STATE MEET PREVIEW What to Watch for in Division IV

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CIF-State Championships

at Woodward Park, Fresno (5,000 meters)
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Important Spectator Information

Tickets are available online only through CIF's ticketing partner, GoFan (gofan.co)

  • Every spectator must have a ticket to enter the park (No charge for children 4 and under)
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RACE SCHEDULEAWARDS SCHEDULE
D-IV Girls8:30 AMD-V Girls10:00 AM
D-V Girls9:00 AMD-IV Boys10:20 AM
D-IV Boys9:30 AMD-V Girls10:40 AM
D-V Boys10:00 AMD-V Boys11:00 AM
D-I Girls10:30 AMD-I Girls11:20 AM
D-II Boys11:00 AMD-II Boys11:45 AM
D-III Girls11:30 AMD-III Girls12:15 PM
D-I Boys12:00 PMD-I Boys12:45 PM
D-II Girls12:30 PMD-II Girls1:15 PM
D-III Boys1:00 PMD-III Boys1:45 PM

DIVISION IV PREVIEW


BOYS

D-IV Meet Records

Team Score - McFarland (CS) 40 (1995 and 2001)

Team Time - Foothill Technology (SS) 79:50 (2016)

Individual - German Fernandez (Riverbank/SJ) 14:24 (2007)

*-Division IV was established in 1990

2021 Champions: Max Sannes (Big Bear/SS) 15:01. Team: Albany (NC) 130


Top Individual Storyline
Can anyone knock off Albany senior Sean Morello, who was third here last year and is the top returner?

Individual Competition
Morello ran the course in 15:10 last November but to answer the question if anyone could beat him, yes. And it already happened when Sonora (SJ) sophomore Broen Holman was 0.30 faster than the Duke-signee at the Oct. 8 Clovis Invitational on the State Meet course. Holman was eighth last year at State, running 15:35 as a freshman.

Other challenges to this pair of expected front-runners could come from the Cathedral (SS) junior duo Emmanuel Perez (10th last year in 15:37) and Emmanuel Hernandez (15:13.70 to win the Varsity Small Schools race at Clovis), Hayden Owen of Southern Section champion St. Francis (15:29.70 in that same Small Schools race at Clovis), and Jacob Moffett of St. Mary's (SJ), who ran 15:31.90 also in the Small Schools race.

More About Sean Morello

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Top Team Storyline
Can Morello lead Albany to a repeat title against a strong Southern Section contingent and Central champion Matilda Torres?

Team Race
Albany is strong up front with Morello and junior Lucas Cohen but the backend may not be able to match what some of the others in this division are bringing. 

St. Francis (SS), led by sub-16 guys Owen and junior Luke Metcalf, gaps at 63.8 with No. 5 sub-16:34. Central Section champion Matilda Torres, led by section winner Benjamin Fernandez, gaps at 65 with No. 5 at 16:49.16. Cathedral had five under 16:58 in that Small Schools race at Clovis. That race, by the way, was won by St. Francis with 86 points. They gapped at 68 seconds. Cathedral, second there with 103 points, gapped at 104. Both teams had an average time of 16:11. 

But far removed from early October, St. Francis put it all together last week in winning the Southern Section title on the Mt. SAC course. Palos Verdes, St. John Bosco, and Foothill Technology all placed ahead of Cathedral, once considered the state's best in this division. That can still happen for the Phantoms, who were fourth here last year behind Albany, Archie Williams (NC) and Scotts Valley (CC). But, like Albany, Cathedral will need its backend teamwork to make the dream work.


GIRLS


D-IV Meet Records

Team Score - Corona del Mar (SS) 42 (1999)

Team Time - Sage Creek (SD) 90:59 (2019)

Individual - Claudia Lane (Malibu/SS) 16:30 (2017)

*-Division IV was established in 1990



2021 Champions 
Individual: Sophia Nordenholz (Albany/NC) 16:46 (No. 3 all-time)
Team: JSerra (SS) 122


Top Individual Storyline
Could this be the race of the day between two-time Southern Section champion Payton Godsey (Oaks Christian) and two-time Central Coast Section champion Ashlyn Boothby (Scotts Valley)?

Individual Competition
While these two juniors appear in a class by themselves, the division is not short on talent. Last year's runner-up, Olivia Williams (Acalanes/NC) decided not to compete this year after running 16:57 (No. 4 all-time in the division), elevating Boothby, third last year, to the crosshairs of top returner. Boothby's time here last year of 17:28 ranks No. 9 all-time in the division. 

Godsey was fifth last year at State (17:36), just ahead of Laguna Hills (SS) sophomore Holly Barker (sixth in 18:13) and Alhambra (NC) junior Renae Searls, who placed eighth (18:20).

The only meeting this season between Boothby and Godsey was at the Oct. 8 Clovis Invitational on the State Meet course at Woodward Park. There, Boothby placed seventh in the Girls Championship race, running 17:44.30, 17.20 seconds slower than her '21 State Meet time. Godsey, in an otherwise exceptional season, had an off meet, running 18:20.50 for 25th place. Throw that one out with the trash.

But others in the division who could push the front if not fight for top-10 podium spots include San Diego Section champion Chiara Dailey, a freshman from La Jolla, her junior teammate Kirra Fisk, and any number of girls from JSerra, the defending team champion and favorite to repeat.


Top Team Storyline
Defending champion JSerra (SS) is among the nation's elite, proven once again by the Lions' top placement in the merge from the Southern Section championships.

Team Race
Coach Chase Frazier's team is deep and interchangeable. Freshman Summer Wilson was fourth in the SS Finals, sophomore Brynn Garcia placed seventh, frosh Kaylah Tasser was 11th, junior Georgia Jeanneret ran No. 4, and senior Anastasia Snodgrass was right behind her as the Lions gapped at 59 seconds, scored 56 points and beat Godsey's Oaks Christian team by 45 points in the deeply competitive division.

Garcia ran No. 1 for JSerra at both Woodbridge and Clovis, and seniors Brooke O'Brien and Ellie Johnson have also figured in the scoring along the way.

Results of the Southern Section race very well may translate here, with Oaks Christian, La Canada, Palos Verdes, South Pasadena, Bishop Amat and Harvard Westlake all looking for podium spots against the likes of La Jolla (SD), Scotts Valley (CC), and St. Mary's College (NC). 



Jeffrey Parenti is the California State Editor for MileSplit

Photos by DeAnna Turner and Daniel Hernandez