's meet has over 4700 entries with 1476 boys and 877 girls competing. Aside from the large number of schools and competitors, this meet will also be host to some of the top athletes in Northern California. We will highlight them in the next few paragraphs.
SPRINTS
The King's Academy Kamau Carlisle (photo above courtesy of Darren Sabedra) will be the slight favorite in the 100m and 200m races. He was a section long jump champion as a sophomore and will be looking to make a statement on the track here as the season gets rolling for many of the participating teams. Masaki Wada-Law of Los Gatos is a hurdle specialist who will also be competing in the 100m which should make for a very interesting competition.
HURDLES
Last season, Alexandra Chan of Menlo edged out Meagan Kiefer of Branham by 100ths of a second to nab the final state meet spot at the Central Coast Section final. They will renew their rivalry here in the fastest heat as they both begin their senior seasons.
For the boys, the returning section champion is Los Gatos senior Masaki Wada-Law. He posted his all-time best time at the section final with his 14.14 winning time. His main competition should come from St. Francis junior Travis Bell-Dzide who was also a section finalist last year and will certainly be targeting a top 3 finish this year.
DISTANCE
With the defending section champion, Charlotte Tomkinson, competing this weekend at the New Balance Indoor Nationals meet, the favorite role in the 800m at the K-Bell Invitational will fall to St. Francis sophomore Isabelle Cairns. She qualified to the state meet as a freshman with a 3rd place finish at the section meet.
For the boys, the favorite will also be a Cairns as St. Francis junior Euan Cairns comes into the meet with the fastest entry time at 1:55.91. He is also the fastest returning 800m in the section and will be a strong favorite to capture his first section title later in the season. Bellarmine's talented sophomore Colin Peattie will more than keep Cairns honest as the two league rivals face off for the first time this season.
In the 1600m, the three favorites to make the state meet out of CCS this year will all be here competing. St. Francis senior Colton Colonna, Westmont junior Garrett MacQuiddy and Bellarmine sophomore Colin Peattie will all toe the line in probably the most competitive event in the meet. This is a must watch!
For the girls, Scotts Valley senior Jessica Kain is the class of the field and will be favored here. She has the fastest entry time and races well tactically. A runner to watch will be Carlmont junior Kaimei Gescuk. She had an outstanding cross country season and will be looking to make a statement here.
JUMPS
One of the premier jumpers in the state is St. Ignatius talented sophomore, Megan Ronan (2nd from left courtesy of St. Ignatius). She had a best of 19'6.5" and was a section last year as a freshman. This won't be her first competition of the season but watch out for a big jump here in her first big competition.
THROWS
In the throws, the premier athlete at this meet will be Terra Nova senior, Carly Watts. She will be a strong favorite in both events as she is the defending section champion in both shot put and discus.