ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
Monterey Trail senior Zachary Larrier (7) capped his career with State Meet titles in the 4x100 relay and 400 meters, leading his team to a second place finish in the team competition. (Pat Rhames photo)
BOYS
Matt Strangio crosses the finish line with the 1600m title at the State Meet. (Pat Rhames photo)
ZACHARY LARRIER (Monterey Trail/Sr.), JAMAR MARSHALL (St. Mary's/Jr.), and MATT STRANGIO (Jesuit/Jr.)
How does one choose between these three? Why should we have to? So, we didn't, acknowledging that all three deserve AOTY recognition.
LARRIER -- Won the 400 and anchored the winning 4x100 relay team in leading Monterey Trail to a runner-up team plaque at the State Meet. His 46.49 PR for 400 meters from Arcadia ranks CA No. 1 and U.S. No. 3. Their 41.37 in the 4x1 from State Prelims ranks CA No. 5. Larrier also ran 21.30 (-0.6) for 200m to win at Sacramento Meet of Champions, a time that ranks CA No. 10 among wind-legal marks. He was a three-time State Meet qualifier in the 400.
MARSHALL -- Won the 110 hurdles at the State Meet, running the second-fastest all-conditions time in California history. His winning time of 13.31 was aided by a 3.3 meters-per-second wind, keeping it from setting both state and State Meet records. He also placed third in the 300 hurdles, running the No. 6 time in the country. He helped lead St. Mary's to the 4x100 relay title at the SJS Masters Meet en route to the boys team title.
STRANGIO -- Won the 1600 at the State Meet, beating defending champion Liam Anderson, in a CA No. 3/U.S. No. 13 time of 4:08.07. Came back to place third in the 3200 (8:57.69). Earlier in the year, ran the third-fastest 3200 in the U.S., 8:47.97, to win the Dublin Distance Fiesta, the No. 18 time in CA history.
GIRLS
Isabella Fauria (center) surges at the finish of the 800 meters at the State Meet. (Pat Rhames photo)
ISABELLA FAURIA (St. Francis/Jr.) and CEONNA PIPION (Vista del Lago/Jr.)
FAURIA -- Won the 800 and 1600 at the SJS Masters Meet, and ended up running a section-best 2:10.49 for fourth at the State Meet 800 meter final. It was a fitting finish to a season of redemption for Fauria, who had missed the better part of her previous two years with health issues. Fauria's junior season included four race victories in the 1600, including a PR 5:02.09 for first in the Division 1 Final and 5:02.16 to win SJS Masters. In the 800, her focus event, she won six races, including the Sacramento Meet of Champions (2:13.89) and SJS Division 1 and Masters (2:14.73) titles. She ran 2:11.70 for fourth among qualifiers at State Prelims and then came back the next evening to drop another 1.21 seconds off her PR.
PIPEON -- Two-time section champion in the 400 meters qualified for the State Meet finals in the 200 and 400 for the second year in a row. She placed third in the 400, running a PR 54.46 that ranked as the sixth fastest time in the state this season. She also set section-leading time in 200 (24.26/1.1) at State Prelims.
Photos by James Leash, Pat Rhames, DeAnna Turner and Dan Tyree.