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UPDATE: This article has been updated to reflect the cancellation of the CA Winter Championships Qualifier meet at Redondo Union HS.
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There are eight winter track meets on the schedule for Saturday, seven CA Winter Championships Qualifiers, and the Sundown Track Series distance-only event in Mesa, AZ.
(You may also run across scattered all-comers meets not associated with the CA Winter Championships Series.)
(Note that during the winter season, all athletes compete unattached. School affiliations are noted here for identification purposes.)
The Sundown meet, produced by Newbury Park coach Sean Brosnan, will be held in the evening and live-streamed by MileSplit. The 800m-mile-3200m event is scheduled to include most of the top boys from the Panthers' Southern Section, CIF-State and Garmin RunningLane National cross country championship team, as well as most of the girls from NP's Southern Section Division 1 championship team.
As of earlier this week, the plan is for boys cross country national champion Colin Sahlman to run the mile with a sub-4:04 goal, Brosnan said.
Lex Young is also scheduled in the mile race at Sundown. He and Sahlman are preparing to compete at the Dr. Sander Columbia Challenge indoor race at The Armory in New York in two weeks.
Aaron Sahlman, Daniel Appleford, and Hector Martinez are also scheduled to run, with Sahlman running one of the shorter-distance races and the latter two running 3,200 meters. Leo Young and girls senior star Samantha McDonnell are both coming back from injuries and are training but not scheduled to compete, Brosnan said.
In addition to the Newbury Park girls, Ventura freshman sensation Sadie Engelhardt, an Eastbay National Cross Country finalist, has also registered to compete.
There are 13 races currently scheduled with registration still open.
Racing is tentatively scheduled to begin at 6:10 p.m. local time in Mesa (5:10 p.m. PST) with the live stream on MileSplit scheduled for the top of the hour.
Registration info: sundowntrack.com.
CA WINTER CHAMPS FINAL QUALIFYING OPPORTUNITY
Saturday is the last opportunity for athletes to meet qualifying standards to earn a spot on the line at the CA Winter Championships scheduled for Jan. 29 at Arcadia HS.
There are now seven qualifiers on tap this Saturday, including four across a wide swath of the Southern Section, plus one in each of the Central, Central Coast, and North Coast sections.
Saturday's CA WCQ Sites
(Meets are scheduled for 9 a.m. unless noted. Site contact is included.)
- Arcadia (cschultz@ausd.net)
- Covina Dist. Stadium (kglaspy@c-vusd.org)
- Dinuba, noon start (lichtenwaldt@gmail.com)
- Palma (thadmoren@gmail.com)
- Pittsburg, 10 a.m. start (pittsburgtrack@gmail.com)
- Redondo (bobster1962@mac.com) - CANCELED
- Simi Valley (snr@steveringgold.com)
- Vista Murrieta (ccandaele@murrieta.k12.ca.us)
Important Notes About Qualifying for the CA Winter Championship Meet
- Athletes register ($12) at the site of the qualifier meets.
- Athletes who hit a qualifying standard at a qualifier meet (noted below) and wish to compete in the championship meet on the 29th, MUST register and pay a separate $25 fee at the qualifying meet and then will receive their championship meet "Golden Bib" at the qualifier.
The Golden Bib serves as the athlete's entry at the Championship meet.
- There is NO on-site registration at the Jan. 29 Championship meet.
(More information is available on the MileSplit calendar entry for each meet in the CA Winter Champs series.)
ORDER OF EVENTS AT EACH QUALIFIER (rolling schedule)
Track
1500m Run
60m Dash
60m Hurdles
150m Dash
600m Dash
4x200n Relay
Distance Medley Relay
Mixed 4x400n Relay
4x800m Relay
300m Dash
3000m Run
Sprint Medley Relay (100-100-200-400)
Field (4 attempts in LJ, TJ & SP)
Long Jump
Shot Put
High Jump
Pole Vault
Triple Jump (follows Long Jump)
Additional Events (see entry notes below and note important 1/20 deadline for submission)
*Weight Throw (At Championship Finals only)
**Pentathlon (At Championship Finals only)
QUALIFYING STANDARDS FOR THE 2022 CA WINTER CHAMPIONSHIPS
Athletes must achieve the minimum qualifying standard (see below) at one of the Qualifier Meets. Winning an event does not automatically qualify you for the CA Winter Championship meet. You must also meet the minimum standard. Relay members must attend the same school. NO ALL-STAR TEAMS!
| EVENT | BOYS | GIRLS |
| 60m Dash | 7.25 | 8.45 |
| 150m Dash | 17.25 | 19.60 |
| 60m Hurdles | 9.75 | 11.25 |
| 300m | 37.92 | 44.60 |
| 600m | 1:29.00 | 1:47.20 |
| 1500m | 4:20.00 | 5:16.00 |
| 3000m | 9:27.00 | 11:18.00 |
| 4x200m Relay | 1:37.00 | 1:54.00 |
| Co-Ed 4x400m Relay (2 boys/2 girls) | 3:44.00 | 3:44.00 |
| SMR (1-1-2-4) | 1:41.00 | 2:03.00 |
| 4x800m Relay | 8:40.00 | 10:40.00 |
| DMR (12-4-8-16) | 11:18.00 | 13:50.00 |
| Long Jump | 19-08 | 16-00 |
| Triple Jump | 40-04 | 32-08 |
| High Jump | 5-10 | 5-00 |
| Pole Vault | 13-03 | 10-07 |
| Shot Put | 45-00 | 32-09 |
- Weight Throw (25 lb/20 lb)- *By email only to rich@vsathletics.com by 1/20 for entry consideration.
- Pentathlon - **By email only to richgonzaleztrack@gmail.com by 1/20 for entry consideration.
Athletes compete unattached, however, all relays MUST be comprised of athletes attending the same high school. No All-Star Teams!
(Complete information is available on the MileSplit calendar entry for each meet in the CA Winter Champs series.)
Photos by John Hays and Raymond Tran