TRACK AND FIELD Northern Section Year in Review

Seniors dominated the boys events at the CIF-Northern Section Finals held May 20 at West Valley HS in Cottonwood led by a section finals-record run by Chico senior Mario Giannini.

The 3200-meter record for the "NSCIF Finals" of 9:05.30 by Liberty Christian's Tim Nelson, had stood since 2003.

Giannini, who had run sub-9:08s at both Dublin in March and Stanford in early April, had a huge drop on the West Valley oval of 9:00.59 to break Nelson's nearly-two decade's old record. 

Giannini followed that with his second-fastest time ever for eight laps, 9:04.42, for ninth place at the CIF-State Championships. He led the field of 26 of CA's finest for a portion of the race.

Chico senior Iresh Molina was the only other Northern Section athlete to reach the Saturday final day at State. Molina, who swept the 1600m and 3200m at the NS Final, ran 11:07.44 for 20th place in the 3200m. (The eight-lap event is the only event at the two-day State Meet that does not hold a Friday prelim. All section qualifiers are automatically entered into the final.)

(More on State Meet participants below.)

At the NS Finals, nine senior boys won 11 of the 14 titles. There were two double-event champions, Simon Dixon of Paradise dominated the throws winning the discus (156-6) and the shot put (58-4), and Jahari Johnson of Enterprise won both the 200m (22.56) and 400m (50.02).

The only non-senior event champions were Foothill junior Caden Rowe in the 110-meter hurdles (16.26/-1.3), Enterprise junior Jacob Wagner in the triple jump (42-10/-1.6), and Orland freshman Logan Meredith in the pole vault (14-1). 

Meredith's clearance was a 10-inch PR, ranks No. 2 in CA in the freshman class, and is the sixth-highest clearance by a freshman in the U.S. during the outdoor season.

Although he wasn't able to clear the opening height at State Prelims, he was one of only two freshman qualifiers in the field of 29.

More about senior boys at the NS Finals:

* Yreka senior Anthony McFall won the 100m (11.06/-0.6) and placed second in the 200m (23.06/0.0). 

* Weed senior Ryan Mitchell was the only one among the distance events to place top-three in multiple events, placing second in the 1600m (4:32.00) behind champion Renton McGregor, a senior at Pleasant Valley. Mitchell placed third in the 3200m (10:09.26) behind Giannini, and Pleasant Valley senior Tryon Jardin (9:21.20). 

* Chico senior Avery Munson-Clark won the 800m (2:00.56) with Mt. Shasta senior Drew Hering second in 2:01.14.

* West Valley's Moses Bigelow was a narrow winner in the 300m hurdles (41.91) over Enterprise junior Zachary Crane (41.93).

* Patrick Kremer of University Prep was the only long jumper over 21 feet, winning the title with a best of 21-7 (0.8). Noah Thomas of Pleasant Valley was second in both the long jump (20-8.50/-1.2) and triple jump (41-11.50/1.3).

Pleasant Valley won the boys team title by one point over Enterprise. Securing the victory in the 4x400m relay as the team of Evan Enserro, Carson Sharp, Jackson Hein, and Bryson Snelling ran 3:28.94 to beat Enterprise by 1.14 seconds.

Pleasant Valley also picked up points in the sprints as junior Parker Williams placed third in both the 100m (11.30/-0.6) and 200m (23.18/0.0), and Enserro was fourth in the 100, (11.40/-0.6). The 4x100m relay team of Enserro, junior Anthony Seiler, senior Joey Stuart, and Williams ran 43.54 to beat Enterprise by 0.06 seconds.

In the distances, Hein, a freshman, was fourth in the 800m (2:03.24), with senior McGregor fifth (2:04.40), and senior Cristofer Velazquez-Patino eighth (2:08.08). Also in the 3200m, sophomore Cavin Muff was sixth (10:30.27) and junior Mark Velazquez-Patino was seventh (10:33.16). 

Also, Seiler placed fifth in the triple jump (39-2/0.5), senior Conner Warren placed fifth in the high jump (5-8), senior Tristan McPherren was fourth in the discus (116-7), junior Thatcher Damon placed eighth in the shot (40-7.75).

* * *

GIRLS RECAP

The senior-dominant theme did not apply to the girls at the Northern Section Championships, where five underclass girls won eight of the 14 individual events. 

The group was led by Las Plumas sophomore Kylie Atteberry, who won the 100m (12.66/0.4), 200m (26.93/-0.5), and long jump (16-1.25/0.7). 

Atteberry beat Shasta senior Abigail Moore (12.76) in the 100m, Foothill freshman Kyra Jones (26.94) in the 200m, and Foothill sophomore Kasey Williams (16-00.50/0.7) in the long jump. 

Fall River junior Giselle Rodriguez also was a multiple-event winner. She won the 100m hurdles in 17.36 (-1.8), and the 300m hurdles (48.97). She beat seniors Brooklyn Esther of Orland (171) in the 100mH, and Hamilton City's Annie Belter (49.03) in the 300mH. 

Shasta freshman Talyn Hanly won the 400m (1:00.79) over University Prep junior Emma Gaddy (1:01.48). 

Live Oak junior Emma Schulte won the triple jump (33-4/3.8) to beat Wheatland senior Anne Marie Galvan (33-8.50/-1.2). 

Orland junior Angela Schykerynec won the shot put (37-11) and placed second in the discus (107-5). 

Senior event winners were Makenze Knowles (Foothill) in the 800m (2:23.33), Iresh Molina (Chico) in both the 1600m (5:12.54) and 3200m (11:12.69), Haley Willison (Yreka) in the high jump (4-10), SeaAnna Ross (Orland) in the pole vault (9-0), and Kylie Walsh (University Prep) in the discus (111-4). 

A very young Shasta team was a six-point winner over Chico for the girls team title. Aside from Henly's win in the 400m, Shasta got runner-up points from freshman Elizabeth Merrill in both the 800m (2:27.32) and 1600m (5:17.14), and senior Abigail Moore in the 100m (12.76/0.4). 

Three other freshmen put up big points as Jaiden Lynn placed third in the high jump (4-10), Faith Ferguson was fourth in the shot put (31-10) and eighth in the discus (86-9), and Bria Tate was fifth in the 300m hurdles (51.16). 

And Shasta won the 4x1 with seniors Moore and Nyla Schmidt and sophomore Ellie Whitmire and Aria del Rosario-Sabet running 50.72. The 4x4 team of Schmidt, freshman Carlie Kenyon, Hanly, and Merrill went 4:18.13 for fifth in the final event on the track. 

* * *

STATE MEET RECAP

Below is a list of NS Athletes who competed in the State Meet Prelims and recorded a mark. (Athletes who qualified but did not start or did not record a mark are not listed. The NS qualified one athlete and relay team for each event.)

BOYS

100m - Anthony McFall (Yreka, Sr.) 10.97 (2.4) - Section-best time.

200m - Jahari Johnson (Enterprise, Sr.) 22.50 (2.9)

400m - Johnson 50.74

800m - Avery Munson-Clark (Chico, Sr.) 1:57.61

1600m - Renton McGregor (Pleasant Valley, Sr.) 4:20.82

110m hurdles - Caden Rowe (Foothill, Jr.) 16.60 (1.1)

300m hurdles - Moses Bigelow (West Valley, Sr.) 42.11

4x100m relay - Pleasant Valley 43.81

4x400m really -Pleasant Valley 3:31.82

Triple jump - Jacob Wagner (Enterprise, Jr.) 41-1.75 (1.4)

Discus - Simon Dixon (Paradise, Sr.) 148-10

Shot put - Dixon 49-4.50

GIRLS

100m - Kylie Atteberry (Las Plumas, So.) 12.73 (3.8)

400m - Talyn Hanly (Shasta, Fr.) 1:02.81

800m - Mackenzie Knowles (Foothill, Sr.) 2:25.15

1600m - Elizabeth Merrill (Shasta, Fr.) 5:23.54

100m hurdles - Giselle Rodriguez (Fall River, Jr.) 16.76 (0.4), Section-best time

300m hurdles - Rodriguez 49.07

4x100m relay - Shasta 51.32

4x400m relay - Chico 4:13.29, Section-best time

Long jump - Atteberry 15-10.50 (2.1)

Triple jump - Emma Schulte (Live Oak, Jr.) 31-01.75 (1.8)

Shot put - Angela Schykerynec (Orland, Jr.) 34-5.

Anne Marie Galvan - Wheatland, Sr.