05.15.08
Posted in Schools at 9:39 am by Administrator
Locals claim 10 titles in Masters track meet
Foothill’s Ragans, Shafter’s Jelmini sweep weight events
BY ZACH EWING, Californian staff writer
zewing@bakersfield.com | Wednesday, May 14 2008 11:31 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, May 14 2008 11:41 PM
North High’s Anthony Mitchell shed the 400-meter race from his duties at last week’s Central Section South Area meet, preferring to concentrate on the 800.
The decision paid off Wednesday at the section Grand Masters meet, with Mitchell winning a championship in 1:54.19. But afterward, Mitchell was thinking back to his choice.
“I should have ran the 400, too,” he said, his mouth spreading into a grin. “Just from watching that race, I knew I could have done well.”
Mitchell’s 800 conquest was one of 10 section championships for Kern County, a run highlighted by double victories by Foothill thrower Dayshan Ragans, Foothill distance runner Chris Schwartz and Shafter thrower Anna Jelmini.
Team standings were unavailable at press time because of a scoring error, but it appeared Fresno-Central won the boys title and Clovis West easily took the girls. Foothill was in the boys’ top three, and Centennial’s girls were fourth.
Ragans, after launching a couple of discus throws around 210 feet in warm-ups, settled for a 199-2 and a second straight section title. He threw 60-7 in the shot put for an easy repeat victory there also.
“I felt good in both events,” Ragans said. “I feel I could be better, but I’m happy with my performance.”
As for Jelmini, she actually seemed slightly disappointed in her discus-shot put double victory. She threw 162-5 in the discus and 44-0.75 in the shot but felt she could have done better.
“There’s a couple things I need to work on, and I think I’ll have it,” Jelmini said.
As for Schwartz, he won two close races, the 1,600 in 4:15.80 and the 3,200 in 9:24.19. Schwartz, the state’s Division I cross country champion, said he had to slow himself down early in the two-mile race to keep a good pace. He was thrilled with the results.
“There’s state, the 9:01 (a PR in the 3,200), I tripled at league, and then here,” Schwartz said. “That’s four good things I’ve done this year.”
Schwartz, along with the two local throwers who own the best marks in California, have been turning in these kinds of performances all season long. Contrast that with Ridgeview triple jumper Johnny Carter, a freshman who came from near anonymity — his best mark of the season came in a frosh/soph meet — to be a section champion. He led the Wolf Pack’s 1-3 finish in the event with a personal-record 48-3.
“I’m just blessed to have the talent,” Carter said. “It’s only my second year jumping.”
Ridgeview’s Chris Kelly was third in 46-11.5. Shafter’s Tyler Thompson finished second in 47-3.
Bakersfield High’s 400 relay team opened the meet by edging Clovis East for the section championship in 42.28. The Drillers then closed running festivities with a surprise third-place finish in the 1,600, behind only section leaders Fresno-Edison and Liberty. Their time was a personal record by about three seconds (3:20.06).
“I knew it was going to be close coming in” Bakersfield High coach Steven Anderson said. “And just looking at our times, I had a guy I thought could be quicker.”
The other local section champ is Centennial’s Alana Alexander, who used an early 38-3.75 triple jump to edge Clovis’s Jenna Prandini by three-quarters of an inch. Alexander had to wait until the end to know she was a champion for sure; Prandini ended the competition with a 38-0.
The top three finishers in each event move on to the state finals May 30-31 at Cerritos College in Norwalk. There are also two statewide wild cards who will qualify — the best marks from any athlete not in a qualifying position.
Among notable local qualifiers:
* Versatile Isiah Purvis of Liberty, who lost the 400 in the final 20 meters, finishing five-hundreths of a second (with a 49.13) behind Edison’s Maurice Lewis, but then ran an astounding anchor leg of the 1,600 relay. He was hand-timed at a 47.6 and nearly erased Edison’s big lead in the race. In between, Purvis placed second in the 200 (21.96).
* BHS sprinter Brushay Wandick, after seeing her 400 relay team finish fourth and finishing in fourth in the 100 by one-hundreth of a second (12.01 to a 12.00 from Fresno-Bullard’s Lynn Williams), rebounded to earn a state qualification in the 200. She finished third in 24.69.
* Frontier’s Taylor Jackson, a sophomore who qualified in both the 100 and 300 hurdles. She finished third in the 100 (15.04) and second in the 300 (44.86).
* Stockdale freshman Alex Collatz, who also finished fourth in the triple jump, was part of a 1-2-3 Kern County finish in the discus. Jelmini was first, Collatz second (148-6) and Taft’s Carey Tuuamalemalo third (130-9).
* Centennial’s high finish in the girls team race was buoyed by plenty of high finishes, but the Golden Hawks had just one state qualifier: Alana Alexander, who was third in the long jump (17-6.75) before holding off Prandini in the triple.
* Shafter’s Tyler Thompson also qualified in the long jump and triple jump, finishing second in both.
Ridgeview’s Chris Kelly soars during one of his triple jumps at the section meet at Liberty Wednesday. Ridgeview’s Johnny Carter gets air during one of his triple jumps during the section meet at Liberty High Wednesday afternoon. Just a freshman, Carter and teammate Chris Kelly had the two best jumps heading into the competition.
Centennial’s Alana Alexander lands after one of her long jumps at Wednesday’s section track and field championships at Liberty High.
Chris Schwartz of Foothill had the eighth best qualifying time in the 1,600, but pulled away from top qualifier Jonathan Sanchez to win the event at the Central Section track and field championships Wednesday.
BHS anchor Johnny Norwood takes off after receiving the baton from teammate Jerek Johnson during the 4×100 relay at Wednesday’s Central Section Grand Masters. At left is Stockdale anchor Brandon Henderson (with baton) and teammate Adam Lewis.
Isiah Purvis of Liberty was so close to victory in the boys 400 meters, but Edison’s Maurice Lewis closed in the final yards to win the race. Stockdale’s Daniel Lozano (not pictured) was third.
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Posted in Driller of the Week, Schools at 6:28 am by Administrator
Central Section Grand Masters
At Liberty
Team standings–unavailable.
400 relay–1. Bakersfield (Hunt, Turner, Johnson, Norwood), 42.28; 2. Clovis East (Bourbon, Scott, Smith, Woods), 42.58; 3. Redwood (Stewart, Ray, Root, Coles), 43.07; 4. Central (Newsome, Bigelow, Hammack, Phillips), 43.15. 1,600–1. Chris Schwartz, Foot, 4:15.80; 2. Jonathan Sanchez, Buch, 4:17.48; 3. Eric Battles, CW, 4:20.34; 4. Jesse Arellano, Mad, 4:21.56. 110H–1. Ethan DeJongh, MtW, 14.49; 2. Sean Johnson, Buch, 14.66; 3. Jon Funch, CW, 14.81; 4. Isiah Crunk, Wash, 15.17. 400–1. Maurice Lewis, Ed, 49.08; 2. Isiah Purvis, Lib, 49.13; 3. Daniel Lozano, Stock, 49.35; 4. Jelani Hendrix, Ed, 49.62. 100–1. Brendon Bigelow, Central, 10.62; 2. Emmanuel Turner, Bak, 10.81; 3. Matt Sumlin, Gar, 10.91; 4. Chris Lopez, GW, 10.98. 800–1. Anthony Mitchell, North, 1:54.19; 2. Aric Champagne, MtW, 1:54.97; 3. Andrew Campbell, CW, 1:55.69; 4. Arturo Ramirez, Centennial, 1:55.83. 300H–1. DeJongh, MtW, 37.93; 2. Cody Alves, Sel, 37.94; 3. James Smith, CE, 39.03; 4. Sean Johnson, Buch, 39.28. 200–1. Brendon Bigelow, Central, 21.29; 2. Isiah Purvis, Lib, 21.96; 3. Mario Navarette, Sanger, 22.04; 4. Chris Lopez, GW, 22.29. 3,200–1. Chris Schwartz, Foot, 9:24.19; 2. Jonathan Sanchez, Buch, 9:24.99; 3. Jon Ross, CE, 9:26.42; 4. Danny Vartanien, Buch, 9:26.42. 1,600 relay–1. Edison (Hendrix, Carter, Boughton, Lewis), 3:17.86; 2. Liberty (Hill, Garside, Affentranger, Purvis), 3:18.95; 3. Bakersfield (Miller, Turner, Johnson, Gooden), 3:20.06; 4. Clovis East (Ellis, Defonska, Woods, Smith), 3:22.40. PV–1. Andrew Lohse, Mad, 15-0; 2. Michael Peterson, CE, 15-0J; 3. Jeff Brenner, Cl, 14-6; 4. Frankie Puente, Sel, 14-0. SP–1. Dayshan Ragans, Foot, 60-7; 2. Matt Darr, Fron, 52-8.75; 3. Troy Rush, CW, 52-8.5; 4. Christian Millard, CE, 51-10.5. TJ–1. Johnny Carter, Ridge, 48-3; 2. Tyler Thompson, Shaf, 47-3; 3. Chris Kelly, Ridge, 46-11.5; 4. Jordan Smith, Central, 46-10.5. D–1. Dayshan Ragans, Foot, 199-2; 2. Jacob Budwig, Fowl, 168-8; 3. Niko Gomes, Cl, 164-10; 4. Matt Darr, Fron, 157-7. LJ–1. Kenny Phillips, Central, 23-4; 2. Tyler Thompson, Shaf, 21-11.5; 3. Dillon Root, Red, 21-11; 4. Kevin Norwood, GV, 21-8.75. HJ–1. Kenny Phillips, Central, 6-8; 2. Isiah Griggs, Bak, 6-6; 3. George Robbins, West, 6-4; 4. Jeff Brenner, Cl, 6-4J.
Notes: Top three in each event advance to state meet, May 30-31 in Norwalk. The two wild cards with the best times/marks from all sections also advance.
Girls track
Central Section Grand Masters
At Liberty
Team standings–unavailable.
400 relay–1. Edison (Eng, Scott, Thompson, Sears), 47.16; 2. Bullard (J. Williams, Riddlesprigger, Baisch, L. Williams), 48.17; 3. Tulare Western, 48.73; 4. Bakersfield (Torres, Belt, Brown, Wandick), 48.80. 1,600–1. Saleh Barsarian, Cl, 5:02.98; 2. Meghan Marvin, Cl, 5:03.02; 3. Chloe Allen, CW, 5:04.62; 4. Allison Gonzales, Ex, 5:11.52; 100H–1. Alyssa Monteverde, CW, 14.59; 2. Brianny Williams, Ed, 14.60; 3. Taylor Jackson, Fr, 15.04; 4. Jen Melton, CW, 15.37. 400–1. Breanna Thompson, Ed, 56.64; 2. Dedrea Wyrik, Sun, 57.49; 3. Lasasha Aldredge, Central, 58.12; 4. Taylor Donaldson, Reed, 58.13. 100–1. Megan Del Pino, CW, 11.66; 2. Jenna Prandini, Cl, 11.74; 3. Lynn Williams, Bul, 12.00; 4. Brushay Wandick, Bak, 12.01. 800–1. Allysa Mejia, Reed, 2:17.47; 2. Molly Pahkamaa, ElD, 2:17.73; 3. Katie Fry, Ex, 2:18.74; 4. Ashlee Thomas, Centennial, 2:19.77. 300H–1. Alyssa Monteverde, CW, 43.92; 2. Taylor Jackson, Fron, 44.86; 3. Brianny Williams, Ed, 45.69; 4. Alana Alexander, Centennial, 46.12. 200–1. Megan Del Pino, CW, 23.94; 2. Dominique Whittington, Lem, 24.65; 3. Brushay Wandick, Bak, 24.69; 4. Breanna Thompson, Ed, 24.90. 3,200–1. Jordan Hasay, MP, 10:24.78; 2. Meghan Marvin, Cl, 10:59.96; 3. Chloe Allen, CW, 11:06.19; 4. Corina Mendoza, Mad, 11:32.06. 1,600 relay–1. Edison (Burk, Thompson, Scott, Smith), 3:54.89; 2. Stockdale (Cady, Anderson, Mello, S. Anderson), 3:58.26; 3. Clovis West (Laidley, Capriotti, Del Pino, Monteverde), 3:59.02; 4. Reedley, 3:59.07. D–1. Anna Jelmini, Shaf, 162-5; 2. Alex Collatz, Stock, 148-6; 3. Carey Tuuamalemalo, Taft, 130-9; 4. Janae Coffee, CW, 121-6. LJ–1. Jenna Prandini, Cl, 18-7.25; 2. Lynn Williams, Bul, 18-0.75; 3. Alana Alexander, Centennial, 17-6.75; 4. Ja’Nia Sears, Ed, 17-6.5. HJ–1. Alyssa Monteverde, CW, 5-4; 2. Cristina Muro, GW, 5-2; 3. Katherine Mahr, Buch, 5-2; 4. Marish Riddlesprigger, Bul, 5-2J. SP–1. Anna Jelmini, Shaf, 44-0.75; 2. Destanie Yarbrough, CE, 37-10; 3. Heather Vermillion, Red, 37-9; 4. Tasha Firstone, CW, 36-6.5. TJ–1. Alana Alexander, Centennial, 38-3.75; 2. Jenna Prandini, Cl, 38-3; 3. Goziam Okolie, 36-10.5; 4. Alex Collatz, Stock, 36-2. PV–1. Allison Berryhill, CW, 11-6; 2. Amanda Klinchuch, Lib, 11-6J; 3. Cheree Jones, King, 10-6; 4. Emily Falkenstein, Buch, 10-6J.
Notes: Top three in each event advance to state meet, May 30-31 in Norwalk. The two wild cards with the best times/marks from all sections also advance.
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05.14.08
Posted in Athletes, Coaches, Profiles, Schools at 6:47 am by Administrator
Today’s (May 14) Central Section Grand Masters Track and Field Meet glance
The Bakersfield Californian | Tuesday, May 13 2008 11:07 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, May 13 2008 11:12 PM
CIF Central Section Grand Masters
Where: Liberty High School
Directions: From Rosedale Highway, take Calloway Drive south. Turn right on Brimhall Road, left on Jewetta Avenue and immediately right on Patrick Henry Drive.
Advancement: Top three boys and girls in each event qualify for CIF State Championships, May 30-31 at Cerritos College in Norwalk.
Non-weight events glance
Sprints
Boys favorites: Fresno-Central’s Brendon Bigelow in both the 100 and 200 meters. Hanford West’s Vontrail Love could challenge in the 100, as could Liberty’s Isiah Purvis in the 200. Bakersfield High and Clovis East are the teams to beat in the 400 relay.
Locals to watch: Purvis is a real threat in the 200, and Bakersfield’s Emmanuel Turner (boys) and Brushay Wandick (girls) are coming on strong in the 100.
Middle distance
Boys favorites: North’s Anthony Mitchell has the section’s best times in the 400 and 800, but he didn’t run at the 400 in last week’s South Area meet, choosing to focus on the longer race. Expect him to win it. Liberty’s Purvis, Stockdale’s Daniel Lozano and Clovis-Buchanan’s James Smith could fill the void in the 400.
Locals to watch: Mitchell, Lozano and Purvis, plus the Liberty 1,600 relay team, which was fourth in state last year and leads the section by nearly two seconds. On the girls side, Ashlee Thomas of Centennial has a chance in the 800 and Stockdale’s relay team will be close.
Distance events
Boys favorites: Foothill’s Chris Schwartz wasn’t the Division I state cross country champion for no reason. He has the best 3,200 time in the section by 22 seconds. He’ll take on Eric Battles of Clovis West and Jonathan Sanchez of Clovis-Buchanan in the 1,600.
Girls favorites: Can you say Hasay? It would be the shock of the meet if San Luis Obispo-Mission Prep phenom Joran Hasay didn’t win both events. The junior leads the nation with a 1,600 time of 4:42.50 and a 3,200 time of 10:03.07.
Locals to watch: Besides Schwartz, keep an eye on North’s Cody Gragg and Candace Carlson.
Hurdles
Locals to watch: With a good day, Taylor Jackson could give Frontier its first section title. On the boys side, East’s Eddie Morrow is a threat in the 300 hurdles.
Jumps
Locals to watch: The Ridgeview boys duo of Chris Kelly and Johnny Carter hold the section’s best two triple jump marks. Collatz also is a freshman phenom in the triple.
– Zach Ewing
High school track and field: FLYIN’ HIGH
Foothill’s Ragans, Shafter’s Jelmini are two of the top high school throwers in nation
BY ZACH EWING * CALIFORNIAN STAFF WRITER
zewing@bakersfield.com | Tuesday, May 13 2008 11:13 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, May 13 2008 11:22 PM
On the surface, Anna Jelmini of Shafter and Dayshan Ragans of Foothill High are easy to lump together. After all, each of them represents the next harvest of Kern County’s incredible throwing crop, the next local able to throw a shot put or a discus farther than almost anyone in the country. Each is a heavy favorite at today’s Central Section championships at Liberty. Presuming they advance, Jelmini and Ragans likely will enter the state championships May 30-31 at Cerritos College in Norwalk with the best marks in California in both throwing events.
Foothill High’s Dayshan Ragans is a favorite to win the discus and shot put and today’s Central Section championships at Liberty.
They also have a presence on national top-10 lists — Jelmini has the nation’s best high school girls discus throw and the fifth-best shot put mark, and Ragans is fifth on the boys discus list.
“To be able to do something like that is pretty amazing,” said Alan Collatz, head track and field coach at Cal State Bakersfield and one of the forefathers of Kern County’s throwing success. “I mean, you know, all across the nation, they train just hard. So for someone out of this area, out of Kern County, to be so high on the list, it’s something special. It doesn’t happen all the time, that’s for sure.”
But you don’t have to dig very deep to learn that though Jelmini and Ragans have ended up in the same place, their backgrounds are about as dissimilar as can be.
It’s like a reverse fork in the road.
Just really blessed
Anna Jelmini’s entry into Kern County throwing lore started in the fourth grade at an after-school program. The earliest kids are allowed to throw the discus is fifth grade, so she started that a year later.
Her coaching has also been some of the best Kern County has to offer — and that’s pretty darn good coaching.
Dawn Dumble-Godbehere, a former state champion at Bakersfield High and NCAA champion at UCLA, started working with Jelmini in the sixth grade. John Rexroth spelled Dumble while she was pregnant during Jelmini’s seventh-grade year.
Dumble was impressed, and Jelmini was on her way.
“Anna’s always been real athletic,” said her dad, Rick Jelmini. “She’s a basketball player, been a swimmer for a long time, could have even played volleyball. (Dumble) will just tell you Anna picks things up really fast. She kind of converted Anna to a spin style, and she has good balance and things like that.”
Now coached at Shafter by Dumble’s husband, Matt Godbehere, Anna Jelmini has blossomed into a technically sound, self-analyzing thrower.
“(The success) hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Jelmini said. “Bakersfield has had some really great throwers. I’m just really blessed. I’m just trying to work hard.”
Last year, as a sophomore, Jelmini was fourth in the state in the discus (throwing a 153-5) and seventh in the shot put (41-11.5). Either of those places would be considered a disappointment this year, considering Jelmini has the best discus mark (183-11) in the state by more than 24 feet and the best shot mark (49-2.5) by about 41/2 feet.
Her 183-11 discus throw at the Bill Kearney Invitational in Salinas on April 19 set a Central Section record and equaled the fourth-best throw ever by an American high schooler.
“She’s been working really hard in the last three years, and she’s really seeing the dividends this year,” Godbehere said. “She loves to throw, she’s aware of what it’s going to take for her to get better and she’s willing to put in the work to do that.”
Jelmini isn’t yet sure where she’ll attend college, but throwing has been a huge part of her life thus far, and that will almost certainly continue.
“Sometimes you see kids sign (with a college) their senior year, and then you just don’t see their names anymore,” said Rick Jelmini, who said the family has returned more than 30 questionnaires to Division I colleges. “But Anna’s never satisfied. She’s not going to get burned out.”
The four-leaf clover
Dayshan Ragans probably won’t get burned out either, at least not any time soon. He’s only been throwing for three years.
Nope, that’s not a typo. Ragans was plucked out of his freshman P.E. class at Foothill because he was the first student ever to out-throw track coach Joe Cooper.
It didn’t take long for Ragans to figure out that throwing is what he wanted to do. Wayne Brewer — like Godbehere, a former CSUB thrower — came to Foothill before Ragans’ sophomore year and has groomed him into the state’s premier high school thrower.
“We were lucky to get him,” Brewer said. “It was like finding a four-leaf clover. Seriously, he’s so raw. He hasn’t even been throwing four years.”
But he is strong, especially in his lower body. Ragans can squat 500 pounds and hang-clean more than 300. And to boot, Brewer said Ragans soaks up information better than anyone he’s coached.
“Genetics has a lot to do with it,” Brewer said. “But he’s like a sponge. I can tell him something, and he goes out and does it. No questions asked.”
Ragans took second in the state in the discus last season but fouled out in the shot put finals. This year, he has a 20-foot cushion in the discus with a 203-7 over the next-best throw and a better-than-two-foot margin in the shot put with a 63-4.75.
Ragans has had to come on quickly to the sport, but he also has extra motivation for excelling.
He’s signed to continue the county’s throwing pipeline at CSUB next year, and he’s counting the days till the state meet — not only because those dates represent his goal in throwing, but because it’s the day he can move away from home.
Ragans said his family life can be difficult and that throwing offers an escape. He declined to speak specifically, other than to say, “I don’t want to be another statistic.
“I wake up, and it’s just like a countdown,” he said. “It’s going to be like a new beginning, coming into a new world.”
Meanwhile, a double state championship, obviously, isn’t out of the question.
“My goal is breaking that state record,” Ragans said. “… I have a lot of fun throwing. I went out, and I didn’t realize I what I was capable of.”
The paths converge
Shafter is a smaller school than Foothill, so the schools have different travel plans and often compete in separate divisions. But today, at the section finals at Liberty, Jelmini’s and Ragan’s roads come together again.
They’ll be joined by yet another Kern County thrower of the future in Stockdale’s Alex Collatz, who owns a Central Section record with a 159-4 discus throw as a freshman — that’s behind only Jelmini in the state and is third in the nation.
In the Southern Section, Burroughs junior Kayla Kovar has top-five marks in the state in both throwing events.
“This area is amazing for throws,” said Scott Semar, who coached Collatz at CSUB in the mid-1980s and then oversaw the golden era of Kern County throwing at Bakersfield High from 1987-91.
Young Alex Collatz is a prime example of the area’s recurring success. Collatz’s father is the same Alan Collatz who coaches at CSUB.
Alan Collatz and Semar have helped produce dozens of state-, national- and even world-class throwers from the county, not to mention half of the throwing coaches at Bakersfield high schools.
“It has been very successful here for many, many years, and a lot of it started with Scott Semar when he was out here,” Alan Collatz said. “Then I came out here. Throwers tend to come here. We’ve been lucky, and they’ve worked hard and gone out in the community.”
And groomed prodigious athletes like Ragans and Jelmini. And there we go lumping them together again. It’s not hard. Heck, they even use the same, spinning, style.
But Collatz is wary of pronouncing Ragans and Jelmini so similar.
“You can look at the 10 best throwers in the United States, and they all do something different,” Collatz said. “None of them are the same. This guys starts a little lower, or this guy is more upright, this guy sweeps a little wider. There is no one way.
“… But one is (Jelmini and Ragans) are hard workers. Two is they’re strong athletes. And three is they’re well-coached. You put hard work with physical abilities with good technical coaching, and you’re going to be successful.”
Different methods, different paths, very similar results. And Kern County has two more extraordinary throwers.
“There has been a lot of great throwing over the years,” Godbehere said. “… A lot of people have taken interest in throws. Is it the athletes or the coaching? Probably a combination of all of it.”
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05.13.08
Posted in Coaches at 6:53 am by Administrator
last night i went to my first track coaches meeting. we voted on the athletes of the year and all-league athletes. i wont reveal who won but several are no brainers.
other topics covered were the two new schools entering our leagues and the need for volunteers to work at the meets.
we discussed using episports or athletic.net for meet management too. marks fudging was another issue and as usual there are no real solutions.
lastly, we voted to make the frosh/soph league meet a junior varsity meet with unlimited entries. this meet will be held the week before the varsity one.
all class levels will be able to compete but juniors and senoirs who compete in the jv meet wont be allowed to compete in the varsity meet the next week.
of course all of the above has to be approved by the athletic directors.
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05.09.08
Posted in Schools at 9:11 am by Administrator
Central Section Sierra-Sequoia Divisional
Wednesday at Exeter
Team standings–1. Shafter 68; 2. Selma 64; 3. Yosemite, 40; 4. Dinuba, 38; 5. Exeter, 36. Others–8. Bakersfield Christian, 22; T11. Wasco, 18; T17. Tehachapi and McFarland, 9; 22. Arvin, 2.
400 relay–1. Dinuba (Cervantes, Garcia, Lester, Saldivar), 44.20; 2. Exeter, 44.76; 3. Tehachapi (Cone, Davis, Horowitz, Olofson), 44.85. 1,600–1. Sanchez, Farmersville, 4:28.09; 2. Siqueiros, Mission Prep, 4:28.43; 3. Soltero, Avenal, 4:28.93. 110 hurdles–1. Alves, Selma, 15.01; 2. Dunn, Yosemite, 15.06; 3. Crunk, Washington, 15.32. 400–1. Botts, Taft, 50.53; 2. Smee, Exeter, 50.90; 3. Flores, Taft, 51.91. 100–1. Cervantes, Dinuba, 11.10; 2. Hernandez, Wasco, 11.35; 3. Crunk, Washington, 11.45. 800–1. Soltero, Avenal, 1:59.21; 2. Newton, Exeter, 2:00.68; 3. Hernandez, Avenal, 2:02.56. 300 hurdles–1. Alves, Selma, 38.27; 2. Dunn, Yosemite, 39.32; 3. Garcia, Dinuba, 40.29. 200–1. Cervantes, Dinuba, 22.41; 2. Thompson, Shafter, 22.58; 3. Botts, Taft, 22.88. 3,200–1. Sanchez, Farmersville, 9:38.09; 2. Lorenzo, Madera South, 9:40.21; 3. Cisneros, McFarland, 9:46.93. 1,600 relay–1. Selma (Augustine, Carpenter, Chavez, Sa), 3:27.90; 2. Exeter, 3:28.55; 3. Yosemite, 3:28.93. HJ–1. Thompson, Shafter, 6-0; 2. Dunn, Yosemite, 5-10; 3. Pilcher, Caruthers, 5-10J. PV–1. Alves, Selma, 13-0; 2. Puente, Selma, 13-0J; 3. Darling, Selma, 12-6. LJ–1. Thompson, Shafter, 22-1; 2. Gaines, Chowchilla, 21-6; 3. Taylor, Bakersfield Christian, 21-4. TJ–1. Thompson, Shafter, 44-9.5; 2. Thomas, Fowler, 42-11.25; 3. Allsup, Yosemite, 42-11. D–1. Budwig, Fowler, 160-9; 2. A. Thompson, Shafter, 149-4; 3. Fair, Corcoran, 134-5. SP–1. Laird, Bakersfield Christian, 52-0.25; 2. A. Thompson, Shafter, 51-6; 3. Boger, Coalinga, 50-6.75.
Girls track
Central Section Sierra-Sequoia Divisional
Wednesday at Exeter
Team standings–1. Exeter, 76; 2. Taft, 63; 3. Shafter, 40; 4. Fowler, 38; 5. SLO-Mission Prep, 36. Others–7. Bakersfield Christian, 24; T9. Tehachapi, 17; 17. Arvin, 10.
400 relay–1. Tehachapi (Danielson, Evans, Fechner, Maduena), 51.93; 2. Taft (Bacot, Lopez, Swope, Twisselman), 52.15; 3. Fowler, 52.23. 1,600–1. Hasay, Mission Prep, 4:58.53; 2. Gonzales, Exeter, 5:24.37; 3. Warmerdam, Yosemite, 5:29.75. 100 hurdles–1. Merrill, Bakersfield Christian, 16.31; 2. Jones, Kingsburg, 16.85; 3. Hamilton, Selma, 16.95. 400–1. Medaniel, Selma, 1:00.82; 2. Snarr, Woodlake, 1:01.02; 3. Thompson, Taft, 1:01.04. 100–1. Corralles, Dinuba, 12.95; 2. Reed, Washington, 13.09; 3. Goins, Madera South, 13.22. 800–1. Fry, Exeter, 2:18.58; 2. Nakamura, Clovis North, 2:19.33; 3. Gonzales, Exeter, 2:22.34. 300 hurdles–1. Merrill, BCHS, 47.08; 2. Jimenez, Fowler, 48.97; 3. Swope, Taft, 49.94. 200–1. Medaniel, Selma, 26.68; 2. Takeda, Fowler, 27.13; 3. Martinez, Dos Palos, 27.35. 3,200–1. Hasay, Mission Prep, 10:44.15; 2. Gonzales, Exeter, 11:48.33; 3. Salazar, Shafter, 12:09.01. 1,600 relay–1. Taft (Cornejo, Magee, Swope, Thompson), 4:14.13; 2. Arvin (Bautista, Escutia, Fuentes, Perez), 4:19.25; 3. Exeter, 4:20.96. HJ–1. Dillon, Exeter, 5-0; 2. Anaya, Washington, 5-0J; 3. Absher, Chowchilla, 4-10. PV–1. Jones, Kingsburg, 9-6; 2. Bacot, Taft, 8-6; 3. Doak, Taft, 8-6J. LJ–1. Jones, Avenal, 15-10; 2. Hutcheson, Exeter, 15-8.5; 3. Dillon, Exeter, 15-5. TJ–1. Czarnecki, Mission Prep, 34-10.5; 2. Hamilton, Selma, 34-7; 3. Bledsoe, Riverdale, 33-9.75. D–1. Jelmini, Shafter, 169-6; 2. Tuuamalemalo, Taft, 116-1; 3. Gomez, Corcoran, 99-5. SP–1. Jelmini, Shafter, 49-2.5; 2. Rasley, Shafter, 36-8; 3. Bloetscher, Exeter, 36-5.
Notes: Top three automatically advance to Wednesday’s Grand Masters meet at Liberty. Shafter’s Anna Jelmini set meet records in the shot put and discus and extended her state-best mark in the shot.
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05.08.08
Posted in Driller of the Week, Schools at 6:52 am by Administrator
Smooth sailing
Ragans unleashes top state mark in discus; Centennial’s Alexander wins long, triple jumps
The Bakersfield Californian | Wednesday, May 7 2008 11:41 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, May 7 2008 11:57 PM
Foothill’s Dayshan Ragans wouldn’t have had a hard time convincing onlookers that his newly shaved head represented an increased focus for track and field’s postseason.
Ragans, after all, broke 200 feet in the discus for the first time in his career and then used a 60-31⁄2 throw in the shot put to become an impressive double winner at the CIF Central Section South Area meet Wednesday at Liberty.
But no, Ragans insisted, he had shaved his head for the most practical of reasons — to beat the heat.
“It’s just getting to that time where it’s too hot,” he said. “Just had lots of hair.” If that’s the case, the burly senior simply is finding his stride at the right time.
“Last week, I was having a rough practice,” Ragans said. “Stuff wasn’t clicking, I wouldn’t accomplish what I was expecting to accomplish. But I feel after this meet, I can finally do that.”
Saying the key was turning his right foot, Ragans unleashed a magnificent discus throw of 203-7, breaking his previous personal record by nearly 5 feet. The throw is easily the best in the state this year, and it set a South Area record, besting the 196-7 thrown by Bakersfield High legend Jeff Buckey in 1992.
Then Ragans survived a scare in the shot, where he fouled on his first two qualifying throws, prompting Trojans throwing coach Wayne Brewer to play it safe. Ragans didn’t wind up on his final qualifying chance, throwing from a standing position to earn a 54-foot mark — low by his standards, but easily enough to qualify for the finals. Then he hit 60 feet in the finals to move on to next week’s Central Section Grand Masters meet at Liberty.
“Really scary, because that hasn’t happened before,” Ragans said. “You get lucky every once in a while. I guess that was just luck.”
There was some drama over on the track, too, especially for those who stuck around for the 1,600-meter relays at the end of the meet.
Both the girls’ and boys’ races were classics, the kind of races that turn track and field rookies into instant fans.
In the girls’ race, Centennial beat nemesis Stockdale for the first time all season, earning the lead early, then losing it, then getting it back on a strong third leg from Alana Alexander. Bakersfield High joined the teams in a three-way race down the final stretch, with Centennial holding on for a victory in 4:05.35 — less than a second in front of Stockdale and only about three ahead of BHS.
“We exceeded our expectations today,” Centennial coach Ryan Renz said. “The kids really turned it up … Stockdale hasn’t lost that in a long time.”
The boys’ race might have been even better. This time, it was favored Liberty, BHS and Centennial racing for the win. Centennial stormed ahead early in the final leg, but Liberty’s Isiah Purvis — who also won the 200 and was second in the 400 — bided his time and pulled ahead in the final 100 meters.
Liberty’s time of 3:23.03 was less than a second ahead of Bakersfield and only 1.26 seconds in front of Centennial.
“Centennial came out of nowhere; I didn’t expect them,” said Purvis, who anchors a Liberty team with the top time in the section. “I just cruised off and got them at the end. I didn’t think anyone would attack me like that, coming out that fast, but I knew he was going to die eventually.”
The top four finishers in each event qualified for next week’s Masters, where they’ll join the top four from the Central and North areas and the top four from the South Sequoia (small school) meet.
Notable performances included:
Centennial’s Alexander, who set a PR in the long jump with an 18-3 and also won the triple jump in 37-8.75 before keying the relay victory. She also finished second in the 300 hurdles.
“I have a lot more expectations this year than last year,” Alexander said. “It’s just a matter of getting better by valley and hopefully PRing even more.”
Bakersfield continued its dominance of sprinting events, winning the boys’ 400 relay (42.43), girls’ 400 relay (49.67), boys’ 100 (Emanuel Turner, 10.80), girls’ 100 (Brushay Wandick, 12.32) and girls’ 200 (Wandick, 25.42).
In general, the Golden Hawks girls had a great day, placing 1-3-4 in the 800 (Ashlee Thomas won in 2:22.54), getting the surprising relay victory and sweeping the jumping events between Alexander and high-jump winner Jessica Crowe (5-0).
Stockdale freshman Alex Collatz already is showing off the versatility that her dad, Cal State Bakersfield track coach Alan Collatz, enjoyed in his career. Alex won the discus with a throw of 150-7 — 49 feet better than second place — and placed second in the triple jump.
Ridgeview finished 1-2 in the boys’ triple jump, with Chris Kelly the winner at 46-7.5 and freshman Johnny Carter second in 46-7.
Other double-winners were: Foothill’s Chris Schwartz, 4:28.72 in the boys’ 1,600 and 9:58.50 in the 3,200; and Frontier’s Taylor Jackson, 15.19 in the girls’ 100 hurdles and 44.81 in the 300 hurdles.
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05.05.08
Posted in Coaches, Schools at 9:54 am by Administrator
the varsity league meet was a good one on thursday but it was tarnished at the end. i left my post by the finishline to work on the drillers area meet entries just before the start of the swyl 4 x 400 event.
i was looking at the results board when i heard the yelling begin. i wish i had turned on my camera but my hands were full and i didnt think to do it. the coach was yelling at the officials because his team had gotten DQed before the race.
his team violated one of the uniform rules and was DQed. it sucks for this to happen, but coaches are warned before every meet. in fact, most of the pre-meet meeting is about uniform rules.
all i heard him yelling was that you guys (the officials) pull this crap all the time and then he actually called one of the officials a “DICK”. this tirade could be heard by everyone at the meet and went on till the coach was deep into the stands.
this kind of behaviour is way out of line and should not be tolerated. the officials were doing their job (btw they do it very well) and only enforcing rules that will be followed at all the meets.
it would be a shame for his team to qualify for valley (upcoming meet) with illegal uniforms and then get DQed at valley. it wouldnt be fair to the his athletes or the team that followed the rules and didnt qualify for valley because his team beat them.
now i know the uniform rules are a pain and the athletes dont like to abide by them. i often have to remind athletes about the rules all the time. but there are rules and they need to be followed.
if you violate them, you need to take your medicine respectfully.
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