California State Track & Field Champs – Live Blog

So, let’s try this again

  • 9:36: With a solid effort, Arcadia is 5th with 3:48.89, and they earn the SGV’s seventh and final medal of the night.
  • 9:16: Girls 4×400 up next.  Arcadia is seeded sixth, and they’ll need their best to snag a medal.  None of their girls are doubling back, so they should be ready!
  • 8:46: Zach is now 9th All-Time SGV and Daniel is #25=
  • 8:40: Shinnick 2nd behind a meet record in 21.10!  Stokes 4th in 21.52, wind is +0.7.  Fast and well executed races by both, earning the SGV it’s 5th & 6th medals.
  • 8:32: 400 medalist Shinnick and 200 medalist Stokes are in lanes 7 & 8 of the final.  This can be a really special race as the 100 & 400 champs are also doubling back.
  • 8:29: Richardson is DNS here too.
  • 8:25: 200’s coming up.  We’ll see if Richardson will contest this event, and we have medalists Shinnick and Stokes doubling back.
  • 7:50: SGV athletes will be on a bit of a break through the 800’s and 300 Hurdles
  • 7:43: Stokes runs a really well executed race and finishes 5th in a PR 10.69 (+1.8), the SGV’s 4th medal.  He is now #30= All-Time SGV
  • 7:35: Next up is Daniel Stokes (Jr, Diamond Ranch).  His wind legal best is 10.76, he’ll need that or better to medal.
  • 7:33: Richardson did not start the 100.  Injured?
  • 7:27: Girls 100 next with Kayla Richardson (Jr, Walnut).  She is the 4th seed, and btw, is the Philippine National Junior Record holder at 11.65.
  • 7:23: Zach runs 47.19 for third, behind a National Record 45.19 from Michael Norman!  Zach now ranks #9 All-Time SGV.  That’s the third SGV medal.
  • 7:11: Next up will be the boys 400 with Zach Shinnick(Damien).  Zach looked sharp in the relay, but so did national leader Michael Norman.  The field is essentially running for second, but second is realistic for Zach!
  • 7:02: Perhaps distracted by the runner in the next lane falling, Foster runs 14.50 for 8th.
  • 6:58: Jasher Foster (St. Francis) now up in the 110 Hurdles.  Like Sydney, he’s in lane 3.  He also PR’d in the prelims, let’s see if he can better her finish.
  • 6:53: Sydney is 5th/15:70 (+1.4)  A new PR, she remains 3rd All-Time SGV!  The second SGV medal.  Sydney PR’d in both the prelims and finals – can’t asked for much more than that.
  • 6:52: Weiss is out, he finishes third at 15-09.  He equals his previous best from Masters that ranked him #7 All-Time SGV.
  • 6:44: All three boys have missed their first attempt at 16-03 in the vault.
  • 6:42: Next up Monrovia senior Sydney Mosley in the 100 Hurdles.  A good effort will earn a medal.
  • 6:40: Weiss clears 15-09 on his third attempt!  He is one of three on to 16-03, and has missed his first attempt. We have our first medalist!
  • 6:38: The field turned up the volume at 1000m and Dillon was unable to respond, and finishes 12th/4:22.93.
  • 6:34: Beckum leads at 800 with 2:08.xx
  • 6:31: Next up is Bonita soph Dillon Beckumin the 1600.  His best of 4:09.21 ranks 5th in the field.
  • 6:29: Weiss with a second miss.  Two more out, so a make at 15-09 will earn a medal.
  • 6:24: Weiss is active in the pole vault, and just missed his first attempt at 15-09.  One athletes has cleared, seven more are still in.
  • 6:16: In the boys Pole Vault, Esteban Suarez (South Pas) made the first two bars, and finishes in 10th at 14-09.  Barrett Weiss (Flintridge Prep) is currently in 8th with a third attempt clearance of 15-03.  He is waiting to join the Five-Alive rotation at 15-09, his personal best.
  • 6:14: Running without Thaddeus Smith, Damien runs 42.80 for 8th.
  • 6:09: Damien is entered in the 4×100, and it looks like Smith is running.  Let’s see how this goes…
  • 6:04:  Some guys are actually doing a broadcast rather than using Tim 0’Rourke’s stadium commentary, so um, yeah.

Shinnick (x2) Leads Strong SGV Showing at State Prelims

Damien Soph long sprinter Zachary Shinnick took another big step forward at last night’s California State Championship meet at Buchanan High School in Clovis.

Zachary Shinnick
Zachary Shinnick

Competing in the strongest HS meet in the country (the world?) Zach dropped a 47.34/21.28 400/200 double to advance to today’s final as the 4th seed in both events.  With those PR’s Shinnick is #14/200 & #13/400 All-Time SGV. He looked well within himself in both events, so today can be really exciting.

Zach was one of eight nine individuals and two relays who advanced, easily the strongest SGV showing in recent years.  And get used to it – five of the advancers were juniors and two were sophs.

Full Results: 2015 California State Championship Prelims.

Kayla Richardson at CIF Finals
Kayla Richardson at CIF Finals

2015 California State Track & Field Meet – Key Details

Junior short sprinter Kayla Richardson (Jr, Walnut) nearly matched Zach’s achievement while advancing in the 100 & 200.  She shook off a poor start in the 100 to run 11.74, just off her lifetime best, and then powered to a PR 23.85 in the 200.  She will be the fourth seed in both events in the Final, and her 200 time moves her to #7 All-Time SGV.

Rising short sprinter Daniel Stokes (Jr, Diamond Ranch) shook off a warning in the 100 to advance in both sprints with a 10.83/21.70, both times just off his best.

Monrovia senior Sydney Mosley achieved her goal of running her best at the end of the year with a smooth 13.86 to win her heat in the 100 Hurdles.

Matching Sydney on the boys side Jasher Foster (Jr, St. Francis) handled the step up in class with a PR 14.22 to advance 5th in the 110 Hurdles.  He is now #25= All-Time SGV.  Here’s an interview with him from DyeStatCal

Bonita soph Dillon Beckum had a busy four laps as he advanced in the 1600.  He lead through 800 and then moved around a lot the next to laps to finish 5th/4:14.47 in his heat and advance on time.  He is the only soph boy in the 1600 final.

In the Final event of the night Arcadia (Rebecca Troescher, Rachel Wiggins, Lauren Buehner, Sarah Troescher) advanced in the Girls 4×400 with a 3:48.84 effort that left room for improvement.  They’ll line up tonight seeded fifth.

In the field events, Esteban Suarez (Jr, South Pasadena) continued his late season ascent in the pole vault, advancing with a jump of 15-02, just off his 15-03 best from Masters.

Update: There was some confusion over the advancement procedure in the vertical jumps last night, but now that it’s cleared up, Barrett Weiss (Flintridge Prep) has advanced in the Pole Vault.  He jumped 14-08 and finished =10th on misses, but advances for having cleared the same height at the 9th place finisher.  So, we have two SGV athletes in the Pole Vault Final.

Additionally Thaddeus Smith (Sr, Damien) qualified in the 100, and led his team to a 41.73 qualifying effort in the 4×100.  However, Smith was DNS in the 200 and has scratched the 100 Final.  The Spartans have not scratched the relay, so we’ll have to see if they make it to the line tonight.

And after the jump, a live blog of the Prelims

Continue reading Shinnick (x2) Leads Strong SGV Showing at State Prelims

SGV at the California State Meet

The California State Championship – the best high school meet in the country, starts tonight at Buchanan High School in Clovis.

Everything about high school track is tougher in Southern California and our path the State meet is no different.

While Southern Section athletes have earned up 50-55% of the Finals spots at the State meet in recent years, we only get six of the twenty-seven automatic qualifying spots.  So if a SS athlete makes the state meet, he/she has a very strong chance to make the finals.

And… California, the biggest and strongest T&F state in the country, is almost unique in having only one division at the championship meet.

This has been an outstanding year for SGV athletes.  Last year, we sent two relays and six individuals, topped by second place finish in the 100 by Cravon Gillespe (Monrovia) and a third in the 4×100 by the Wildcats.  This year, the SGV has advanced three relays and seventeen athletes in 21 spots to the nation’s best meet!

Here are the SGV’s best…

  • Girls 4×100: Walnut – (Malia Avila, Kayla & Kyla Richardson, & Victoria Sandoval).  Seeded 10th with the #5 time in the field  They are also  #5 All-Time SGV.
  • Boys 4×100: Damien – (Thaddeus Smith, Zachary Shinnick, Barlen Carlen & Kaodilichi Nwuda)  #13 seed, #8 time in the field,
  • Boys 1600: Dillon Beckum (So, Bonita) & Millan Trujillo (Sr, Walnut). Beckum is the #7 seed and has the State’s #7 time for the season,  Trujillo is #9 seed and #13 on the seasonal list.  Dillon and Millan rank #6 and #13 respectively, AT SGV
  • Girls 100 Hurdles: Sydney Mosley (Sr, Monrovia) is #3 seed and #4 on the season.  She is also #3 AT SGV.
  • Boys 110 Hurdles: Jasher Foster (Jr, St. Francis) & Alan Tantiwassadakran (Jr, Walnut).  Jasher is #5 seed and 4th for the season, Alan is seeded 12th and is #17 on the seasonal list.
  • Boys 400: Zachary Shinnick (So, Damien) – is the #6 seed and #6 on the season.
  • Girls 100: Kayla Richardson (Jr, Walnut) – is seeded 6th and ranked 7th for the season, and she is #10 AT SGV
  • Boys 100: Thaddeus Smith (Sr, Damien) – is #3 seed and has the 5th best time this year. He #11 AT SGV. Daniel Stokes (Jr, Diamond Ranch) is seeded 7th, and has the 26th best time in 2015.
  • Girls 200: Kayla Richardson (Jr, Walnut) – is 6th seed, ranked 7th and is #12 AT SGV.
  • Boys 200: Thaddeus Smith (Sr, Damien), Zachary Shinnick (So, Damien) and Daniel Stokes (Jr, Diamond Ranch).  Thaddeus is seed 4th and ranked 4th, while Zach is 5th & 6th.  Daniel is seeded 14th and ranked 15th.
  • Girls 4×400: Arcadia (Rebecca Troesher, Rachel Wiggins, Lauren Buehner, Sarah Troescher) are seeded 5th and ranked 6th, and are #9 AT SGV.
  • Girls High Jump: Hannah Nance (Jr, San Dimas) – seeded =4th, ranked =5th for the season, and is =9th AT SGV
  • Girls Pole Vault: Karlly Feng (Jr, Temple City) – is seeded =13th and =31st on the year.  She is #6 AT SGV
  • Boys High Jump: Vince Porter (Sr, Poly) & Stirling McCullough (Sr, Webb).  Both are seeded =9th, while Vince’s seasonal best ranks =5th and Stirling is =19th.
  • Boys Pole Vault: Barrett & Gareth Weiss (Srs, Flintridge Prep) and Esteban Suarez (Jr, South Pasadena).  The Weiss’s qualified last year – Barrett comes in with the top seed and =6th mark in the State.  Gareth & Esteban are both seeded =6th, and their bests rank =12th and =20th respectively.  Barrett is #7 AT SGV
  • Boys Triple Jump: B.J. McLauren (Jr, Bonita) is the 13th seed and has the state’s #16 mark.