Junior Boys MileSplitCA All-State Team

2019 Track and Field Season In Review

Jun 22, 2019

2019 Junior Boys MileSplitCA All-State Team

(Athletes are listed alphabetically under each event group header)

SPRINTS

Ryan Mulholland (8) was a double medalist in the sprints at the State Meet. (Credit: Pat Rhames)

RYAN MULHOLLAND (Del Oro/SJ) | 100/200 | Top sprinter in the class and double-medalist at the State Meet placing third in the 100m (10.53/1.2) and fourth in the 200m (21.24/2.5). He ran his sprint PRs at State Prelims, clocking CA No. 1 times in the class of 10.48 (1.1) for 100m and 21.17 (1.2) for 200m. That 100m time ranks tied for U.S. No. 9 for wind-legal marks and U.S. No. 13 in the class wind-legal. Mulholland won both sprint titles at the Sac-Joaquin Masters Meet. Despite limited attempts, long jump PR of 23-09.50 ranks CA No. 4 in the class.

SOLOMON STRADER (West Ranch/SS) | 200/400 | Placed third at the State Meet with a then-PR of 47.10. He recently lowered his PR and went sub-47 for the first time, running 46.59 at Brooks PR. That time ranks CA No. 1 in the class, CA No. 2 overall, and U.S. No. 6 among all returners for 2020. Won the 400m title at both the Southern Section Division 1 (47.11) and SS Masters meets (47.04). His 200m PR of 21.61 (0.6) ranks CA No. 3 in the class. SS D1 200m runner-up (21.55).

DISTANCES

Matt Strangio celebrates after winning the 1600m title at the State Meet. (Credit: Pat Rhames)

CHASE GORDON (Jesuit/SJ) | 800 | Placed second at the State Meet (1:51.74). Gordon's PR time at State was .03 behind that of champion Kai Wingo, ranks CA No. 2 overall, CA No. 1 in the class and U.S. No. 8 in the class. Gordon also won the Sac-Joaquin Division 1 and Masters titles, won at the Stanford Invitational and placed second at both Arcadia and Dublin. His time at State was a 1.32-second PR drop from his previous best from Arcadia of 1:53.06.

ANTHONY GROVER (JSerra/SS) | 800/1600 | Placed fourth in the 1600m at State (4:10.60). Ran all three distances at the Southern Section Division 3 finals, placing third in the 1600 and 3200 and second in the 800. Ran the 800 and 1600 at SS Masters and advanced in the 1600. At State, Grover barely qualified for the 1600 final, grabbing the 12th and final spot in prelims by .08 seconds. Has top-10 rankings in the class for all three distances -- No. 6 for 800 (1:54.09), No. 4 for 1600 (4:10.60), No. 9 for 3200 (9:10.53).

GARRETT MacQUIDDY (Westmont/CC) | 800 | Placed fourth at the State Meet with a PR of 1:52.25. His previous PR was 1:54.05. He won four times in nine races including the Central Section Finals and Dublin (beating Gordon). His PR ranks CA No. 2 in the class, No. 4 regardless of class, and U.S. No. 14 in the class.

MATT STRANGIO (Jesuit/SJ) | 1600/3200 | Won the State title for 1600 (4:08.07) and placed third in the 3200 (8:57.69). He won all but one 1600 race this season, including Sac-Joaquin Section Masters. He won five of seven 3200 races, including the Dublin Distance Fiesta where he ran what was at the time a U.S. No. 1 time of 8:47.97. That time still ranks CA No. 2, U.S. No. 3 (in the class and overall) and No. 18 all-time in CA. Strangio, who won the State 3200 title as a sophomore, unseated 2018 champion Liam Anderson in to win the 1600m.

NICO YOUNG | Newbury Park/SS | 1600/3200 | Won the State title for 3200 in 8:47.27, worthy of a top-20 time in state history but hardly his best. Young's 8:40.00 to win at Arcadia ranks CA No. 3 all-time and U.S. No. 1 this season. Young's winning time at State is the fastest since Riverbank's German Fernandez set the meet record of 8:34.23 in 2008 and the sixth fastest winning time dating to 1965. He won all seven of his 3200 races this spring -- four running sub-9 -- including Southern Section Division 1 and SS Masters Meet titles. Young's 1600m PR of 4:07.33 from the APU Distance Meet of Champions ranks U.S. No. 8 overall.

HURDLES

In a 110m hurdles race with three of the fastest boys in the country, Jamar Marshall (5) was unmatched, running the second-fastest all-conditions time in CA history. (Credit: Pat Rhames)

JAMAR MARSHALL (Stockton St. Mary's/SJ) | 110 Hurdles/300 Hurdles | He won the 110 hurdles title at the State Meet with the second-fastest all-conditions time in California history, 13.31 (3.3). He placed third in the 300 hurdles (37.28). Marshall's time from State ranks U.S. No. 1 overall for all-conditions times. He also ranks U.S. No. 1 overall at 13.50 (0.4) from winning the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 title. Ran his 300 hurdles PR of 36.74 at State Prelims. That time ranks U.S. No. 6 overall and U.S. No. 2 in the class. In the 110s, Marshall won 12 races this spring, including Stanford, Arcadia, and the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters. In the 300s, he won eight times, including Arcadia and SJS Division 1.

JUMPS

Caleb Foster won titles in the long jump and triple jump at the State Meet. (Credit: DeAnna Turner)

KOSI AGINA (Sanger/CS) | Triple Jump | Placed fourth at the State Meet with an all-conditions PR of 47-11.00 (2.3), earning a medal in the triple jump for the second consecutive year. He placed sixth as a sophomore (46-09). His windy PR from State ranks CA No. 5 in the class. His wind-legal best of 47-08 ranks CA No. 4 in the class.

TYLER CASH (Canyon Country Canyon/SS) | High Jump | Placed second in the high jump at the State meet (6-10). That mark is equal to CA No. 1 in the class, CA No. 2 regardless of class and U.S. No. 9 in the class. Won the Southern Section Division 2 title with a then-PR-equalling clearance of 6-8. Cash's clearance at State was a two-inch PR and a six-inch gain from his sophomore Pr.

CALEB FOSTER (Clovis North/CS) | 110 Hurdles/Long Jump/Triple Jump | Foster won State Meet titles in the long jump (25-00/2.3) and triple jump (49-09.50/2.8) and placed second in the 110 hurdles (13.71/3.3). He accounted for 28 points by himself to carry Clovis North to the boys team title (runner-up Monterey Trail had 27 points). His winning long jump mark of 25-01.25 from Arcadia ranks U.S. No. 1 in the class and tied for U.S. No. 6 regardless of class. His best in the triple ranks U.S. No. 2 in the class for wind-aided marks,

NAMIR HEMPHILL (Upland/SS) | Long Jump/Triple Jump/300 Hurdles | Placed fourth at the State Meet in the triple jump (47-05.75) and eighth in the 300 hurdles (44.88). He ranks CA No. 2 in the class in the long jump (23-11) and No. 3 in the triple jump (48-08.50/-0.5). Southern Section Masters runner-up in both the 300 hurdles (38.06) and triple jump (47-04). Ran leadoff on both the 4x100 relay that ranks CA No. 9 (41.72) and the 4x400 relay team that ranks CA No. 3 (3:13.95) .

ALLAN HUNTER (Kimball/SJ) | Long Jump | Placed second at the State Meet with a long jump PR of 23-09.25 (4.2). That mark ranks CA No. 5 overall. He also qualified in the triple jump, placing 15th in prelims (44-10.75). Hunter competed in four individual events at Sac-Joaquin Masters, winning the triple jump (45-11.50), placing second in the long jump (22-11.25), 15th in the high jump (6-02), and 11th in prelims of the 110 hurdles (15.43).

JOHN KROEGER (River Valley/SJ) | Long Jump | Placed third at the State Meet in the long jump with a PR of 23-06.25 (1.5) that ranks CA No. 6 in the class. He won the long jump in 10 meets during the season and had seven meets were he exceeded 23 feet. He is one of only two athletes in the class and five in the state with wind-legal jumps over 23-06. Kroeger was fourth at Arcadia, second at Stanford and won both the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II and Masters titles.

SCOTT TONEY (Mountain View St. Francis/CC) | Pole Vault | Placed third at State (16-01). His 16-01.50 PR ranks CA No. 2 in the class, CA No. 4 regardless of class, and tied for U.S. No. 9 in the class. He won the Central Coast Section title among 10 meet victories.

TIANHAO WEI (South Pasadena/SS) | Triple Jump | Placed third at State in the triple jump (48-00.25/1.8). Wei, who placed fifth at the State Meet as a sophomore (47-04.50), had struggled in meets leading up to hitting his PR at this year's State final. His mark ranks CA No. 3 overall for wind-legal jumps and U.S. No. 16 in the class (wind-legal). In the lead-up to State, Wei placed third in the Southern Section Division 3 final (45-00) and fifth at SS Masters (46-04.50), two meets where he placed first and second, respectively, as a sophomore. He nailed his PR jump on his third attempt at State, breaking that 48-foot barrier for the first time with his best jump since hitting a 47-11.75 PR for third at Arcadia in early April.

KYLE YONKER (Great Oak/SS) | Pole Vault | Placed fourth in the pole vault at the State Meet hitting a huge PR of 15-09. Yonker seemingly came out of nowhere to earn a spot on the podium at State. He placed second at league (14-09), fifth at Southern Section Division 1 with a 15-00 PR and placed 10th at Southern Section Masters but hit that 14-09 qualifying standard. At State, he PR'ed at prelims, clearing 15-03 on his first attempt after clearing the opening 14-09 on his second attempt.

THROWS

Aidan Elbettar is the U.S. leader in the class in the discus throw. (Credit: Pat Rhames)

JEFF DUENSING (Esperanza/SS) | Discus Throw/Shot Put | Placed fourth at State in the discus throw (177-00) and eighth in the shot put (58-03.50). His discus PR of 190-09 ranks U.S. No. 2 in the class behind Aidan Elbettar. His shot put PR of 66-08 also ranks U.S. No. 2 in the class. Duensing won the Southern Section Division 3 title in both throws and the SS Masters title in the shot.

AIDAN ELBETTAR (Newport Harber/SS) | Discus Throw/Shot Put | Placed second at State in the shot put (62-04.75). His 193-03 discus throw from the Southern Section Final ranks U.S. No. 1 in the class. He recently improved his shot put PR from his in-season best of 62-09.50 to 63-02 at New Balance Outdoor Nationals. His first throw over 63 feet moves him up to U.S. No. 6 in the class. He had a disappointing experience in the discus throw at State Prelims, hitting just 147-05 on his first attempt and fouling on his other two attempts to place 21st.

KYLER VAN GROUW (Buchanan/CS) | Discus Throw | Placed third at State in the discus throw (177-09). 187-08 ranks CA No. 7 overall and U.S. No. 8 in the class. In 10 meets during the season, he exceeded 180 feet five times. Hit his shot put PR of 56-07 for third at Central Section Masters but was not able to get a legal attempt at State Prelims. That PR ranks CA No. 6 in the class.