Observations from CIFSS Prelims this weekend:
- The Servite youngsters are the most exciting group of underclassmen... maybe ever? 40.27 / 3:17 in relays, and just missed getting 4 athletes through in the 100. Still got 2 Sophomores and a Freshman through to finals in that event.
- Redlands' Senior Su'riah Williams might be the most dominant athlete in the state. She advanced with an easy 108' discuss throw, but her 173-3 PR is 14' better than the next best girl in CA, and good enough for #2 in the Country.
- Eyan Turk is back. He cruised to a 9:12. It's only prelims, but no other qualifier in any division was near that mark. Pretre, Berhan, Noonan, Fitchen-Young are within his reach if the Kentucky commit is healthy. The talent pool at Buchanan high will be solid at that State meet, regardless of what some have said on this board.
- Santiago's Rylee Blade is on a whole other level. She ran a ridiculously relaxed 9:58 where she lapped everyone in the field except the #2 and #3 finishers. This is after also running the top 1600M time about 90 minutes earlier.
- Trabuco's freshman star Evangeline Williams, the top Freshman girl in the country, easily advanced in the 1600M. She's outstanding in the 800 and 1600, and with all of her focus on the 1600M (while many of the top qualifiers are doubling) she could be very big threat to win the Div 1 1600M finals this weekend, while her teammate Holly Barker will advance in both the 1600M and 3200M, giving Blade a rematch with her for the first time since Barker edged Blade to win the individual CIFSS title and led the Mustangs to a CIFSS and State title in Cross Country.
- Braelyn Combe's name hasn't been mentioned as much yet this season, but she looked very good in winning her heats in the 800, 1600 and ran a :57.8 split in her leg of the 4x400. She was a 1200M race away from running her own DMR on the day. Fun fact: Assuming a reasonable 3:30 time in the 1200, her hypothectical combined Distance Medley Relay time of 11:53 from Saturday would be good for #5 in the country, right behind her own Santiago Corona's time of 11:51.94 (#4 in the US).
- Rancho Cucamonga boys' false start DQ from the 4x100 was incredibly disappointing for the athletes and the fans. Even without USC football commit Cam Sermons anchoring, their depth could have still gotten them to a top 3 finish at State. Cam's brother, Junior RJ Sermons will carry the family torch forward in the 100M as the #3 time in the state.
- Poly's Sophomore Julius Johnson might shock some big names over the next few weeks. He ran a relaxed and confident (but wind-aided) 10.34. Arrington is obviously going to be very tough to beat, and Sermons, Clayton and Dezeurn and Harris are young and hungry too. With 4 or the Top 6 100M Sprinters in CA all in the Class of 2027, and all 4 of them being in the top 10 in the Country for their class, this group is going to be fun to watch for the next couple years.
Also, I must mention...
- A boy dominated three Div 3 GIRLS' jump events while officials attempted to quiet a group of protesters. He is expected to easily win CIF in at least 2 of those 3 events this weekend.
- A boy competed in 2 Girls hurdle events in Div 1, and failed to advance to CIF Finals in either of them.