Up to a dozen boys are eyeing the State Meet at-large standard in an extremely deep North Coach Section Meet of Champions 1600-meter run.
North Coast Section Meet of Champions
at Dublin HS
Friday - Field at 2 p.m., track at 4:30 p.m. | Saturday - Field at 1 p.m., track at 5 p.m.
Advancement to the CIF-State Finals May 26-27 at Buchanan HS: Top three (3) placers in each final qualify (top 2 in the 4x800m relay). Individuals and relay teams not among the auto qualifiers may also advance by hitting or bettering the State Meet at-large standards.
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DUBLIN -- Stacked.
That's the only word to describe the intensity of what the CIF-North Coast Section boys Meet of Champions 1600m final is shaping up to be.
Four of those ranked are already below the CIF auto-qualifying standard of 4:13.89, and at least eight other boys are within reach of attaining that standard (all with PRs between 4:14-4:16) on Saturday leading to what could be one of the deepest 1600m finals in NCS history.
The fastest seed entered is Albany's Lucas Cohen, who broke 4:10 at Sacramento Meet of Champions last month to win that invitational in a 4:09.97. Returning 2022 NCS MOC 1600m Champion Alex Lamoureux (College Park) ran a 4:10.25 at his league championships to make him the second fastest seed. Not to be outdone, Mateo Malko-Allen (St. Mary's) ran a 4:10.65 to take the NCS Bayshore Championship last weekend. Jacob Hupke (Moreau Catholic) was runner-up to Malko-Allen with a 4:12.03.
The NCS Tri-Valley Area Championships 1600m final produced 16 boys who qualified on time to NCS MOC, making up half of the field for Friday's preliminary round. Only two of those boys scratched for other events. The top NCS Redwood Area Championship 1600m seed is Jude DeVries (Montgomery), who ran a personal best of 4:15.69 at the meet to be the runner-up champion and the top NCS Class A seed is Malcolm Oakes (Convent & Stuart Hall), who has a recent personal best of 4:18.87.
Notable NCS 1600m runners who dropped to focus on the 3200m included NCS Redwood Area 1600m champion Daegan Cutter (Redwood), Ethan Miller (Monte Vista) and Roland Ruckmann-Barnes (Granada). Shane Badcock (Dougherty Valley) also dropped to focus on the 800m, his signature event.
In the 3200m final, five of the boys ranked are already below the CIF 3200m standard of 9:05.52 and at least three others are in range of hitting it within the final. The 3200m top seed is Cutter, who ran an 8:54.85 at Arcadia in April. He's closely followed by Miller who ran an 8:56.86 in the same Arcadia heat. Rounding out the top three seeds is Albany's Sean Morello, who ran an 8:59.12 in -you guessed it- the same heat. All three runners will need to repeat their early April speed to fend off a hot charge from the incredibly strong chase pack full of six sub-9:10ers.
In the 800m boys, the top seeds are NCS Bayshore runner-up champ Parker Long (Piedmont), NCS Class A champ Joaquin Foster (San Domenico), NCS Tri-Valley champ Aleksander Schade (Granada) and Badcock. On the girls side, mid-distance specialist and NCS Tri-Valley 400m/800m double champion Cate Peters (Monte Vista) returns from a disappointing injury-related end to her track season last year with serious marks making up for lost time. 2022 NCS MOC 800m champ Adeline Johnson (Branson) dropped the 800m this year to try her hand in the 1600m/3200m double, but NCS distance star and defending NCS MOC/CIF State 3200m champ Hanne Thomsen (Montgomery) will undoubtedly continue her reign of these events on her way to her debut Clovis double. Thomsen will also anchor Montgomery's 4x800m team who won the NCS Redwood Area title last week. Other NCS distance standouts Ellie Buckley and Shea Volkmer (both of Campolindo) will also double to attempt to snag a spot to Clovis, as well as Renae Searls (Alhambra) in the 3200m.
Sprints
Bryce Thomas (Moreau Catholic) looks to reclaim his double NCS MOC Championship titles from 2022 as he will return as the NCS Bayshore champ and top seed in the 400m (47.93) and the second fastest seed in the 200m (21.35). Looking to challenge Thomas' reign, will be El Cerrito's Robert Stitts who snuck by Thomas in the 200m final to be a double Bayshore champ in the 100m/200m.
Other NCS sprinters to watch include NCS Redwood Area 200m/400m double champion Joseph Bowser (Montgomery), NCS Tri-Valley 100m champion Garret Nelson (Campolindo), NCS 200m Tri-Valley Champion Paul Kuhner (Acalanes), NCS Tri-Valley 400m champion Alexander Franco (Dublin), and runner-up NCS Bayshore 400m champion Sebastian Potts (John F. Kennedy).
On the girls side, Mari Testa (Campolindo) dipped below the CIF auto-qualifier to win the NCS Tri-Valley 100m title with a sizzling time of 11.87. Testa will perform a tough triple at NCS MOC, but nothing she didn't handle last weekend as a triple Tri-Valley champion in the 100H, 100m and 200m (24.62). NCS Class-A champ Sophie Spokes (Lick Wilmerding) will be Testa's closest challenger in the 100m, and 100m/200m NCS Tri-Valley runner up champ Leila Champion (Dublin).
Jumps/Hurdles
Tamalpais' Drake Miller showed up in tremendous form at the NCS Redwood Area meet, winning the high jump in a personal best of 6-8, the pole vault and the 110H in another personal record of 14.97. De La Salle's Chukwunonso Udeh continues his domination of the Tri-Valley area and like Miller comes into Dublin as a triple champion - in the 110H, high Jump and the long jump.
NCS Bayshore long jump champion Jeremy Craft (James Logan) is the top seed ahead of Udeh with a jump of 23-2.25. The Bayshore Area also brings the top seed in the triple jump with Bishop O'Dowd jumper Brandon Rush coming in with a 45-2.5 and will also compete as one of the top seeds in the long jump. NCS Tri-Valley Champion Derek Lo looks to return to his 15-0 form from last season, coming in as the top seed with a vault of 14-6.
Other notable hurdlers include NCS Bayshore 300mH and runner up 110H champion Zion Shelton (El Cerrito), NCS Tri-Valley 300mH champ La'Rico Tezeno (Pittsburg), and NCS Redwood Area 300H Champion Owen Foley (Analy). On the jumps side, Nathan Fifer (Montgomery) closely follows Miller and Udeh as a 6-6 high jumper and runner-up NCS Redwood Area champ. Griffith Ballard (Terra Linda) was the NCS Redwood Area runner up champ to Miller with a personal record vault of 13-8. NCS Class A long jump champion Ohene Dah (San Francisco University) had a nearly two-foot personal record of 22-2 to win last weekend and comes in as the third seed in that event.
On the girls side, NCS Tri-Valley champ Testa comes in with the strongest 100H time of 14.2, followed closely by NCS Bayshore champ Alessandra Ionescu-Zanetti (Berkeley) with a 15.24. NCS Redwood Area champ Ariana Rogina (Montgomery), NCS Class A champ Charlotte Lyon (Convent & Stuart Hall) and runner up champ Laila Florvilus (St. Bernard Catholic) will all be in the mix. The top seed in 300H is Amirat (Temi) Aganju (Pittsburg) with a personal record of 45.29, followed by both Ionescu-Zanetti and Lyon who will double.
In jumps and vaults, Maria Carillo brings in the top seeds from NCS Redwood Area with high jump champ Alexis Hunt (5-7) and pole vault champ Lily Mulligan (season best of 12-6, lifetime best of 13-2.5) already meeting CIF auto-qualifying standards to dominate the field. NCS Tri-Valley high jump champ Dulcinea Vail (Acalanes) and pole vault champ Elise Doyle (San Ramon Valley) and runner up pole vault champ Victoria Bradley (Dublin) will all be in the mix. Defending NCS MOC and CIF State pole vault champion Jathiyah Muhammad is competing only at the club level this year.
Relays
In the 4x100m, Acalanes (41.28) and De La Salle (41.47) come in as the top performing NCS boys seeds, already hitting the CIF state standard when they went 1-2 in the NCS Tri-Valley Area meet. NCS Tri-Valley champs Pittsburg (47.10) also hit the standard, and NCS Redwood Area champs Maria Carillo come in as the next fastest team (48.65).
Top seeds in the girls 4x400m include NCS Tri-Valley 4x400m girls champ Monte Vista (3:52.73) hitting the CIF standard, followed by runner-up champ Pittsburg (3:54.40). On the boys side, Dublin (3:22.28) and Clayton Valley (3:24.49) went 1-2 at NCS Tri-Valley to become the teams to beat in this event.
The newest addition to the relays line-up is the 4x800m relay and despite a spluttery start to its inception into NCS competitions, the top teams looking to punch tickets for the (2) spots to Clovis look to be NCS Tri-Valley champs Clayton Valley on the boys and girls side. Additional potential challengers include Foothill-Pleasanton and Campolindo in the boys and Monte Vista and Granada in the girls, making Tri-Valley the area to beat in this event.
Throws
The top seed in discus is Eureka's Jamin Gilbert who comes in with a whopping 174-7 personal record from his league championships. Following him is NCS Redwood Area champion Santiago Adan (Cardinal Newman), who threw a personal record of 161-7 at the meet. NCS Tri-Valley champ Jakob Zimmerman (Heritage-Brentwood) and NCS Bayshore champ Ian Gammal (James Logan) - who also will throw shot - are some of the other top seeds in this event.
Aside from Gammal whose personal record is a 53-10.5, NCS Redwood Area champ Derek Ray (McKinleyville) continued his strong season to enter MOC with a 57-3 as the top seed in shot. Emmanuel Hermosillo (Pinole Valley) and Joseph Gonzalez (Eureka) come into the meet with tied personal records of 52-6. NCS Class A champion Thomas Woeber (San Francisco University) rounds out the top five seeds with a 52-5.5 from his league championships earlier this month.
On the girls side, NCS Tri-Valley shot put champ Ash Rosati of Monte Vista will be a top contender in both throwing events - coming in with 39-11.5 in shot and a 117-5 in discus. NCS Tri-Valley discus champion Lauren Lemire (Pittsburg) has the strongest throw with a 136-7.
NCS Tri-Valley runner up champs in shot Erin Brown (Amador Valley) and in discus Uchechukwu Moghalu (Freedom), NCS Redwood Area discus champ Sofia Henderson (Santa Rosa), Kimora McLemore (Heritage-Brentwood) and Pinkie Schnayer (Campolindo) will look to challenge.