Duke-bound senior Sean Morello of Albany is one of the top returning distance runners in the state. He leads returning boys track and field athletes in the North Coast Section.
Two standouts from '22 who are not back, or who are not expected to compete during the high school season, are Pittsburg sprinter Zach Card, and Dublin pole vaulter Khaliq Muhammad.
Card was the highest placing NCS sprinter last year at State, running a PR of 10.47 in the prelims before placing sixth in the final to medal. Card was also a critical piece of Pittsburg's equally successful 4x100m relay team that was the runner-up at NCS MOC and placed fifth at the State Championships. Card, a football player, graduated early and is already on campus at Oregon State University.
Muhammad, a sophomore, is the national class leader in the pole vault and ranks CA No. 11 based on his 15-7 clearance last spring to win the NCS Meet of Champions title. He is expected to compete for the San Jose Track Club this spring.
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Below are bios spotlighting some of the top returning girls in the NCS, listed by position groups.
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DISTANCE
College Park, Sr.
Events: 1600m, 3200m
Lamoureux won his league championship, the NCS Tri-Valley Championship and the NCS MOC 1600m title last year on his way to State. At State, he won his preliminary heat in a blistering personal record of 4:11.62 to qualify for the final. While he didn't match that time in the final - it would have earned him a podium spot if he had, leaving him undoubtedly hungry to reclaim that opportunity in May. A Chico State commit, Lamoureux comes off of a cross-country season that saw him returning to the State Championships as an individual after qualifying his junior season with his team.
Albany, Sr.
Events: 1600m, 3200m
Morello (pictured at the top) nearly broke the 9-minute barrier in the 3200m at Arcadia Invitational last year, hitting 9:00.27 which remained his personal record for the 2022 season. He picked up his league championship, the NCS Bayshore Area and the NCS MOC 3200m titles on his way to Clovis, and finished 13th at State in a time of 9:07.38. The Duke University commit comes off an excellent cross country season where he was the state runner-up in Division IV, as well as the NCS D-4 champion.
Dougherty Valley, Sr.
Events: 800m
Badcock delivered a lifetime best performance in his State Championships prelims performance last May, knocking nearly three seconds off of his time to run a 1:54.91. Prior to that he won his league championship and the NCS Tri-Valley Championship, before finishing third in the NCS MOC 800m final to advance. Badcock won the NCS Division I title in XC this fall and earned All-State D-I honors at State, finishing eighth. Badcock will continue his running career at UC San Diego.
Others to watch: Dheeraj Gurusamy (Granada), Andrew Richards (Dougherty Valley), Daegan Cutter (Redwood), Jude DeVries (Montgomery), Jacob Hupke (Moreau Catholic), Mateo Malko-Allen (St. Mary's).
SPRINTS/HURDLES
Moreau Catholic, 12
Events: 200m, 400m
The long sprint specialist Thomas (pictured at left) won both the 200m and 400m titles in Dublin last year, capping a triple win streak between league championships and NCS championships to qualify for State in both of his events. He landed personal records in both his events in the prelims at State, running a 21.60 in the 200m and a 48.23 to snag a spot in the 400m final where he finished 9th. He won the 400m title in four major invitationals last season, including Stanford. Post-Clovis, he won the USATF Pacific Association Junior Olympic 400m title and advanced to the USATF Junior Olympics where he finished 20th. He's already run a 48.80 during the club indoor season, and looks to move up to the podium in the State 400m final and likely will qualify for the 200m final as well if he sticks with both events.
Acalenes, Sr.
Events: 100m, 200m
Kuhner edged out Card for the NCS Tri-Valley championship 100m title on his way to Dublin, and achieved his personal record of 10.56 to snag the final qualifying spot to make it to State. He did not advance out of the prelims at State, but looks to make the final this year at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
El Cerrito, 12
Events: 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay
Stitts was the runner-up NCS MOC champion in the 200m last year, as well as at the NCS Bayshore Area Championships. He also was a part of El Cerrito's winning NCS MOC 4x100m relay team who advanced to State. While Stitts did not advance out of the 200m or 4x100m relay prelims, keep an eye on this athlete to make strong improvements this year.
De La Salle, Sr.
Events: 100m, 110H, 200m, 300H, 4x1 relay
Udeh defines the term mulit-disciplinary athlete, depending on the timing of the meet you can see him jumping, hurdling or sprinting. While we've classified him here under jumps for his strongest effort in high jump, it should be noted Udeh made both the 100m, 110m hurdle and the 4x100m final at Dublin last year. While he finished 3rd at NCS MOC to grab the last State qualifying spot in high jump, he was the runner-up State Champion at Clovis with a personal record of 6-5 to clinch his podium spot. Look for Udeh to make some noise in any of his events at Dublin this spring, it's more of a question of where rather than when. It's hard not to wonder if the decathlon is in his collegiate future.
Others to watch: Alexander Franco (Dublin), Jordan Maldonado (Heritage Brentwood), Zion Shelton (El Cerrito).
JUMPS
Tamalpais, Sr.
Events: High Jump, Pole Vault
The NCS king of the high jump is bouncing back from a disappointing no height at the State Championships last year, but his marks prior to State left no doubt about his jumping abilities.
Miller started off his season as the runner-up champion at Stanford and followed that with a season personal record of 6-6 to win the Viking Track Classic in April. He matched that performance to win the NCS MOC title, following his league championships and NCS Redwood Area Championship wins. He also just missed qualifying for state in the pole vault with a personal record height of 13-11, and with the returning MOC pole vault champion out for the season should easily qualify in that event as well. Another multi-disciplinary athlete, he also finds time to throw shot and run the hurdles. His personal record of 6-6 would have made him 2nd at State last year, and he'll come in hungry to deliver on the State stage.
Tennyson, Sr.
Events: Long Jump, Triple Jump, 100m, 200m
Lyons hit his personal record early in the season, winning the Stanford Invitational in a jump of 22-11.25. He was the runner-up NCS Bayshore Area and NCS MOC champion, finishing his season in the prelims at State. Lyons was also the NCS Bayshore runner-up champ in the triple jump. Lyons has signed with the University of Washington to play football in the fall.
Acalanes, Jr.
Events: Long Jump, High Jump
Rogers won the Diablo Athletic League Championship and was the runner-up NCS Tri-Valley Champion on his way to State, picking up the last spot to Clovis. He also qualified for NCS MOC in the high jump, but no heighted. Rogers' personal record for the season was behind Lyons at the Stanford Invitational in a jump of 22-09.25. He also ran on his team's 4x100m relay team, who won the Stanford Invitational.
Others to watch: Nathan Fifer (Montgomery), Asher Cleary (Justin-Siena), Dave Baraka (Piner), Dwayne Noel (Livermore). Derek Lo (San Rafael Valley), Griffn Mahe (San Ramon Valley), John Quilon (American Canyon).
THROWS
Eureka, Sr.
The senior from Eureka has the top returning shot put mark from last year's NCS MOC, where he finished fifth to medal in a personal record of 50-5.75. Prior to that, Gilbert finished third in the NCS Redwood Empire Area Championship qualifier. For a relatively green track & field athlete who had a trajectory change of over 13 feet in his shot throwing distance from the start to finish of his season, expect Gilbert to be picking up a berth to State.
McKinleyville, Sr.
Ray finished sixth behind Gilbert in his own personal record of 49-10, and was another athlete who showed dramatic improvement in his results over the course of the 2022 season.
Cardinal Newman, Jr.
The junior from Cardinal Newman put up some strong marks last year and is the top returning mark from NCS MOC. His personal record of 138-01 was good enough for 7th place at MOC, and with the top six from 2022 graduated, he looks to have a clear shot toward a podium spot and a State berth.
Heritage (Brentwood), Jr.
The NCS Tri-Valley discus champion threw a tremendous personal record of 141-01 to win the title on his way to NCS MOC last year. While Zimmerman was unable to match that mark at MOC and finished 10th, he looks to be eyeing his own spot on the podium come May.
Others to watch: Joseph Gonzales (Eureka), Ian Gammal (James Logan), David Farrell (Piner)
Melody Karpinski is the head TF/XC coach at Montgomery HS and a regular contributor to MileSplit
Photos by Jennifer Koziel, DeAnna Turner, and Dan Tyree