CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet Preview

Girls 100 Hurdles (14.24) 
Only two qualifiers have wind-legal marks under the at-large standard on the season.  Norco's Taylor Shorter ran the top time (14.16) in taking the Division 2 title.  St. Anthony sophomore Asjah Atkinson (14.18) qualified again with another Division 4 title.  She seeks to improve upon her seventh-place performance at the 2018 State Meet.   Jade McDonald of Calabasas tried to keep up with Shorter and qualified as the third seed in a seasonal best of 14.29.  Rachel Glenn continues to improve as she captured the Division 1 title, holding off Murrieta Mesa's Logann Williams and Rancho Cucamonga's DeAira Jackson in the process.  Glenn's 14.44 was a new personal best.  Chaminade's Jazmin Jackson captured the Division 3 title, bringing along La Mirada's Citlallli Anguiano to the Masters Meet as well.  Meanwhile, Serra's A'Lena Chaney rode the brisk pace of Atkinson and earned a lane this weekend.      

Boys 110 Hurdles (14.30) 

With no true stand-out in the section, projecting the top six that should advance is a tall task.  First, nobody in the field ran under the at-large standard last weekend, although Cathedral sophomore Anthony Taylor came close, with his 14.35 victory in the Division 3 final.  Three underclassmen qualified here a year ago, but unfortunately, Simi Valley's Riley Hunt hit the first hurdle and never recovered enough to advance.  Hunt was a State Meet finalist in 2018.  Reyte Rash flirted with the idea of dropping the event but placed second in the Divison 1 race while he was a State Meet qualifier in 2018.  Also advancing for a second year after qualifying for the 2018 State Meet, Vista Murrieta junior Hunter Escorcia was third in the Division 1 final.  Meanwhile, Liam Anderson of Long Beach Poly rolled to the victory in that race in a season's best of 14.39.  In the Division 2 final, Peninsula's Aiden Lieb (14.57) out-leaned Ventura's Derek Pekar (14.60) for the victory.   Runner-up behind Taylor in the Division 3 final, Servite's Kyle Kimble also advanced with a 14.60.   

Girls 400 meters (55.62)

The only two underclassmen from the 2018 Masters Meet did not advance back so we see nine new faces on the line here.  A State Meet qualifier and defending Division 1 champion in the 110 Hurdles in 2018, Upland's Caleb Roberson placed his focus on the 100 meters this postseason and it paid off.  He burst to the lead and never relented to run the top time (10.59) in his Division 1 victory last weekend.   He held off Long Beach Poly duo of Kenyon Reed and Anthony Johnson while Aliso Niguel's Kaden Reynolds and Oxnard's Isaiah Marecheau also advanced out of the Division 1 final.  Reynolds is one of the most improved in the section and was a relative unknown until capturing the Orange County Championships last month.  We cannot recall the last time two freshmen advanced to the Masters Meet but it happened here in 2019.  St. John Bosco's Rayshon Luke almost pulled off the upset, making UCLA-bound Christian Grubb of Notre Dame, Sherman Oaks earn the victory, 10.61 to 10.66.  Right behind those two was Chaminade freshman, Patrick Izeiamu who ran the seventh fastest time of the day (10.73).  Finally, slated to advance to the State Meet, Serra's Mekhi Mays won the Division 4 title by a relatively large margin (10.67).    

Girls 800 meters (2:11.85) 

Four underclass qualifiers from 2018 advanced once again this season.  Ashley Johnson placed fifth at the California State Meet a year ago (third at the Masters Meet) but this season, she has a companion.  Fellow Diablo, Morgan Calcagnie captured the Division 2 against the most depth in any one of the four divisions.  But, more impressive was the Division 4 race where Mayfield's Audrey Suarez sat back and with 300 meters to go, moved past the Oaks Christian duo of Hannah Wilson and Janiah Brown.  With the two Lions advancing back for the second year in a row, Suarez crossed with the top time in the Southern Section this season and now second in California!  Wilson moved up to sixth in the state.  In a case of deja vu from the 1600 meters, Chino Hills' Jacqueline Duarte unleashed over the last 300 meters to hold off fast-charging Fatima Cortes of Great Oak in a seasonal best of 2:11.66 (seventh in California).  Also in the same race, Vista Murrieta's Peyton Candaele and Dana Hills' Mia Lawrence advanced.   With the plan to improve upon her ninth-place finish at the 2018 State Meet, sophomore Makayla Browne of North, J.W.  qualified.  Also in that Division 2 final, Westlake's Hailey Golman moved forward with her runner-up finish.   With four advancing from the Division 4 race, Marlborough's Lucea Wright will be the lone freshman that steps onto the line this Saturday.  It will be a fight for the six qualifying spots as only four have eclipsed the at-large standard.

Boys 800 meters (1:54.54) 
All twelve qualifiers advanced under the California State Meet at-large standard while this is the deepest gathering of talent at the Masters Meet, in relation to the statewide lists.  The top two and seven of the top nine marks in California lace up for this one!  Valencia's Kai Wingo ran the fastest time in the state but had to take it all the way to the line as Loyola's Mason Ratkovich (1:52.38) pushed him with the second fastest time in 2019.  The Loyola senior was ninth at the California State Meet in 2018.  Six of the top seven in the Division 1 final ran to personal bests last weekend, led by Foothill's Grant Callen (1:52.60), Armando Bryson of Long Beach Wilson (1:52.98), Willie Coleman of Vista Murrieta (1:53.10) and Highland's Ben Sumner (1:53.18).   Sumner has improved by over five seconds in the past month!   South Pasadena's Kai Dettman crossed with the Division 3 title, just ahead of JSerra's Anthony Grover and Oak Park's Preston Green.  Green has improved by over four seconds in the past month.  Also displaying marked improvement, Northwood's Justin Larson (1:54.23) threw out a two-second best to pull the huge upset in capturing the Division 2 title.   With eight of the nine in the Division 1 final, all advancing, Long Beach Wilson's Jesus Nichol and Tesoro's Daniel White look to give themselves another week of competition.  Bryson will set the pace for the first lap (he and Sumner crossed under 52 seconds for the first lap last week) and if the rest of the field uses that brisk pace to their benefit, all twelve could potentially advance!  

Girls 300 Hurdles (43.63) 

Rachel Glenn of Long Beach Wilson is ranked first in California and is over a second better than anybody else in the state.  Still, with plenty of upside, Glenn rolled to the largest margin of victory in the division, relatively speaking, in her 41.48 Division 1 victory.  Looking to advance back to the State Meet, JW North's Amari Jenkins ran away to the Division 2 title in a seasonal best of 43.32 (fifth best in California).  She advanced by meeting the at-large standard in 2018 and just missed making the State Meet final.    Only two in the field have run faster than the standard.  Dana Hills' Hailey Ray advanced to her second Masters Meet while Upland's Jordyn Grady and Roosevelt's Myah Hatcher also advanced from the Division 1 final.  In trying to chase down Jenkins, Elise Craft of Thousand Oaks and Norco's Taylor Shorter also qualified.  Shorter's seasonal best of 43.55 is sixth in the state among those still competing in this event.  Meanwhile, the Division 3 final was dominated up from the Monrovia duo of Inaya Jumal and Madeline Conte.  

Boys 300 Hurdles (38.30) 

The greatest battle at last weekend's divisional finals, Upland's Caleb Roberson held off ML King's Reyte Rash, 36.35 to 36.59.  As they finished in the same order at the 2018 State Meet, this was the 15th fastest all-time in California History and the new national leading mark.  Rash's mark is the fourth fastest in the United States.  Running away to the victory in Division 3 in 37.85, Harvard Westlake's Brayden Borquez looks to advance back to the State Meet.  While Rash ran away with the win the at the 2018 Masters Meet, Roberson was second with Borquez crossing in fifth.   Lost in the faceoff up front, Upland's Namir Hemphill, Long Beach Poly's Liam Anderson, and Los Osos' Oluwatobi Adegoke also qualified out of Division 1.  Cathedral's Anthony Taylor qualified as the Division 3 runner-up while John Burns of Mission Viejo crossed with the Division 2 title, just ahead of El Modena's Jake Angier.      

Girls 200 meters (24.26) 

The field will be hard-pressed to qualify an at-large qualifier here as only five have eclipsed the standard this season.   In a flurry of a finish to capture the Division 1 title, Corona's Egbe Ndip-agbor claims the top spot with her 24.12 seasonal best.  The junior out-leaned Saundria Martin of Long Beach Poly while in one of the upsets on the day, Archer's Nia Mosby held off Serra's Jazmyne Frost, 24.22 to 24.43 to capture the Division 4 title.  The USC-bound Frost was third at the 2018 State Meet.  De'anna Nowling of Calabasas cruised to a 24.28 victory to capture her third straight title in the event as obviously, looking to improve upon her fourth-place finish at the 2018 State Meet.   Murrieta Mesa's Chioma Okonkwo placed third in the Division 1 race to qualify while ML King's Raykiyat Olukoju closed well to be the lone freshman in the field.  Santa Margarita's Tessa Green claimed her second Division 3 title.  

Boys 200 meters (21.81) 

With the only returner from 2018, Solomon Strader has opted to drop the event and focus solely on the 400 meters.  With that, all nine are first-timers with eight of them being seniors and one...freshman!  Notre Dame's Christian Grubb is second in California and the top seed after his 21.09 Division 3 victory.  But pushing him all the way to the finish was West Valley's Ismail Turner (21.31).   Long Beach Poly's Kenyon Reed, who has run the third fastest time in the state, advanced with his Division 1 victory while teammate DeAngelo Chester almost pulled off the upset.  Blurring to the line over the last ten meters, Calabasas freshman, Nicholas Gates blew by Mater Dei's Chad Lemmons to capture the Division 2 title.  With Strader dropping the event, Jake Burns of Trabuco Hills will get a second opportunity and look to finish under the 21.81 at-large standard.  

Girls 3200 meters (10:28.90)

In a relatively tightly packed qualifying group, less than twelve seconds separate all of those advancing to this year's Masters Meet.  Dropping the 1600 meters this weekend, Oak Park's Sarah Shulze captured her second straight Division 3 title.  She has run the top time in the section, as her 10:18.77 is the third fastest mark in California.  Ayala's Mikaela Ramirez has a seasonal best of 10:19.42 and looks to rebound after finishing as the Division 1 runner-up.  Both qualified to the State Meet a year ago.  Meanwhile, in rolling ahead of the Division 1 competition, Village Christian's Mia Barnett crossed with the fastest time of the day (10:33.95) while her seasonal best is 10:22.51, sixth best in California.  Barnett now owns four divisional titles in her first two seasons.  Laying off the radar for most of the season, Ventura's Madeleine Locher and San Clemente's Hana Catsimanes emerged with the Division 2 and Division 1 title, respectively.  Locher took over on the seventh lap and never looked back as she ran to a 12-second personal best.  In that Division 2 competition, Capistrano Valley's Carly Corsinita and Simi Valley's Jill Walker both advance back to the Masters Meet.   Crossing behind Walker is the lone freshman of the group, Isabella Frisone of Canyon, Ana. as her 10:40.40 was a seasonal best.  Walnut's Chloe Arriaga had finished seventh the three previous seasons in Division 1, but she advanced with her third place, 10:42.44 effort.  Great Oak's Audrey Dang and Archana Mohandas of Newbury Park also advanced while Palos Verdes' Samantha Steman earned a spot in crossing as the Division 3 runner-up.  No one matched the at-large standard and only three have matched it all season long.         

Boys 3200 meters (9:07.48) 

It's simple.... The group needs to stay with Newbury Park's Nico Young as he negative-splits this event once again.  Well, maybe simple isn't the correct word but two weeks ago, he purred to a 4:38-4:22, 9:00.44 effort at the Division 1 prelims.  This past weekend, Young adjusted the pace a tad and rolled to a 4:34-4:21, 8:54.94 divisional title by over 16 seconds against a very talented field!  Surprisingly, he and only two others have gone under the state meet at-large time this season.  JSerra's Peter Herold (9:02.65) and Newport Harbor's Alexis Garcia (9:05.77) are those two, with both qualifying onward.   Herold has run the fourth fastest time in the state, with Garcia ranked seventh.  Stealth like, Ethan Danforth of Canyon, CC had not broke 9:21 in 2019 and was seemingly not projected to advance and improve upon his fourth place finish at the 2018 State Meet.  In a carbon-copy of his 2018 Division 2 divisional title, he battled back and forth with Herold over the last two laps, and with a 63-second last lap, crossed with another victory (4:41-4:29 splits).  Rubidoux's Kevin Ramos was unable to defend his title, finishing behind Herold and just ahead of JSerra's Anthony Grover.  He still advanced as she was tenth at the 2018 State Meet.  Newbury Park will feature two underclassmen in this event as Jace Aschbrenner also advanced from the Division 1 race, as he pushed Long Beach Poly's William Frankenfeld to the finish.  Also coming from that Division 1 final, where six qualified, the Mira Costa duo of Cy Chittenden and Billy Atkinson along with West Ranch's Evan Bates.  Mira Costa continues to peak their athletes as well as anybody recently (reflect on Xavier Court's 2018 postseason).   Not expecting to see a 9:19 advance (projected a sub-9:15 to be the last qualifier), we were also pleasantly surprised by Moorpark junior Keith Murray who also reserved a spot for this Saturday.