Duke-bound Lauren Soobrian of Los Altos (left) and Harvard-bound Kaiya Brooks of Crystal Springs Uplands are two of the top distance runners in the senior class in the state.
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Two years ago in a COVID-delayed track and field season, the Central Coast Section held their championship meet in late June to give many athletes the experience of a section final. Fast forward two years later and many of those young athletes are now juniors and seniors which will have a huge impact on this year's section final and potentially at the state level.
Here's a look at some of the top returning girls in the CCS for 2023.
(In alphabetical order)
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Hollister (formerly San Benito), Sr.
Shot Put/Discus
Jocelyn Alexander is the top combo thrower returning this season. She had a best of 39-0 in the shot put and 122-0 in the discus. She was the CCS champion in the shot put as she set her personal best. In the discus, Alexander finished in second place as she got State Meet experience in both events.
Scotts Valley, Jr.
1600
The Central Coast Section had a very talented group of female runners with many of them returning this year. We will start out with Scott Valley's Ashlyn Boothby, who, as a sophomore, won the 1600 at the CCS Finals with a personal best of 4:51.10. She advanced to the State Meet Finals and placed 11th. This past fall, Boothby won her cross country league championship, was the Division 4 CCS champion and placed eighth at the CIF-State Meet.
Crystal Springs Uplands School, Sr.
1600/3200
Last spring, Kaiya Brooks was among the state's fastest girls in the 1600 and 3200. She recorded her best time in the 1600 at the CCS Top 8 meet as she clocked 4:53.10. Her best time in the 3200 came at the CCS Finals as she chased Los Altos junior Lauren Soobrian to a second place finish with a time of 10:23.66. That time is the eighth fastest time in CCS all-time. This past fall, Brooks won the individual titles at the WBAL, CCS, and State and led the Gryphons to their first State Meet team title.
Notre Dame Belmont, Sr.
High Jump
The West Bay Athletic League (WBAL) had quite a group of girls last year with many of them returning this year. In the field events, Melanie Castelli was a standout in her specialty, the high jump. Her worst finish all year was a 4th place finish at the Arcadia Invitational where she jumped 5-5. She recorded her best jump of 5-7 at the CCS Finals for second place. At the State Meet, Castelli battled her way to the finals and finished tied for fourth, making the podium as a top-six finisher.
St. Francis, Jr.
800
One of the strongest events for the section last year was the girls 800. Of the 12 competitors that qualified for the CCS Final, 11 of them were underclassmen. The winner was St. Francis sophomore Lillian Kaelber who finished ahead of the strong field with a winning time of 2:11.48. At the State Meet prelims, Kaelber was DQed which prevented her from qualifying to the final. Along with her strong performances in the 800, Kaelber also was the WCAL champion in the 400, running a lifetime best time of 57.97. She was also a strong relay runner as she helped St. Francis win the 1600 relay at CCS with a best of 3:59.19. Additionally, she ran legs on the 4x800 and DMR where St. Francis placed third in both events at the Arcadia Invitational.
Castilleja, Sr.
800/1600
Castilleja's Samira Kennedy had a very impressive junior season. She finished with the second fastest time in the 800 at 2:10.72, which she recorded at the Arcadia Invitational. At the CCS Top 8 meet, Kennedy posted the fastest time in CCS in the 1600 as she won a hotly contested race with a time of 4:49.37. She placed second at the CCS meet in the 1600 and just missed qualifying for the State Meet in the 800 as she finished in sixth place. A week ago at the California Winter Championships, Kennedy won the 600 with a best of 1:33.42.
Santa Catalina, Sr.
Sprints
The best combo sprinter returning to the section is Santa Catalina senior, Juliette Kosmont (at left in photo). She was the only sprinter in CCS to dip under the 12-second mark in the 100 meters as she recorded a lifetime best time of 11.91 at the CCS Semis. She won the section final in a time of 12.16 and qualified to the State Finals where she placed eighth. In the 200, Kosmont had a best of 25.07 as she finished in second place at the CCS Finals. She had two wind-aided marks under 25 seconds with one of them being a 24.67 time at the State Prelims on Friday.
Homestead, Sr.
Shot Put/Discus
Homestead's Ningning O'Briend placed fifth in the shot put at the CCS Finals recording a best of 36-0.5. But it was in her specialty, the discus, where O'Brien really shined. In 2021, O'Brien finished in second place at the CCS Finals and in 2022, she improved by one place to win the section title in the event. She also recorded the best mark in the section at 136-10 which she set at the SCVAL Qualifier meet.
Menlo Atherton, Jr.
800/1600
This past fall, Menlo Atherton junior Tatum Oleson recorded her best cross country season to date. Along with several victories at Invitationals, Oleson was the PAL and CCS Division I champion and finished in seventh place at the California State Meet with a time of 17:45.9. Last spring, Oleson placed third at the CCS Finals with a then personal record of 2:12.90. At the State Meet, she was the only section runner to qualify for the finals as she ran 2:12.05 in the prelims. She finished in seventh place in the finals.
Mountain View, So.
400
It's not unusual for a girl to be competitive in track and field as a freshman but it's definitely not easy. Mountain View sophomore Hannah Rutherford had quite the debut season last year as a 9th grader. She recorded bests of 12.24 and 25.02 in the 100 and 200 respectively. Her main event was the 400 as she recorded a near perfect season. Rutherford finished in 1st place at every meet including winning a CCS championship with a time of 55.88 which tied her lifetime best time. At the State Meet, Rutherford placed third in her heat and missed the Final. Regardless, that experience will bode well for her this year as she returns to attempt to repeat as the section champion in the 400.
Los Gatos, Sr.
High Jump
Hannah Slover comes from a track and field family. Her grandfather and coach Bob Slover was a competitor at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics in the pole vault. Her dad Scott was a two-time PAC 10 champion in the pole vault at UCLA. Her mom was a hurdler at Cal Poly. Along with being a standout volleyball player, Hannah had an exceptional junior season in the high jump. She recorded her best mark of 5-8 at the Arcadia Invitational and finished in third place at the CCS Finals jumping 5-7. But it was at the State Meet where Slover had her most satisfying result. In less-than-ideal conditions, Slover outlasted the field to win the CIF-State championship which was the sixth title won by a Los Gatos HS athlete in history.
Los Altos, Sr.
1600/3200
This past fall, the Los Altos cross country had quite a season winning the SCVAL, CCS and CIF-State crowns. Along with those titles, the Eagles also qualified for the Team Nationals meet in Portland. Leading that talented group was senior Lauren Soobrian. Last spring, Soobrian ran one of the fastest 1600 times in the state with a time of 4:51.13. She was even more impressive in her specialty the 3200 as she won the CCS title with a time of 10:17.17. That time was the sixth fastest all-time for a CCS athlete. At the State Meet, Soobrian placed fourth to land on the podium.
Palo Alto, Sr.
800
As mentioned above, the most competitive event for girls in CCS last year was the 800. Along with the already mentioned runners, Palo Alto's Hillary Studdert also qualified for the State Meet with a runner-up finish (although she did not participate at State). She also had the fastest time in the section in the 800 with a time of 2:10.41. That time was set with a second place finish at the Stanford Invitational which will also be her home track next fall as a collegiate runner. This past fall in cross country, Studdert had her best cross country season to date which culminated at the California State Meet with a seventh place individual finish and 17:56.9 time on the Woodward Park course.
Harker, Jr.
Sprints
One of the most versatile track and field athletes in the section was Harker's Anjali Yella. She qualified to CCS in four individual events as she won the 100, 200, 400, and long jump at the WBAL finals. At CCS, Yella scored her best finish in the 400, placing second. At the State Prelims, Yelli placed second in her heat with a lifetime best time of 56.31 to qualify for the Finals where she placed ninth.
Albert Caruana is the head TF/XC coach at Crystal Springs Uplands School and an associate editor for MileSplitCA
Photos by DeAnna Turner, Raul Ebio, Jeffrey Parenti, and Dan Tyree