RECAP CIF-Southern Section Division Prelims

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MISSION VIEJO -- With a full postseason back in play after two years of the California State Championships and subsequently, the CIF-SS Masters Meet being canceled, some of the top athletes and relay teams kicked off their 2022 postseason and run-up to the State Meet!  

Hosted by Trabuco Hills, the Division 1 Preliminary has been, arguably, the toughest 'elimination round' in the nation where we have seen in the past, some of the state's best athletes end their seasons here with nothing more than just an 'off' day.  But, for the most part, the top seeds and favorites all moved through at this year's event as of the 67 laned heats on the track, 61 of the heat winners came from lane five.  

But, the top highlight of the meet came off the track and away from the stadium in the boys' discus.  Murrieta Mesa's Cade Moran continues to march his way up the California all-time charts with a monster 207-4 performance in the discus throw, extending his already Riverside County record by over six feet!  This fell just a few feet short of the all-time Division 1 meet record (209-9 from Arroyo Grande's Sean Shields, in 2001) and now sits as the 14th best effort in state history and eighth on the all-time Southern Section list.  

The Upland hurdling crew has been set back by injuries throughout the season, but on this day, they created some history.  All four boys, comprising the same group that broke their own state record in the shuttle hurdles at the Mt. SAC Relays last month, won their respective heats and became the first quartet to move onto the finals in the 110m hurdles.  After winning their heat of the 400 relay (42.34), defending 2021 champion Kai Graves-Blanks, Delaney Crawford, Davis Davis-Lyric, and DeQuan January all advanced with sub-14.50 efforts. Crawford, Graves-Blanks, and Davis-Lyric also advanced in the 300m hurdles.  With Christopher Coats looking more relaxed than ever in his heat victories in the 200m and 400m, Upland goes into next weekend as the team favorites on the boys' side.  

But, defending team champions, Long Beach Wilson is right there in the fight!  Favored to capture the 4x400 relay, Nico Colchico is the top seed after his controlled 4:11.50 effort at prelims while Isaac Lewis was truly impressive in qualifying in both hurdles, sandwiched in between with the 400 meters. We need to look to see the last time an individual advanced this far in the 110m hurdles only to come immediately back for the 400m.  Leroy Crook also qualified in the 400 for the second year in a row as did Marcel Francis-Mitchell, advancing in the 800 meters.  

In the short sprints, no one looked more relaxed and confident than Jaelen Knox of Long Beach Poly. Relatively easy wind-legal victories in the 100m (10.65) and 200m (21.13) were highlights on the afternoon while teammate, sophomore Xai Ricks captured his heat in the 400 meters. Both Poly relay squads easily advanced as well.  

Knox's main competition will come in the 100 meters, as Foothill's Austin Overn ran the top time (10.58) despite being in the midst of his baseball squad's postseason run this week.  

Regarding the girls' team title battle, defending champions Long Beach Poly will once again battle for the title with Roosevelt and Long Beach Wilson in what will be a great battle this upcoming Saturday!  Right now, on paper, less than five points separate the three squads!  

All three squads advanced both their relay squads with relative ease.  But, where Roosevelt looks for major points will be off the track as Karyssa Owens solidified herself as the favorite in both throws, especially with her lifetime best of 41-1.5 effort in the shot put. UCLA-bound Naomi Johnson is the top seed in the 200m and 400m and looks sharper than we've ever seen her these past two weeks.  Meanwhile, Dakota Minor advanced in the 100 and 200, with Kaia Burns and Cierra Ellis moving on in the 400 meters. 

Seeking big points in the jumps, Poly's Lauren Reed advanced in both horizontal jumps while Zharia Taylor and Jillene Wetteland both moved on in the High Jump.  On the cusp, coming into action on Saturday, Mai Ricks advanced in both throws in what could be the difference this weekend.  Runner-up in 2021, Aniyah Wyche advanced as the top seed in the 100 meters while Taylor Johnson moved on in the 100m and 200 meters.   

Defending 400-meter champion, Aujane Luckey of Long Beach Wilson advanced in winning both her heats of the 200m and 400m.  Samarra Monrroy qualified in the 400m once again while freshman Kaylin Edwards will pull the 400m/300m hurdle double this upcoming Saturday.  As the top 4x400m squad in California and favored this weekend, the Bruins also saw Genesis Washington move on in both hurdles while MaNia Tidwell advanced in the 100m hurdles. 

Newbury Park's Samantha McDonnell put on a clinic of perseverance in advancing in ALL three distances, matching the rare feat of Crescenta Valley's Mia Barnett from a year ago!  Ranked third in California in both the 1600m and 800m, we will see what her plan is for this upcoming weekend.  She began the afternoon with a controlled 4:54.45 and concluded the day, purring along to a 10:42.57 in the 3200m.  But, most impressive was McDonnell's 2:10.27 performance in the 800 meters as she was pressed by Katella's Ashlynn Viramontes (2:12.58) and Diamond Bar sophomore L'Mio Edwards (2:13.23) in one of the faster prelim races you will ever see.   

Peninsula's Aishling Callanan, the Eastbay Nationals Finalist this past cross country season, cranked out lifetime bests in qualifying in the 800 (2:14.58) and 1600 (4:53.99).  Claremont's Denise Chen and Saugus' Isabella Duarte also advanced in the 1600 and 3200 meters for the second year in a row. Vista Murrieta's Isabella Smith advanced in both distances as well. 

In the boys' distances, Newbury Park's Aaron Sahlman had to give a little more than he wanted in his 1:53.02 qualifying effort with Wilson's Francis-Mitchell pushing with his 1:53.82. Oxnard's Ryan Fabian avoided a late-race mishap where he was interfered with only 40 meters to go but regathered himself to push for the 1:55.37 heat win.   

Aliso Niguel's Brennan Foody shined in advancing in the 1600 (4:16.10) and 3200 meters (9:03.51).  Millikan sophomore Jason Parra (9:03.47) outleaned the Arizona-bound senior at the line for the top seed.  Meanwhile, Newbury Park's Daniel Appleford controlled the conservative pace of the first heat and negative-split his way to a 9:15.10 victory.  The boy's 3200 meters will feature seven underclassmen in the field.  

Emerging as one of the division's top talents at the 2021 finals, Orange Vista's Kailah McKenzie advanced once again in the 100m hurdles, high jump, and long jump.  She was runner-up in the hurdles a year ago and cruised to the top time (14.61) here.  

With confidence, Redondo Union's Eve Divinity advanced in four events as she captured her heats in the 100m (12.04) and 200m (24.36), and advanced back to the long jump (18-2.75) final while anchoring her squad's seasonal best win in the 400 relay. 

San Clemente's Caroline Hawkes advanced back to the finals in the 200m and 400m meters for the second year in a row while Ayala sophomores Kayla Mc Bride returns back to the 100m and 200 meters finals as she did in 2021.    

In the midst of Upland's hurdling accolades, Cajon's Seth Johnson plans on playing spoiler in the 110 hurdles as he crossed with the top time of the day.  As he placed second in the event a year ago, he is the favorite in the high jump.  Meanwhile, the UC Berkeley-bound decathlete opted out of the long jump and 300m hurdles to help both his relay squads advance. JeyQuan Smith advanced in both the 100m and 200m meters for the second straight year as Cajon looks for a top-five team finish.  

South Orange County stars, Charlie Jarvis of Aliso Niguel and Tesoro's Dominic Gates both advanced in the 100 and 200 meters. One of the surprise standouts in the meet, San Juan Hills' Braden Pegan burst out a wind-legal 10.66 to advance before returning to move on in the 200 meters.

Riverside County was well represented in the horizontal jumps.  Favorites to make the State Meet in two weeks, ML King's Alyssa Hope qualified in both the long jump as did Great Oak's JC Stevenson.  Stevenson also added his name to the boys 100-meter final for this weekend.  Also, looking to advance past this weekend, Vista Murrieta's Alyssa Alumbres moved on in the long and triple jumps.  Elsinore's Elijah Yoshinaga advanced in both jumps while he will also represent the 110m hurdles for the second year in a row.  

As we began by highlighting Moran's performance in the discus, he also easily advanced as the top seed in the shot put (65-1).  But, the new discus ring at Trabuco Hills was also generous to Elijah Ignacio, who uncorked a huge personal best of 184-4.  The Elsinore senior also advanced in the shot put.  One of the top underclass throwers in the nation, Redondo Union junior Kai Deines moved on in both throws as well.  Great Oak's Aiden Pastorian also was a double-qualifier in the throws.

Unfortunately, on a day with we witnessed very few setbacks, Dalia Frias of Mira Costa, one of California's all-time best for the 3200 meters with a 9:55.50 lifetime best, failed to make it to her heat for the event on time.  She easily advanced earlier in the 1600 meters.  With a rolling schedule with no defined start times for any track events beyond the 12:00 pm start for the Girls 400 relay, Frias was still warming up on the adjacent baseball, warm-up field when the 3200s began checking in.  Arriving late, she was told by the clerk of the course that her race was lining up on the track.  She ran over to get to it but once the gun went off, panic set in. Meet management allowed her to run in the second heat, which she 'won' but it was soon decided that the rash decision to allow her to do so was in error.  She was declared a DNS (did not show) as the California state record holder for the mile (4:35.06) will focus solely on the 1600 meters for the remainder of the postseason.