Aydon Stefanopoulos qualifying back to state in the 1600m and not the 3200m despite placing fourth in that event at state 2 years ago was not what I expected.
Conor Lott (Clovis North) just cranked out a 4:05.80 1600m with Luke Sanders (Buchanan) was right behind with a 4:06.35 at the Central Section Masters! They both passed Pete Romero of Reedley to be ranked #4 and #5 in Section history!
Lott ended up second to Tyler Daillak in the 3200m (8:56.45 to 8:58.91) but in doing so he just completed the 2nd best 16/32 double in Central Section history only behind Pete Romero's insane 4:13.6, 8:49.9, and 1:56 (converted from yards) triple back in 1967!
Brandon Arrington outdoor 100/200 opener at a dual meet today, 10.35 and 20.65 legal
Jack Stadlman made his return outdoors (reportedly dealing with a combination of sickness and college visits), running 10.54 and 21.10 legal at a dual meet today.
Mattheo LaCasia, Woodside-CCS, came out for his first year of track this year. He ran 48.88 in his first ever 400 a few days ago. Keep an eye on him.
Freshman phenom Jasir Fontenot ran 14.00 over 110mh a week ago. He ran 13.65 wind-legal last year over 39-inch hurdles (yes, you read that correctly!)
He negative-split a 46.92 today. Again, first year of track. College programs should be tripping over themselves to sign this guy. INSANE talent.
We live in a world where Griffin Kushen doesn’t qualify for state and we only got 3 qualifiers from the southern section for the 3200
The young man Griffin Kushen has some ability but even with Noonan bypassing the 1600, Kushen just wasn't good enough yesterday to qualify.
The SS gets 6 auto qualifiers. The results page for that event has markings just showing the qualifiers that also hit the at large mark during yesterday's race.
We gotta talk about how underrated Noel Huato is. Bro qualified for both 1600 and 3200 with a 4:11 and 8:59 (he has a 1600 pr of 4:09). He could very well be the next Blake Haney
SJS on top once again. 4 qualifiers in the 1600 (J Stream: 4:10, Hoferer: 4:11, Kadel: 4:11, and C Stream: 4:12). 5 qualifiers in the 800 (Alberts: 1:51, Barr (Placer representing once again- haven’t gotten a distance state qualifier since 2018 with Adam Fragola): 1:51, Heyer: 1:51, Mobley 1:52, Winston: 1:53)😮💨
Dude SJS finals was fvcking INSANE!!!!! And Folsom HS is such a better venue, I'm so glad it's not at Davis anymore. That 800 was absolutely bonkers.
Some more highlights - Greene of VDL has a BREAKOUT race of 46.62 in the 400m, David Winston (my alma mater and teammate) runs 1:53.04 for Woodcreek HS #2 all time
Giselle Fernandez honors her brother's legacy with a 4:50.17 win in the girls 1600m, and doubled back in the 3200m to place 7th in 10:51
Vacaville - man where did these guys come from?? Three guys under 4:20 in the 1600m final, one of them being a freshman.
Girls 4x400m was also insane. Man, Twelve Bridges HS is a POWERHOUSE, especially for how new the school is.
This is what I’ve been saying. People wanna talk about Ayala and San Clemente going to NxN in the next coming years, but they don’t know be knowing Vacaville like that. I’m telling y’all Vacaville is going to NxN in the next coming years and may potentially beat Jesuit
We gotta talk about how underrated Noel Huato is. Bro qualified for both 1600 and 3200 with a 4:11 and 8:59 (he has a 1600 pr of 4:09). He could very well be the next Blake Haney
You are absolutely correct! Bakersfield hasn't seen a sub 4:10/9:00 guy since haney in the 2013-2016 era. Very cool to see!
Brandon Arrington outdoor 100/200 opener at a dual meet today, 10.35 and 20.65 legal
Jack Stadlman made his return outdoors (reportedly dealing with a combination of sickness and college visits), running 10.54 and 21.10 legal at a dual meet today.
Mattheo LaCasia, Woodside-CCS, came out for his first year of track this year. He ran 48.88 in his first ever 400 a few days ago. Keep an eye on him.
Freshman phenom Jasir Fontenot ran 14.00 over 110mh a week ago. He ran 13.65 wind-legal last year over 39-inch hurdles (yes, you read that correctly!)
He negative-split a 46.92 today. Again, first year of track. College programs should be tripping over themselves to sign this guy. INSANE talent.
Was going to post this too. Insane talent. My father (who is a coach at the school's football program) told me he's been receiving a ton of offers now after running track for just one year, unsurprisingly. I hope he decides to run instead of play soccer
We gotta talk about how underrated Noel Huato is. Bro qualified for both 1600 and 3200 with a 4:11 and 8:59 (he has a 1600 pr of 4:09). He could very well be the next Blake Haney
You are absolutely correct! Bakersfield hasn't seen a sub 4:10/9:00 guy since haney in the 2013-2016 era. Very cool to see!
I think I've said this on prior threads about him but I never would have guessed he'd turn into such a beast based on his performances at Arvin. I expected 15:40 at Woodward, 4:17, and maybe a sub 9:20 3200m if he changed focus to it but he obliterated all of those marks lol. I've never been happier to be wrong and I hope he stays healthy and motivated!
Yeah the 1600m was straight gas. Jackson had a good kick and his younger brother hangs on to slip under the qualifying time. Kadel is such a good surprise, never would've expected him to run 4:11 and quality if you asked me in February. Bilodeau looks burnt out since his massive 4:11 a few weeks back.
800m was fast. Not sure when Kadel was doing in the beginning. Alberts, Heyer, and Barr have another year so it'll be competitive if they stay healthy next year. State champion might be one of these 3 guys if they have a good day. Alberts most likely has he is most consistent and runs with more strategy. Riley Gier with some nice improvement over the year, making a name out of himself.
3200m - probably the most predictable. Thronson probably going to dominate the section in coming years as what Davis tends to do, assuming he stays healthy. Lots of PRs. I don't know if I see any of the qualifiers having big races at state.
The Jesuit kid in the 800m should have been DQed. He pushed through 2 other kids. Typical Jesuit gets away with anything. Watch 150m how he breaks up stride of other runners. Where are the officials?