RECAP CIF-North Coast Tri-Valley Area Finals

BRENTWOOD -- The North Coast Section Tri-Valley Championships were held on Saturday at Freedom High School. Some of the winners were expected.

Then there was Kylee Denver.

The Freedom senior crossed the finish line in the girls 800 meters with the biggest smile of the afternoon, eyes wide, face stretched. Denver had qualified 11th into the meet out of the Bay Valley Athletic League championships the week before. But her personal-best of two minutes, 17.35 seconds was good enough to beat a strong field in the event.

Still grinning a few minutes after the race, Denver said she hadn't run that well since she was a freshman.

"I definitely wasn't prepared for a win, but I was hoping for a PR," she said. "That was completely unexpected."

Denver's previous personal-best came as a freshman: 2:19.71.

"It has been a bit," she said. "So I was really excited to get that today."

The top six in every event advanced to the NCS Meet of Champions on May 20-21 at Dublin High. Finishers outside the top six advanced if they hit qualifying marks.

It was a warm, occasionally bordering on hot, afternoon in Brentwood with a welcome breeze cooling things off. The heat affected some of the distance races -- the girls 3200 went off at a 90-second pace the first three laps. But there were several strong marks.

Dublin sophomore Jathiyah Muhammad won the girls pole vault at 13 feet. Her brother, freshman Khaliq Muhammad, won the boys event at 15-0. Livermore sophomore Dwayne Noel won the boys high jump at 6-6.

In the boys 400 relay, heavy favorite Acalanes failed to execute the first handoff and dropped the baton. The Dons had been one of the strongest teams in the area all season. Pittsburg's team of LaRico Tezeno, Zach Card, Kenyan Higgins, and Dearen Idahosa won the event in 42.02.

Acalanes sophomore Paul Kuhner came back to win the 100, edging Card by .01, 10.77-10.78.

"We're just a great group of guys," Kuhner said of the team, including Ethan Torres, Trevor Rogers, and Kyle Bielawski. "We have great team chemistry. It's sad, but it's nice to know we're all sophomores and juniors and will be able to come back next year and run for something.

"Being able to pull out the win (in the 100), it felt good. I really want to do this for them and move on."

Card came back to win the 200 in 21.68.

"That's a pretty good time for this track," Card said. "I know I can do better. Twenty-one four is my goal."

The top 11 finishers in the 200 made the NCS qualifying standard of 22.54 -- most of any event on the day.

One disappointment was the withdrawal of Monte Vista junior Cate Peters, who won the 100, 200, 400, and 800 at the East Bay Athletic League championships the week before. Peters had the second-fastest time in California at 2:06.89 and the fifth-best in the 400 at 54.72. However, she suffered a foot injury during the week.

In the 400, Clayton Valley sophomore Zoe Lahanas took advantage, winning in 57.86.

"I think it went really well," Lahanas said. "I think it was a really consistent time. And especially for the heat We've had a couple of cold weeks. This was the first hot one in a little bit. I had some strong competition push me."

Monte Vista's Sally Binder, a junior, won the girls 1600 in 5:07.55. College Park junior Alex Lamoureux won the boys 1,600 in 4:18.96.

Shayne Morris, a sophomore at Dougherty Valley, won the girls 100 in 12.20. Campolindo junior Mari Testa won the 100 hurdles in 14.85, finished second in the 100 in 12.27, and fourth in the 300 hurdles in 47.11. Her teammate Sara Tabibian, a senior, won the 300 hurdles in 45.12.

The Cougars easily won the team scoring with 105 points. Dublin won the boys title handily with 146 points.

Damin Esper is a Bay Area-based freelance writer and a regular contributor to MileSplit.