Those That Just Missed the Cut
Rashon Luke (St. John Bosco/Fr.) - Tough to exclude him from our Top 20, but the freshman not only advanced to the California State Meet, but he qualified for the finals where he set a new freshman California state record (10.55) in Friday's prelims. He placed fifth the following day and owned the fastest time in the nation for the Class of 2022!
Tyler Cash (Canyon Country Canyon/Jr.) - The junior almost pulled off the upset at the California State Meet in the high jump. Going into the postseason with a best of 6-08, he struggled to even qualify for the Division 2 finals. He bounced back the following week with a 6-08 effort, Division 2 title effort. But, retreated the following week at Masters Meet (but still qualified) needed a jump-off to advance as the last entrant into the State Meet final. Seemingly out of no where, Cash cleared all his attempts until he reached 6-10 (only his third time clearing 6-06)! Unable to match Beau Allen's clearance at 6-11, he walked away with the second place medal and one of the top underclassmen in the nation.
Jack Wiseman (Huntington Beach/Sr.) - While many of us have commented on the relative lack of depth in the high jump in recent years, several Southern Section athletes dismissed those claims. Peaking with his best over the last two weeks, Wiseman has been 'stuck' at the 6-06 bar since the early part of his junior year. That was until the Masters Meet, where he won the competition with a huge 6-10 performance. He backed it up a week later at the California State Meet with a 6-09 performance. In not missing until the 6-10 bar, he earned the third place medal.
Tianhao Wei (South Pasadena/Jr.) - While many athletes had a tough time matching their personal bests at the California State Meet (pretty common actually with the back-to-back days), Wei bucked the trend and delivered his personal best on Saturday night! His 48-00.25 wind-legal effort moved him up on this third jump and it held on for a third place finish. Barely advancing back to the Masters Meet, the junior was fifth at the this season. But the experience of earning the fifth place medal at the 2018 State Meet paved the way. As he returns as one of the best underclassmen in the nation, he should be a four-time CIF Finalist and obviously, looking to earn a spot back on the podium in 2020.
Sean Rhyan (San Juan Hills/Sr.) - Before he heads off with a bright future of football at UCLA, Rhyan left his imprint on the throwing community with his third place effort at the California State Meet in the shot put. His 63-03.50 best from the Orange County Championships was the third best in California for the season. He was the Division 1 champion and placed second at the Masters Meet.
Trabuco Hills Relay Squads - What may have gone unnoticed is that, aside from Long Beach Poly's relays squads, no other school featured both relays placing in the top five at the California State Meet than Trabuco Hills. Without an individual advancing onto the State Meet, these were true team efforts. Despite only finishing seventh at the Division 1 finals and the last team to advance, the quartet of Isaac Korn, Carson Kaminski, Jake Burns and Jay Williams impressed with their fourth place finish in the 4x400 relay. Earlier, Burns and Williams teamed up Kiwon Lee and Anthony Deluca to place fourth in the 4x100 relay. Not so bad from a team that did not even capture their league title and was third at the Division 1 finals.
Anthony Taylor (Cathedral/So.) - Taylor finished sixth at the California State Meet in the 110 hurdles and just missed, despite a 37.94 personal best, advancing in the 300 hurdles. His 14.08 wind-legal best at the State Meet prelims gave us a preview for the years to come. He captured the Division 3 title two weeks prior while he was runner-up in the 300 Hurdles that same day. Most impressive is that Taylor is the top sophomore in California for both events and should move up to be the best the Southern Section offers the next two seasons.
Sawyer Howard (Los Alamitos/Jr.) - The junior was not projected to advance out of the Southern Section, let alone, the State Meet prelims. While most were holding on from a long season, Howard uncorked his best of 61-02 at the State Meet finals to earn the fourth place medal. His previous best had been over two feet less (59-00.75) and was three feet farther than what he had thrown in the previous two months! A huge surprise to say the least and a glimpse of what we get to see in 2020.
Kyle Yonker (Great Oak/Jr.) - No one boy improved more in the last month of the season than did the Great Oak junior. Going into the postseason, (he did not make it out of his league finals in 2018) his seasonal best pole vault was 14-09. As he cleared 15-00 to take fifth at the Division 1 finals, he was able to make the State Meet standard of 14-09 to earn the trip to Clovis. THAT is where it got crazy as he ascended up over 15-03 to advance to Saturday's finals, but to everyone's surprise -- he cleared 15-05 AND.... 15-09 on Saturday night, earning himself a fourth place medal from the State Championships! He was TENTH at the Masters Meet but was the section's top representative and second best underclassman at the State Meet!