The Countdown to Clovis begins this week as 16 San Diego Section leagues move through trials and finals with an eye on the state championships May 24-25 at Buchanan High in the Fresno suburb, where competition will be as hot as the weather, guaranteed to offer temperatures close to or at 100 degrees.
At the moment there is no one as hot as Madison’s Kenan Christon, whose foot-scorching :20.67 in the 200 meters at the Escondido Invitational shattered his week-old :20.90 section standard, set at the Mt. San Antonio Invitational.
Christon, now fourth in the U.S. in the 200, also moved up to a tie for second in the section 100-meter standings with a career best of :10.42 on the Escondido High track.
The USC-bound senior tied Helix’ Reggie Bush, who ran :10.42 in 2002 and trails San Diego Southwest’s Riley Washington, who ran :10.30 in 1992.
Christon likely will get another shot in Clovis at Caleb Grubb of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, who has decisioned Christon once in the 100 and twice in the 200 in meets at Mt. Carmel in March and Arcadia in early April.
Grubb leads California with his :10.40 in the 100 and is second with a :20.93 200.
Christon also moved into first place locally with a 24-foot long jump in a triangular meet with Crawford and host Lincoln. No report on wind activity in that event but Christon’s races at Escondido were well under the 2.0 m.p.h. limit.
The Madison runner could join very elite company should he go on to a California sprint title. Championships in the 100 and 200 are few and far between in San Diego, just five in the 100 and three in the 200 since the first state meet in 1915 (see table below).
There was a conversion from yards to the internationally accepted meters in 1980. The 220-yard race was slightly longer than 200 meters. One-hundred meters is more than nine yards longer than 100 yards.
Electronically-timed races are first noted in David Russell’s 1977 victories.
| EVENT | NAME | SCHOOL | YEAR | TIME |
| 100 | Jimmy Willson | San Diego | 1929 | :09.8 |
| Elijah Jefferson | Crawford | 1974 | :09.6w | |
| Jefferson | 1975 | :09.8 | ||
| David Russell | Patrick Henry | 1977 | :09.61 | |
| Â 100Â Meters | Riley Washington | San Diego Southwest | 1992 | :10.30 |
| 220 | Willson | 1929 | :21.4 | |
| Glenn Willis | San Diego | 1941 | :21.7 | |
| Russell | 1977 | :20.97w |
Four season bests in each of girls’ and boys’ competition highlighted last week’s activity. Leaders through April 26 (marks in italics represent new season or new personal bests; those with parenthesis indicate where San Diego Section competitors stand in the state):
w–Wind-aided.
GIRLS
| EVENT | NAME | MARK | STATE | MARK |
| 100 | Shaheed, Madison | :11.87 (10T) | Nowling, Calabasas | :11.40w |
| 200 | Wright, University City | :24.44 (12) | ||
| 200 | Shaheed | :24.46 (13) | Nowling | :23.64 |
| Rustkovich, Scripps Ranch | :24.51w (16) | |||
| 400 | Wright, University City | :55.64 (15) | Okonkwo, Murrieta Mesa
|
:54.25 |
| 800 | Riedman, La Costa Canyon | 2:11.37 (3) | Tomkinton, Atherton Menlo | 2:10.61 |
| Morales, Scripps Ranch | 2:13.87 (16) | |||
| 1600 | Fahy, La Costa Canyon | 4:48.34 (1) | Lowe, Clovis Buchanan | 4:49.14 |
| 3200 | Fahy, La Costa Canyon | 10:15.80 (2) | Lowe, Clovis Buchanan | 10:12.78 |
| Dorostkar, Canyon Crest | 10:28.14 (8) | |||
| Wallace, Sage Creek | 10:35.40 (13) | |||
| 100 Hurdles | Redon, San Diego | :14.2 (7) | Shearer San Jose Silver Creek | :13.36 |
| James, San Diego | :14.68w (15T) | |||
| 300 Hurdles | Occiano, Mission Hills | :44.64 (20) | Glenn, Long Beach Wilson | :41.21 |
| 4×100 Relay | Scripps Ranch | :46.95 (2) | Calabasas | :45.95 |
| 4×400 Relay | Olympian | 3:56.23 (21) | Eastvale Roosevelt | 3:47.17 |
| High Jump | Hickey, Coronado | 5-10 ½ (1) | Harris, Bakersfield Golden Valley | 5-10 |
| Long Jump | Hickey, Coronado | 20-9w (1) | Harris, Upland | 20-2 1/2 |
| Hardaway, Oceanside | 19-0¾ (8) | |||
| Scott, Gompers | 19-0½ (9T) | |||
| Triple Jump | Miller, San Pasqual | 39-8 ½ (10) | Shearer, San Jose Silver Creek | 41-3 3/4 |
| Scott, Gompers Prep | 39-5 1/2 (11T) | |||
| Shot Put | Atuatasi, West Hills | 45-1 ½ (7) | Franklin, Santa Clarita Golden Valley | 47-11 1/2
|
| Lagoy, Rancho Bernardo | 41-11 (16) | |||
| Cardona, El Camino | 41-0 ½ (20) | |||
| Discus | Cruz, Mission Hills | 139-3 (20) | Budwig, Fowler | 171-7 |
| Pole Vault | Callahan, Rancho Bernardo | 13-6 (2T) | Funk, Clovis West | 13-7 |
| Thomson, Poway | 13-3 (4) | |||
| Adamiec, Poway | 13-0 (7T) | |||
| Cervantes, Poway | 12-9 (9) |
BOYS
| EVENT | NAME | MARK | STATE | MARK |
| 100 | Christon, Madison | 10.42 (2) | Grubb, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame | :10.40 |
| Steward, Orange Glen | :10.66 (13T) | |||
| 200 | Christon, Madison | :20.67 (1) | Grubb, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame | :20.93 |
| 400 | Parker, Helix | :47.99 (7) | Larrier, Elk Grove Monterey Grove | :46.49 |
| Lippert, La Costa Canyon | :48.54 (14T) | Â | Â | |
| Salzman, Calvin Christian | :48.54 (14T) | Â | Â | |
| 800 | Tellez-Velasquez, San Pasqual | 1:52.52 (2) | Wingo, Valencia | 1:52.11 |
| Ali, Crawford | 1:54.17 (14) | |||
| 1600 | Niednagel, La Costa Canyon | 4:15.58 (14) | Hibbard, El Monte Arroyo | 4:07.25 |
| J. Stanford, La Costa Canyon | 4:16.90 (24) | |||
| 3200 | Velasco, Fallbrook | 9:07.27 (8) | Young, Newbury Park | 8:40.00 |
| Niednagel, La Costa Canyon | 9:09.06 (9) | |||
| 120 High Hurdles | Sayles, Steele Canyon | :14.69 | Marshall, Berkeley St. Mary’s | :13.56 |
| 300 Intermediate Hurdles | Solomon, Grossmont | :38.38 (12) | Roberson, Upland | :36.96 |
| Stewart, Canyon Crest | 39.0 (22T) | |||
| 4×100 Relay | Madison | :42.23 (19) | Long Beach Poly | :40.91 |
| 4×400 Relay | Helix | 3:23.04 | Placentia Valencia | 3:13.73 |
| High Jump | Lugo, Canyon Crest | 6-6 ½ (12) | Allen, Santa Barbara San Marcos | 7-0 |
| Brownell, San Dieguito | 6-6 (13) | |||
| Long Jump | Christon, Madison | 24-0 (2) | Foster, Clovis North | 25-1 1/2 |
| Yokley, El Capitan | 22-11 (19T) | |||
| Triple Jump | Mitchell, Point Loma | 48-6 (2) | Hemphill, Upland | 48-8 1/2 |
| Cynkin, Torrey Pines | 46-5 ¼ (14) |  | ||
| Brown, La Jolla | 46-0 ½ (19) |  | ||
| Gibbs, Oceanside | 45-5 ¾ (25) |  | ||
| Shot Put | Boamah, Scripps Ranch | 54-0 (24) | Viveros, Bakersfield Liberty | 68-11 |
| Discus | Peterson, Rancho Bernardo | 160-3 | Elbettar, Newport Beach Newport Harbor | 197-4 |
| Pole Vault | Rice, Rancho Bernardo | 16-4 (2) | Wright, Lodi | 16-8 |
| Brown, La Costa Canyon | 16-0 (4T) | |||
| Volpe, San Marcos | 15-6 (12T) | |||
| Jurisoo, Mt. Carmel | 15-1 (22T) | |||
| Sperry, Rancho Bernardo | 15-1 (22T) | |||
| Clarke, El Camino | 15-0 (25) |
