State Meet Preview: Sprints, Hurdles, Relays

2019 CIF-State Track and Field Championships
Jeffrey Parenti

BOYS HURDLES


Jamar Marshall (left) and Warren Williams rank U.S. 1-2 for wind-legal 110 hurdle times. (Dan Tyree photo)

110 Meter Hurdles

  • 2018 Champion: Jaden Ellis | Vista del Lago (SS) Sr. | 13.97 (1.0)
  • Meet Record: 13.33 | Joseph Anderson |  Upland (SS) | 2017
Stockton St. Mary's junior Jamar Marshall and Merrill West senior Warren Williams have the two fastest wind-legal times in the U.S. in the 110 hurdles as well as the top two qualifying times. Williams placed fourth in the State Finals last year (14.20/1.0) whereas Marshall didn't make it out of the section. At the Sac-Joaquin Section Prelims, Marshall ran 13.50 and Williams went 13.55, the Nos. 7 and 10 fastest times in the event in state history. Joseph Anderson's meet record form 2017 is also the all-time state best. If conditions are decent, these two could continue to move up CA's all-time list. Not to be overlooked in this field is Clovis North junior Caleb Foster, who was 7th in the final last year (14.62/1.0) and has both the No. 3 qualifying time (14.27) and has the No. 3 ranking in the state (14.13/-0.4) . Simi Valley and Cal-bound senior Riley Hunt, third at State last year (14.09) with the No. 4 fastest time in the state this year (14.17/1.5) did not qualify out of the Southern Section Divisional Finals. Los Gatos senior Masaki Wada-Law has the No. 6 qualifying time (14.49) and is ranked No. 5 in the state at 14.26 (0.5). Among others to keep an eye on here are Cathedral sophomore Anthony Taylor, Long Beach Poly senior Liam Anderson and Ventura senior Derek Pekar. Taylor, who is qualified in both hurdles, has the No. 8 fastest time in the state this year at 14.34 (3.0). Anderson, also qualified in both, could be the key to the Jackrabbits' pursuit of the overall team title. He has the No. 9 ranking at 14.39. Pekar, who put up the second-most points in state history in the Arcadia Multis decathlon, qualified in three events. He has a season best of 14.40 (2.2) in this one.


300 Meter Hurdles

  • 2018 Champion: Caleb Lutalo Roberson | Upland (SS), Jr. | 36.61
  • Meet Record: 35.02 | Reggie Wyatt | Riverside La Sierra (SS) | 2009

If ever there was a wild-card event, it may very well be this one. Upland senior Caleb Lutalo Roberson is the defending State Meet champion, running a then lifetime best of 36.61 at the 2018 Final. He did that after running 37.94 at the Southern Section Division Finals and 37.63 at CIF-SS Masters, placing second in both. Fast forward to this year where Roberson, a football recruit headed to Wyoming, has been a much more consistent long hurdler who ran a U.S. No. 1 time of  36.35 (CA No. 15 AT) to win the SS Division 1 title that eluded him last year. But then there was last week at the SS Masters, where his 38.64 placed fifth in a field that only qualified six. His time is only the No. 9 fastest among all qualifiers. Who has the fastest time? Riverside King senior Reyte Rash at 37.89. It was Rash who twice beat Roberson in the SS playoffs last year and who ran a distant second to him at the State Final (37.17). It is also the same guy who somehow won the SS Masters and posted the state's fastest qualifying time despite a nagging quad injury that forced him to drop the 110s. And it is Rash whose 36.59 time for second at in that same SS D1 final ranks U.S. No. 4. While a 1-2 finish between these two would hold to form, this event as a tendency to go a bit sidewise. And should the crazy happen, here are a few fellows waiting in the wings looking to snatch that title. Redwood (CS) junior Brandon Andrade was seventh here last year (38.27) and has the 10th fastest qualifying time (38.85). Los Gatos senior Joey Monti has the No. 3 qualifying time (38.09, CA No. 8) and his teammate Masaki Wada-Law has the No. 5 qualifying time (38.47). Harvard Westlake and USC-bound senior Brayden Borquez, whose 37.28 is CA No. 3, scratched out of this event at SS Masters. Roberson's teammate Namir Hemphill, a junior, comes in with the No. 2 qualifying time (38.06, CA No. 7).