Foster, Mulholland, Glenn Shine at Senior States

2020 CA Senior State Championship
Jeffrey Parenti

In the Boys Senior-Only Virtual State Finals, virtual or real, there's no stopping Caleb Foster and Clovis North. As was the case on the track at the CIF-State Championships in 2019, Foster's superman-like versatility as a jumper and hurdler proved too much for the rest of the Golden State. 

Even with conservative projections that limited him to just one overall title, Foster still managed to pile up 26 points on his own with a virtual repeat of his outdoor title in the long jump and two runner-up places in the triple jump (where he was the 2019 outdoor champion) and 110-meter hurdles.

But for the Huskies to win the team title, it took Isaiah Galindo's fourth-place finish in the 3200m to overcome an epic performance from Ryan Mulholland of Del Oro (SJ). 

Mulholland, the top returning sprinter from 2019 where he was third in the 100m and fourth for 200m last spring, was unstoppable in virtual calculations, winning titles in both the 100m and 200m. He added to his awesome virtual performance with a sixth-place finish in the long jump, accounting for 23 points by himself.

Caiden Macktinger's third-place slot in the pole vault had Del Oro in position to steal the title before Galindo's eight-lap performance locked down another crown for Clovis North. 

Foster and Mulholland were among 18 boys who scored in multiple events from the 80 schools that had at least one boy score a point in this virtual championship. 

Namir Hemphill (Upland/SS) was the only other boy to score in three events, winning the triple jump, placing second in the 300m hurdles and third in the long jump. Hemphill, fifth at State in the triple last spring, had already gone 49-11 when the coronavirus pandemic forced the shutdown of the 2020 outdoor season. Despite his single-handed 24-point performance in this virtual, Upland only placed fifth in the team standings behind two distance juggernauts: Jesuit and Newbury Park, who tied for third. 

Jesuit accumulated its 26 points as Matt Strangio repeated his outdoor placing in 2019, winning the 1600m and crossing third over 3200m. A year after placing second outdoors (by .03), Chase Gordon won the 800m in this senior-only virtual showcase. 

For Newbury Park, Nico Young won the 3200m (as he did outdoors last spring) with teammate Jace Aschbrenner crossing second ahead of Strangio. Young also placed second to Strangio in the 1600m, accounting for the Panthers' 26 points.

Joining Mulholland as the only other double winner is Jamar Marshall (Stockton St. Mary's/SJ), the senior-only virtual champion for both the 110-meter hurdles and 300m hurdles. Marshall is the state record holder for 110mH (13.22) as well as the 2019 CIF-State Meet champion (13.31/3.3). He was third in the 300m hurdles last spring at State. For the virtual, Marshall's solo 20-point effort placed St. Mary's sixth in the final team tally. 

Placing seventh is Newport Harbor behind 16 points from Aidan Elbettar, who placed second in both throws. Elbettar is one of four boys to score in both throws joining discus champion Kyler Van Grouw (Buchanan/CS), shot put champion Jeff Duensing (Esperanza/SS) and Jake Porter (Anaheim Canyon/SS). At the 2019 CIF-State Championships, Van Grouw was third and Duensing fourth in the discus. In the shot, Elbettar was the runner-up and Duensing was eighth. 

Two other throwers here who were shot put finalists last year are Sawyer Howard (Los Alamitos/SS) and Quinten Lyons (Notre Dame/SS), who were fourth and fifth, respectively at the 2019 championships. 

Other boys who scored in multiple events
  • Brandon Andrade (Redwood/CS) was third in the 300m hurdles and sixth in the 110mH. Andrade was sixth in the 300s at the 2019 State Meet. 
  • Ramon Henderson (Bakersfield Liberty/CS) was second in the 100 and sixth in the 200m.
  • Anthony Johnson (Long Beach Poly/SS) was sixth in the 100m and seventh in the 200m
  • Kurtis Lee (Evergreen Valley/CC) was fourth in the 100m and fifth in the 200m.
  • Jalen McMillan (San Joaquin Memorial/SJ) was fourth in the 200m and fifth in the 100m.
  • Caleb Niednagel (La Costa Canyon/SD) was fifth in both the 1600m and 3200m. Niednagel was fifth in the 3200m at the State Championships last spring.
  • Eric Parker (Helix/SD) was second in the 400m and eighth in the 200m. Parker was seventh in the 400m at the 2019 CIF-State Meet.
  • Solomon Strader (West Ranch/SS) won the 400m and placed third in the 200m. Strader was third in the 400m at the 2019 CIF-State Meet.

Other seniors-only championship notes

  • Scott Toney (Mountain View St. Francis/CC), the winner here, went 16-1 for third at the 2019 State Championships and was the top returner for 2020. Toney went 17-4 indoors in February to win the National Pole Vault Summit boys title.
  • Tyler Burns (Oak Ridge/SJ), who peaked at 16-3 last year, had already PR'd at 16-5 in his lone outdoor opportunity of 2020. He is the seniors-only virtual pole vault runner-up. 
  • Tyler Cash (Canyon Country Canyon/SS), a one-inch runner-up in the high jump at the 2019 State Championships, is the winner here. Cash gets the win over Joseph Ruddell (Morro Bay/CS), who was fifth at last year's CIF Championships. 


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Photos by Pat Rhames and DeAnna Turner.