Seniors-Only Boys CIF-SS Division 4 Prelims Highlights
NOTE: these projections are subjective in many cases, and only represent our opinion of how the 2020 season MIGHT have turned out.
100 Dash
Buba Fofunah (Cate) has the best credentials from 2019 in the field, having clocked 10.93 (no wind indicated) in the Russell Cup last spring. However, his season seemed to end after his league meet, so he didn't get the experience of being in the CIF meet. He put up consistent 10.90's in 2020 with a few races faster, making him the favorite. His competition next week may come from from breakout Landon Dyson (Chadwick), who started the 2020 season off with a PR of 11.17, a huge improvement over his 2019 marks. That let to him flirting with the 11-second barrier for several races before finally breaking through. Coming off a strong winter season that featured a 7.02 true indoor 60 and a 7th-place finish in the Winter Championships 150, Will Davis (Oaks Christian) made significant improvement over his 11.13 from last spring, joining Fofunah and Dyson as a sub-11 sprinter. These three entered as top seeds and cruised through their prelim races, setting up a nice battle in the finals.
200 Dash
In addition to Fofunah (the favorite), Dyson (who started 2020 strong and led the division for much of the season), and Davis (the big improver), there are two other athletes that factored into this event. John Humphries (Muir) was on the verge of breaking 23 last spring, his first track season - that indicated the big jump he made in 2020. Devante Pollard (St. Anthony) came into the season a sleeper in this race after focusing mostly on the 400 in 2019, and after some success he chose to run both in prelims. Those two are fast enough to push Dyson and Davis for seeding next week, while Fofunah rolls through to finals easily as the top seed.
400 Dash
This is Pollard's focus race, and he came into the meet as the top seed - he finished 4th in the D4 finals last spring for valuable experience. This year, having broken 50 a few times during the season, he cruises through to the next round. Victor Rinaldi (Carpinteria) and Jonah Copeland (Serra) were the other heat winners, both relatively unchallenged. They have the potential to challenge Pollard next week if they run well. Andrew Nowak (Linfield Christian) has been off the radar a bit this spring, but his steady improvement has him seeded 4th next week and looking to move up.
800 Run
Winslow Atkeson (Thacher) showed his fitness by opening the 2020 season with a 1:58. On the heels of a solid cross country season, that alone was enough to make him the favorite here, and he improved to the low 1:57's during the season. Despite doubling back from the 1600 je advances easily, and hasn't shown his full potential in this race yet. Behind him, Riles Neff (St. Bonaventure) and John Zingg (Xavier College Prep) also move on after clocking sub-2 during the regular season. The dark horse candidate, Ronnie Orosky (Viewpoint), ran 2:06 in 2019 but took a BIG step forward during cross country season, and that paid off with a run at the 2 minute mark and a spot in the finals with a chance to break that barrier.
1600 Run
Atkeson was the favorite here as well, but Logan Brooks (Laguna Beach) has been breathing down his neck all spring following a great cross country season. In a head to head race those two would pull away from the field, but they were in separate sections today and they both advanced easily. Orosky opted to focus on the 800 after such strong improvement, but teammate Thomas Matthew moves on from the next group of runners, which has been pretty wide open with lots of candidates trying to make "the leap" in the championship season. Alex Esquivel (St. Pius X St. Matthias) returned with experience after making the D4 finals last spring, and that was enough to keep him ahead of the pack of contenders and punch his ticket to finals.
3200 Run
This is where Brooks really shines (he was by far the top returner from 2019 in this event), and that could be reason enough for him to drop the 1600 at some point and try to make a push to the state meet. Gianni Roberts (Big Bear) and Braulio Alvarez (Woodcrest Christian) both broke 9:50 last spring and both ran very well in the fall, predicting a season-long duel for position in the division rankings; today, they dialed it back a notch to move on. With Atkeson focusing on the 16 and 8, that leaves several evenly-matched candidates looking to run in the 9:40's or perhaps the upper 9:30's next week, and that will make for an interesting finals race. Nathan Fedoroff (Oaks Christian) is our pick to emerge from that group as a contender next week after a solid race today.
110 Hurdles
The favorite here has been as clear as in any event in this meet: Anthony Forrest (Big Bear) was almost a full second faster in 2019 than any other returning hurdler in the division, and he opened the 2020 season way ahead of the competition. That has put him in position to shoot for the low 14's (he has been consistently in the 14.5 range after flashing that potential last spring). Logan Brace (Centennial Corona) was also a heat winner in the prelims, although there was a nice battle for the third seed next week: Preston Mahelona-Rogers (Twentynine Palms) and Paul Domingue (Big Bear) both move on with solid sub-16 times.
300 Hurdles
Brace came into the prelims as the favorite here, but not nearly as far ahead of the competition as Forrest was in the high hurdles. Tchaikovsky Brown (Xavier College Prep) made the division 4 finals meet last spring (within striking range of Brace's best time), and he used this meet as an opportunity to finally join Brace in sub-40 territory. Forrest is also a solid intermediate hurdler, and he moved on to next week comfortably. Behind Forrest it got interesting: three returners that were in the 42's last spring, all of whom ran 41 or better this spring. Out of that group, Kyle Sun (Thacher) had the slight edge after building on a strong start to 2020.
High Jump
This is one of the most unpredictable events in the sport, and the field of contenders was pretty crowded. Rae'Kwon Alvez (Mojave) cleared 6-4 three times in 2019, and bettered that by going 6-6 a couple times this spring. He also jumps his best when it counts; in 2019 he equaled his season best in the division finals and then again at Masters, and this year he will have the chance to duplicate that effort after moving easily on to finals. Brandon Mehegan (Linfield Christian) popped a 6-3 in 2019, but he was more consistently a 6-0 jumper. In 2020 he has fluctuated between regular 6-2 jumps and the occasional 6-4, but 6-2 was more than enough to make it to finals. The wildcard entering 2020 was Kai Ball (Laguna Beach), who showed potential with a 6-2 clearance last spring, although we didn't have a lot of data on him. With more consistent marks this spring, he moves to the next level still in pursuit of that 6-4 mark. Jared Johnson (Paraclete) and Jaden Ward (Heritage Christian) both started 2020 at 6-0, and each cleared 6-2 at some point during the season; they will need that or better to get into the top 3 in finals.
Long Jump
Another wide open competition here, featuring a lot of the same names as in the high jump. Mehegan opened 2020 ahead of his 2019 best and then improved from there, but he still seeks consistent 22-foot jumps. He'll have another week to get there after advancing to finals. Alvez and Johnson have been right behind him all season as well as in the prelims, both in the 21-foot range and capable of winning next week. Brady Chikato (Vasquez) also had a solid start to 2020 and moves on, but he has a lot of work to catch up to the top three.
Triple Jump
Big Bear's Paul Domingue, a contender in the high hurdles, was a heavy favorite in this event - he came into the season with a 44-footer on his resume and then proceeded to break 45 in the 2020 regular season. Mehegan, Brown, and Alvez were left to duke it out for the second seed in the finals, along with KC Anuluoha (Crespi). All of them have one more chance to break out of the crowd with a 44-foot or better mark.
Pole Vault
This is the prelude to one of the best duels in the division. Dylan Chung (Linfield Christian) and Nathan Soto (St. Margaret's) entered 2020 with matching 14-foot PR's, and both have since cleared 15. It came down to Soto's experience (he had his 2019 season best at division finals), but neither brought his best game on a day when it wasn't needed to advance, so we'll look forward to next week. Soto's teammate Chris Mullen should had the third seed at finals on lock down, and he has a real chance to upset one of the top two jumpers with a good day.
Shot Put
Alan Rennie (Paraclete) was the top returner in the division after finishing 2nd in the finals last year. The closest competition came from Kyle Juergens (St. Margaret's), but nobody has been able to get past Rennie this spring - he finally broke the 50 foot barrier that frustrated him in 2019. Gabriel Aguilar (Bassett) is the breakout candidate of 2020: he kicked off this season with a new PR by over a foot, then proceeded to join Juergens in the upper 40's as both move on to finals. Soane Toia (Grace Brethren) is also in the mix for a top 5 finish with the potential to rise as high as second.
Discus Throw
Rennie was the favorite here as well, and he held a similar advantage over the rest of the field. Given his massive improvement from sophomore to junior year in this event, it's not a surprise to see him popping mid-150's throws this season. Juergens and Josiah Vasquez (Calvary Chapel Santa Ana) advance comfortably to the finals, where they hope to challenge Rennie (but might end up battling for 2nd).