RECAP CA Stars Shine at West Coast Relays

CLOVIS -- On what was a rare pleasant weekend in the Central Valley with none of what has been the norm this winter/spring of torrential rain, blistering wind, and unseasonable cold, Veterans Memorial Stadium was a picture of track and field perfection on Saturday under blue skies and a comforting sun. 

The 95th running of the West Coast Relays at the CIF-State Meet stadium on the campus of Buchanan High, was a showcase for elite high school athletes from across the California with top marks and state-leading performances scattered among what was just about as efficient a full track and field meet as is possible.

The six-hour, 15-minute showcase featured two national-leading marks leading a handful of state-leading performances, as well as more than a dozen CA top-10 ranked marks as athletes from outside the region got a taste of the State Meet facility while warming up for the mid-season Super Bowl that is this weekend's Arcadia Invitational.

Returning 2022 State Meet champions Sadie Engelhardt and Sydnie Vanek were at their best with top U.S. marks in the 800-meter run and long jump, respectively, while other returning stars from late last May like Nickolas Miller, Kai Deines, Nailea Fields, Jordan Leveque, Hilton Green, Grace Hutchison, Mari Testa, and Noah Ray were equally impressive.

Engelhardt, a sophomore from Ventura (SS) won the 1600m and placed second in the 800m at last May's State Meet. Saturday, her 800m result did not quite match that CA Top-10 all-time clocking, but her 2:06.71 was still special enough to add her name atop the current U.S. rankings list that also includes season-best times in the 1600m, mile, and 3200 meters. 

Engelhardt, who ran that historic 2:05.66 here a year ago, was coming off an equally impressive four-lap 4:41.06 mile (4:39.11 1600m split) at the APU Distance Meet of Champions. 

BYU-bound Buchanan senior Grace Hutchison, coming off a 4:49.49 performance to lead nine other sub-5s in the 1600m, gave chase in the two-lap race as the only other athlete in the picture of Engelhardt's solo tour. 

Hutchison would come back once more to team up with senior Caroline Mendyk, sophomore Elliana Lomeli, and her sophomore sister Avery Hutchison on anchor in a state-leading 9:27.28 execution in the 4x800-meter relay. Buchanan's B team was a tight runner-up highlighted by an announced 2:15 anchor leg by sophomore Sierra Cornett.

Vanek, the returning State Meet long jump champion and a stellar volleyball player headed to the University of Arizona, said she has been working on her speed, and it showed. Her long jump best into a perfectly manicured pit of 20 feet, 2 inches (-0.7) is her first over 20 feet in five meets this season and her first since her windy 20-8 last May won her a State Meet gold. Her sprint times of 12.18 (1.8) and 25.10 (1.1) competing in the elite Gold Division field, are her fastest since her sophomore season. 

Miller, a senior at Clovis North (CS) lit up the crowd with with a blazing 100-meter time of 10.38 (2.4) to edge Buchanan senior Augustus Remlinger (10.49), and Mater Dei (SS) junior Nate Frazier (10.58). Miller's time is an all-conditions CA leader and the other two are top-12. Central (CS) senior Imari Conley's 10.61 is a top-15 time but not his season best.

Miller came back in a super-fast wind-legal 200m won the Pittsburg (NC) senior Keynan Higgins in a CA No. 2 time of 21.08 (1.2). Miller stopped the clock at 21.14 (CA No. 3), Conley (21.51), and Moreau Catholic (NC) senior Bryce Thomas (21.57).

Other boys track stadouts included Clovis East (CS) junior Carter Spradling, coming of a state-best 3200m at APU, roared down the homestretch in the 1600m with an announced 59.2 final lap to win in 4:12.68, a CA No. 7 clocking. Templeton (CS) junior Joshua Bell was second in 4:13.22 (CA No. 9). 

Bullard (CS) senior Kyle Hughes was a double winner, taking the 110m hurdles in 14.72 (-1.9), and the long jump with a best of 23-5 (2.4) that is a CA all-conditions No. 2 mark. 

Buchanan senior pole vaulter Hilton Green, a University of Oklahoma recruit who placed second at the State Meet as a junior, cleared a CA-leading 16-6 and took three attempts at 17 feet.

De La Salle (NC) senior Chukwunonso Udeh took over the state lead in the high jump with a 6-7 clearance, and senior Shane Carr of South Bakersfield (CS) served notice in the triple jump with a windy 46-9 (3.2) best that ranks CA No. 3 for all conditions. 

The 800-mter race came down to Buchanan senior Noah Ray and Ventura (SS) junior Anthony Fast Horse hitting the line at the same time. Ray was the photo-finish winner at 1:55.77 with Fast Horse officially at 1:55.78. Fast Horse returned later to anchor Ventura's 4x800 relay team to a 7:58.66 time (CA No. 5).

Among additional stadout performances in girls compeition, Nailea Fields, a University of Oklahoma recruit from Caruthers (CS) who won the State discus throw title last year, won that event again at the Buchanan facility with a modest best of 143-10. She placed second in the shot put at 38-3.50 behind Paso Robles (CS) junior Nevaeh Dyer's PR of 38-7.

Campolindo (NC) senior Mari Testa was a double winner, running an 11.99 (1.8) PR in the 100-meter dash and 14.65 in the 100m hurdles, an event where she placed eighth in the State Final as a junior.

Archbishop Mitty (CC) sophomore Evie Marheineke was unchallenged in a solo tour to victory in the 3200, cruising in at 11:02.95, following a 4:56.10 PR for 1600m earlier in the day. 

Clovis East (CS) sophomore Haley Duvall won the 200 in 24.50 (1.1), which ranks CA No. 2 among wind-legal marks, and she placed second in the 100m (12.01/1.8). Both times are PRs.

Liberty (CS) junior Bella Turner won the 300m hurdles in a 44.47 PR to beat Turlock (SJ) senior Ella Spaulding (44.72), and she placed second to Tesa in the 100m hurdles in 15.07.

Buchanan senior Jordan Leveque, a State Meet pole vault finalist last May, won that event at 13-0, her second meet over 13 feet this season. She also ran PRs in the 100m (12.08) and 200m (25.00).