2023 Track (4): Warmer Weather and State Meet Beckons Area Hopefuls
More than 60 athletes from the San Diego Section will leave a cloudy, drizzly May gray for very warm Clovis and the 103rd state track meet Friday and Saturday.
First three finishers plus others who finished from fourth and beyond in their events and who met the state meet standard in last week’s Section finals earned the 350-mile trip to the Fresno suburb’s Buchanan High, host for the championships since 2009.
The list below shows where San Diego athletes rank in the state’s top 25, according to Athletic.net. Most (bold type), and a few not on the list, qualified for Clovis, although there will be usual scratches, especially in races from the 800 to the 3200.
The two-day meet is a grind and will be longer and more demanding for those with leather lungs and in multiple races. An added distance challenge will be the inaugural and point-scoring 4×800-meter relay.
Some athletes will come up short and some will stunningly “come out of the weeds” in this competitive, pressure-packed carnival of speed, jumps, throws, and vaults that is often fraught with unexpected peril.
My first state meet was a morning-afternoon event at Edwards Field in Berkeley in 1957 when I was a student correspondent for the Lincoln High Buzz and the Scholastic Sports Association of the Los Angeles Examiner.
The state meet went to two days in 1963 and is, in my opinion, one of the greatest sports events in America.
The San Diego Section has no defending champion in boys or girls this year. Charlize James of San Diego won the 100 hurdles and Kapiolani Coleman of Cathedral won the 300 hurdles in 2022. James has graduated and Coleman had to withdraw with an injury before the 2023 section prelims.
GIRLS
| EVENT | NAME, SCHOOL | MARK/STATE RANK | STATE |
| 100 | Shaheed, Madison | :11.58, 4th | Redmond, L.A. Carson, :11.45 |
| Shaheed | 24:06w, 9th | :23.36w, Neal, Gardena Serra | |
| 200 | Smith, La Jolla | :24.08w, 10th | |
| 400 | Smith | :54.12, 4th | :52.71, Luckey, L.B. Wilson |
| Burkhardt, Steele Canyon | :55.13, 12th | ||
| 800 | Riggins, Del Norte | 2:06.69, 2nd | 2:03.7, Browne, Riverside North |
| Buswell, Poway | 2:08.30, 4th | ||
| D. Janik, Torrey Pines | 2:10.74, 14th | ||
| Arciaga, Westview | 2:10.89, 16th | ||
| Makenna Herbst | 2:11.37 17th | ||
| Biesinger, La Costa Canyon | 2:12.27, 21st | ||
| Echsner, Del Norte | 2:12.36, 22nd | ||
| 1600 | Dailey, La Jolla | 4:42.69, 3rd | 4:34.50, Engelhardt, Ventura |
| Lopizzo, La Costa Canyon | 4:45.94, 5th | ||
| Williams, Eastlake | 4:46.26, 7th | ||
| Riggins | 4:46.35, 9th | ||
| Buswell, Poway | 4:48.76, 13th | ||
| 3200 | Lopizzo | 9:59.08, 4th | 9:51.49, Engelhardt |
| Williams | 10:12.76, 5th | ||
| Dailey | 10:24.48, 8th | ||
| 100 Hurdles | Bowen-Fontenot, San Diego | :13.92, 5th | :13.53w, Harris, Stockton Lincoln |
| Coleman, Cathedral | :14.27w, 12th | ||
| 300 Hurdles | Bowen-Fontenot | :42.12, 2nd | :42.02, Harris; Hall, Sacramento Christian Brothers |
| K. Janik | :42.19, 4th | ||
| Coleman | :42.58, 6th | ||
| Morgan Herbst, Carlsbad | :43.48, 13th | ||
| 4 x 100 Relay | Steele Canyon | :47.58, 21st | :45.28, L.A. Carson |
| 4 x 400 Relay | Carlsbad | 3:53.86, 17th | 3:41.40, Culver City |
| Del Norte | 3:55.65, 22nd | ||
| 4 x 800 Relay | Del Norte | 9:00.77, 2nd | 8:59.12, Clovis Buchanan |
| Sage Creek | 9:19.56, 13th | ||
| Cathedral | 9:27.30, 21st | ||
| High Jump | Tarczy, Scripps Ranch | 5-9, 2nd, tie | 5-10 ½, Humphries, Castaic |
| Czapinsky, Poway | 5-7 ½, 8th | ||
| Long Jump | Hoagland, Rancho Bernardo | 18-6 3/4, unranked | 20-8, McKenzie, Perris Orange Vista |
| Triple Jump | Vaughn, Steele Canyon | 37-7 ¾, unranked | 40-8 ¾, Humphries |
| Shot Put | Gipson, Otay Ranch | 39-11, unranked | 46-10, Johnson Sherman Oaks Notre Dame |
| Discus | Driscoll, Canyon Crest | 139-2, 14th | 162-8, Fontenette, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame |
| Frankel, Sage Creek | 135-2, 18th | ||
| Williams, Cathedral | 134-6, 19th | ||
| Pole Vault | Downing, La Costa Canyon | 14-0, 2nd | 14-1 ¼,Muhammad, San Jose Track club |
| Hilliard, Poway | 13-3, 5th | ||
| Echsner, Del Norte | 12-9, 7th, tie | ||
| Vander Pol, Maranatha | 12-7, 12th | ||
| Montiel, Rancho Bernardo | 12-6, 14th, tie | ||
| Thomson, Poway | 12-3, 16th, tie | ||
| Condiff, Canyon Crest | 12-3 | ||
| Cinzori, San Dieguito | 12-2, 22nd, tie |
BOYS
| EVENT | NAME, SCHOOL | MARK/STATE RANK | STATE |
| 100 | Wells, La Costa Canyon | :10.49, 16th | :10.09w, Pleasant, Gardena Serra |
| Arrington, Helix | :10.58w, 21st, tie | ||
| 200 | Adren Parker, Helix | :21.26, 13th | :20.53, Pleasant |
| Arrington | :21.29w, 14th | ||
| 400 | Parker | :46.48, 2nd | :45.92, Stanley, Granada Hills |
| Slaughter, Mt. Carmel | :48.14, 14th | ||
| McCoy, Hilltop | :48.52, 24th | ||
| 800 | Correia, Point Loma | 1:51.44, 7th | 1:49.07, Sahlman, Newbury Park |
| Thomas, Torrey Pines | 1:52.04, 12th | ||
| Cordero, Olympian | 1:53.43, 19th, tie | ||
| 1600 | Thomas | 4:07.90, 4th | Sahlman, 3:58.96 |
| Correia | 4:09.83, 11th | ||
| Sanchez, Liberty Charter | 4:11.64,25th | ||
| 3200 | Sanchez | 9:06.53, unranked | Parra, Long Beach Millikan, 8:46.50 |
| 110 Hurdles | Martin, Helix | :14.24w, 12th, tie | :13.85, Davis-Lyric, Upland |
| 300 Hurdles | Atilano, Cathedral | :37.94, 8th | 37.39, Mendoza, Rancho Santa Margarita |
| Martin, Helix | :38.55, 20th | ||
| Tragarz, Del Norte | :38.79, 23rd, tie | ||
| Dorsey, Olympian | :39.02, 24rh | ||
| 4×100 Relay | University City | :42.03, unranked | :40.28, Granada Hills |
| 4×1600 Relay | Mt. Carmel | 3:19.82, 12th | 3:13.86, L.B. Poly |
| Cathedral | 3:20.89, 17th | ||
| Helix | 3:21.17, 21st | ||
| 4×800 Relay | Del Norte | 8:03.0, unranked | 7:43.84, Clovis Buchanan |
| High Jump | Cheeks II, Mission Bay | 6-6, 10th, tie | 6-9, Gorski, Santa Ana Mater Dei |
| Chang, Rancho Bernardo | 6-6 | ||
| Long Jump | Cheeks II | 23-8 ½, 7th | 24-9, Dedmon, Lake Isabella Kern Valley |
| tie | Redon, San Diego | 23-7/8th | |
| Cornthwaite, Valhalla | 23-2 ¼, 14th, tie | ||
| Hurd, El Camino | 23-0, 22nd, tie | ||
| Harris, Vista | 23-0 | ||
| Triple Jump | Cheeks, II | 46-11¼, 10th | 48-0, Fong, Stockton Lincoln |
| Reichenberg, Mission Bay | 46-6, 13th | ||
| Harris | 46-4 ½, 14th | ||
| Goodson, Oceanside
|
45-8 ½, 24th, tie | ||
| Shot Put | Knowles, Rancho Buena Vista | 59-8, 9th | 65-10, See, San Juan Capistrano JSerra |
| Vergenz, Mission Hills | 56-3, 21st | ||
| Discus | Knowles | 185-5, 3rd | 197-8, See |
| Vergenz, Mission Hills | 166-7/22nd | ||
| Pole Vault | Emerson, Sage Creek | 16-0 ¼-4th | 17-1, Green, Clovis Buchanan |
| Weisman, Torrey Pines | 16-0, 5th, tie | ||
| Anderson, University City | 15-6, 10th, tie | ||
| Sotelo, Grossmont | 15-0, 15th tie | ||
| Saia, Mt. Carmel | 14-9, 21st, tie | ||
| Boyles, San Marcos | 14-9 | ||
| Kondo, Vista | 14-9 |