Next step for Metro track athletes: state championship meet

No question, this year's San Diego Section track and field championship meet was a showcase for East County and South County athletes and teams.

Steele Canyon High School won the Division I girls team title while Helix Charter captured the Division I boys team championship. South County teams did a mighty job to fill in the gaps.

Metro-Mesa League champion Otay Ranch finished third in the Division I boys team standings while Olympian finished sixth ahead of seventh place Steele Canyon.

Eastlake finished seventh in the Division I girls team standings while Otay Ranch finished eighth overall in the division standings.

Mater Dei Catholic finished sixth in the Division III girls standings.

For reference, Helix finished fifth in the Division I girls standings while Santana was seventh among Division II girls teams. El Capitan was seventh among Division II boys teams while Alpine's Liberty Charter was fifth among Division III boys teams.

Otay Ranch coach Julian Valdez seemed pleased about his team's upper echelon finish. "There's a lot of talent and a lot of talented teams out there," he said.The Mustangs are obviously included in that company.

Race to the finishThe top six place-finishers in each event received medals. South County success was more than evident with 55 medalists, including four gold medals and nine silver medals, between male and female student-athletes in individual and relay events.

Gold medalists included Olympian junior Angel Cordero in the Division I boys 800 (1:53.43), Eastlake freshman Jaelyn Williams in the Division I girls 1600 (4:46.26) and 3200 (10:26.17) and Otay Ranch senior A.J. McIlwain in the boys triple jump (46-4).

Silver medalists included Bonita Vista senior Dante Scott in the Division I boys 100 dash (10.87), Otay Ranch junior Arynn Sanders in the Division I girls 100 dash (12.20), Hilltop senior Malachi McCoy in the Division II boys 400 dash (48.81), Mater Dei Catholic sophomore Matthew Carr in the Division III boys 100 dash (11.04), Otay Ranch senior Jacob Juden in the boys 1600 (4:12.43), Otay Ranch sophomore Zamaria Mack in the girls 100 low hurdles (14.79), Olympian senior Jaden Dorsey in the boys 110 high hurdles (14.71), Mater Dei Catholic junior Zoe Cruz in the Division III girls shot put (32-5) and Otay Ranch senior Kaleb Bowler in the Division I boys discus throw (155-8).

Bronze medalists included Eastlake junior Joseph Solomon in the Division I boys 100 dash (11.00) and 200 dash (22.17), Eastlake senior Amanda Challburg in the Division I girls 3200 (11:11.33), Montgomery sophomore Tiana Gordon in the Division II girls 300 low hurdles (48.11), Hilltop senior Tyeron Washington in the Division II boys shot put (46-1) and Cruz in the Division III girls discus throw (103-4).

Sanders also was fourth in the girls 200 dash (25.34) while Bonita Vista freshman Sofia Nunez was fourth in the 400 dash (58.97).

Other fourth-place medalists included Mater Dei Catholic senior Carlos Aldrete in the Division III boys 800 (2:03.44), Challburg in the Division I girls 1600 (5:03.89), Gordon in the Division II girls 100 low hurdles (16.76), Mack in the Division I girls 300 low hurdles (45.19), Hilltop junior Madison Culuko in the Division II girls discus throw (97-11),McIlwain in the Division I boys high jump (5-11), Sweetwater junior Camila Mendoza in the Division I girls long jump (16-10), Eastlake junior Rae Ball in the Division I girls triple jump (36-0.75) and Mar Vista junior Travon Smith in the Division III boys long jump (20-6).

Fifth-place medalists included Otay Ranch junior Gevonni Richey in the Division I boys 200 dash (22.53), Olympian junior Jaylon Graves in the Division I boys 400 dash (50.80), Southwest junior Divad Diaz in the Division II boys 400 dash (50.87), Juden in the boys 3200 (9:25.80), Otay Ranch senior Christian Ferguson in the Division I boys shot put (49-7), Mater Dei Catholic junior Julie Zamarripa in the Division III girls discus throw (95-9), Mater Dei Catholic junior Nora Hilgeman in the Division III girls long jump (15-5.75), Bonita Vista senior Isaiah Chappell in the Division I boys long jump (21-6.5) and Mater Dei Catholic sophomore Havana Jacobs in the Division III girls triple jump (33-3).

Sixth-place medalists included Eastlake junior Isabella Robinson in the girls 100 low hurdles (15.92), Otay Ranch junior Gabriella Colon Gipson in the Division I girls shot put (36-10), Jacobs in the Division III girls long jump (15-4) and Otay Ranch junior Jaiden Ingram in the Division I boys triple jump (42-3.5).

Olympian finished second in the Division I boys 4×400 relay (3:23.98), fourth in the boys 4×100 relay (42.91), fifth in the boys 4×800 relay (8:16.16) and sixth in the girls 4×400 relay (4:07.19).

Mater Dei Catholic finished second in the Division III boys 4×100 relay (44.04) and fourth in the girls 4×100 relay (51.99).

Otay Ranch finished third in the Division I boys 4×400 relay (3:25.79) and fourth in both the girls 4×100 relay (48.75) and 4×400 relay (4:02.25).

Eastlake finished fifth in the Division I boys 4×400 relay (3:27.95) while Bonita Vista finished fifth in the Division I boys 4×100 relay (42.92). Mar Vista finished sixth in the Division III boys 4×100 relay (44.86).

The top three place-winners in each event, regardless of division, plus those athletes who met a predetermined standard, qualified to compete in this weekend's state championship meet in Clovis. Prelims are Friday, followed by finals on Saturday.

Best of the bestThis year's field was so chock full of talent that, in some cases, several athletes notched qualifying standards beyond the top three automatic state qualifiers.

For instance, six athletes qualified for the state meet in the boys 1600, including Otay Ranch's Juden. All finished under the 4:13.89 tme standard.

"It was a lot of hard work," Juden said. "I can't feel my legs."

Not to be undone, the top five finishers in the girls 1600 dipped under 4:50, including Eastlake's Williams.

The end of the road for Williams’ extraordinary freshman season could conceivbably include a state medal for the Mesa League co-Female Runner of the Year.

While she had to employ a furious finish to grab the Division I gold medal in the 1600, the 3200 was more of a relaxed outing with just her and La Costa Canyon junior Gionna Lopizzo (10:25.83, Division II gold medalist) as the two front-runners.

Williams and Lopizzo were running shoulder to shoulder until Williams lapped a runner to impede her progress.

The Lady Titan's slight build and endurance make her a speed demon in the longer races."I can go longer," she said. "In the mile there are more girls who can run that race but not as many in the 3200.

"My goal in the 1600 was to go a sub-five minutes. The girls were really fast. I didn't want to go out that fast. I really wanted to get third but when I saw the opportunity to go for second, (overall in the section) I did it.

"Going to state is a really cool experience. It's really a great experience since I’m a freshman. "I’m proud of myself to be part of this with all these amazing runners."

Besides Juden and Williams, who will both run the 3200 at state, other local state meet qualifiers include Mack in the girls 100 low hurdles, Ball in the girls triple jump, Cordero in the boys 800, Hilltop's McCoy in the 400 dash and Otay Ranch's McIlwain and Bowler in the boys triple jump and discus throw, respectively.

"It affirms all my hard work I put in," said McIlwain, who was a member of the Mustangs’ CIF runner-up team in basketball during the winter sports season. "It felt good to get that far, but I used the runner-up finish to fuel my track season."

"Going to state is a big opportunity," Mack affirmed. "I wouldn't say it was my best race, because I know I can do better, but I made sure I gave it all I had."

"It was way better than last year," said Cordero, who finished this year's CIF finals with one gold medal, one silver medal and one fifth-place medal. "I got sixth last year (in the 800). That's quite an upgrade. I was thinking of first place. I was trying to push the pace for the final 200 and kick as hard as I could. I got a PR."

Cordero was nipped in the final few steps by Point Loma senior Manuel Correia (1:53.11), who finished 0.32 second in front.

Cordero ran legs on the Eagles’ 4×400 and 4×800 relays. Despite being a debut event at the CIF finals, the 4×800 attracted 21 boys teams and 84 runners that made the track look more like a marathon.

McCoy, a first-time state qualifier, said competing at the CIF finals was "different."

"I think I did pretty good," said McCoy, who won the 200 and 400 dashes at this year's South Bay League finals. "I think I should have pushed more on the last curve."But it was enough to take the next step.

For some athletes, just competing in the CIF finals was a life-changing event."It's really a great experience since I’m a freshman," BV's Nunez said. "I’m proud of myself to be part of this with all these amazing runners."

Eastern exposureSteele Canyon's girls team walked off the field with six gold medals, including three from freshman Ily Barclay, the Grossmont Hills League Female Track Athlete of the Year, while Helix's boys team received three gold medals each from senior standout Adren Parker, the Grossmont Hills League Male Track Athlete of the Year, and junior hurdler Shon Martin, who represented Eastlake at last year's state meet before transferring to the La Mesa school.

Barclay won Division I gold medals in the 4×100 relay (47.58), 100 dash (12.05) and 200 dash (25.06). Parker lowered his existing section record in the boys 400 dash to 46.48 while also timing x in the 4×100 relay (42.04) and 200 dash (21.56).Martin timed 14.64 in the 110 high hurdles and38.64 in the 300 intermediate hurdles while running a leg on the Highlanders’ victorious 4×100 relay.

Liberty Charter senior Micah Sanchez remained king in the distances with Division III gold medals in the boys 1600 run (4:11.64) and 3200 run (9:10.66.

For live results of this weekend's state meet, visit the website at www.cifstate.org.

CIF SOFTBALL:The San Diego Section finals are scheduled at SDSU (Division 1 and Division II) on Friday and at UC San Diego (Open, Division III, Division IV and Division V) on Saturday.

CIF BASEBALL:The San Diego Section finals are scheduled Thursday (Division II) at USD, Friday at SDSU (Open and Division I) and Saturday at UC San Diego (Division III, Division IV and Division V).