95th Annual CIF State Track and Field ChampionshipsWhere: Veterans Stadium, Buchanan High School, Clovis
When: Friday-Saturday
Times: Friday trials (field events, 3 p.m.; running, 5 p.m.); Saturday finals (field events, 4:30 p.m., running 6 p.m.)
Weather: Friday (partly cloudy, high 93 degrees), Saturday (partly cloudy, high 100 degrees).
CLOVIS, Calif. — It's one thing to beat California's best track and field standouts. It's another to do it three times in one weekend.
Sasha Wallace is the defending
state 100-meter hurdles champion.
She transferred from Holy Names
to Castro Valley before her
senior season.
File photo by Craig Morley
And the toughest trick of all: navigating the traffic between three events.
That is the challenge, but not nearly impossible task, for
Castro Valley senior Sasha Wallace, who will attempt to be the sixth girl to win three individual events in one California State Track and Field meet.
The two day meet begins Friday at Veterans Stadium on the campus of
Buchanan (Clovis).
The 5-foot-9 Oregon-bound athlete is the defending champion in the triple jump and 100-meter hurdles, but four weeks ago she added long jump to her repertoire.
She owns the top qualifying mark (from the section championships) in the triple jump and hurdles, and last week she tied a North Coast Section Meet of Champion long jump mark of 20 feet, 2 inches, which qualifies her fourth.
It will be a tall and long task to pull off the triple, but Wallace's club coach Curtis Taylor believes it's within her grasp.
The others to do it were Wendy Brown (
Woodside) in 1984, Marion Jones (
Thousand Oaks) in 1993, Angela Williams (
Chino) in 1998, Vashti Thomas (
Mt. Pleasant, San Jose) in 2008 and Jenna Prandini (
Clovis) in 2011. Brown won the girls meet all by herself.
"I would have rather her focus on the triple and gone after the national record in the hurdles," Taylor said. "But this is something she really wanted to try and though it's not something I would have chosen, I support her fully. She wanted a new challenge and she definitely has one."
Beating remarkable
Harvard-Westlake (Studio City) freshman and national leader Courtney Corrin (20-11 last month) will be tough, but Taylor thinks Wallace is capable of 21-0.
She's the clear favorite in the triple (national best 42-4) and the hurdles (13.43 ranks second nationally), but as Taylor said: "The hardest thing in track is to come back to the state meet and defend."
Khalfani Muhammad is back to
defend his 100 and 200 state
championships.
File photo by Craig Morley
The keys for Wallace is to get solid qualifying marks quickly in the jumps on Friday, then navigate between starting times in the finals Saturday — triple jump (5 p.m.), hurdles (6:49) and long jump (7 p.m.). Wallace will likely jump near the end of flights.
"Typically the jumps go for two hours," Taylor said. "Last year with two events it was a rush for Sasha. You have to work it just right. It definitely won't be easy."
With a strong showing, Wallace will join a long list of highly successful East Bay girls who have starred in the state meet. Taylor has coached many of them, including sprinters Ashton Purvis (
St. Elizabeth, Oakland) and Tania Woods (
Skyline, Oakland), hurdlers Julian Purvis (St. Elizabeth) and Trinity Wilson (
St. Mary's, Albany) and jumper KeNyia Richardson (
Holy Names, Oakland). That quintet combined for 10 state titles. Wallace has two and counting.
"She's had a great career, right there with all of them," Taylor said. "She's continue to do bigger things. Her best years are ahead of her."
Top CIF State Meet qualifier from section meets BOYS100: Khalfani Muhammad (
Notre Dame, Sherman Oaks) 10.22
200: Khalfani Muhammad (Notre Dame) 20.73
400: Alexis Robinson (
Eureka) 47.03
800: Ivan Gonzalez (
Ridgeview, Bakersfield) 1:50.59
1,600: Blake Henry
(Stockdale, Bakersfield) 4:07.16
3,200: Christian Freeman (
Carlsbad) 9:03.51
110 H: Jalen Wright (
Bellarmine, San Jose) 13.91
300 H: Lloyd Sicard (
Serra, Gardena) 37.23
400 relay: Serra-Gardena 40.91
1,600 relay:
Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 3:15.15
HJ: Xavier Howell (
Center (Antelope) 7-0
PV: Kyle Pater (
Mt. Carmel, San Diego) 16-4
LJ: Adoree Jackson (Serra, Gardena) 24-9
TJ: Jeffrey Prothro (
Logan, Union City) 50-4
SP: Nick Ponzio (
Great Oak, Temecula) 65-1
DT: Nick Ponzio (Great Oak) 186-5
GIRLS100: Ariana Washington (
Long Beach Poly) 11.27
200: Ariana Washington (Long Beach Poly) 23.18
400:
Nia Dorner (
Cordova, Rancho Cordova) 54.05
800: Nikki Hiltz (
Aptos) 2:09.50
1,600: Anna Maxwell (
San Lorenzo Valley, Felton) 4:42.57
3,200: Sarah Baxter (
Simi Valley) 10:17.58
100 H: Sasha Wallace (Castro Valley) 13.73
300 H: Jade Miller (Great Oak) 41.34
400 relay: Long Beach Poly 44.94
1,600 relay:
Edison (Fresno) 3:46.04
HJ: Rachel McCoy (
Miller, Fontana) 5-11
PV: Kaitlyn Merritt (
Santa Margarita, Rancho Santa Margarita) 13-3
LJ: Courtney Corrin (Harvard-Westlake) 20-5¼
TJ: Sasha Wallace (Castro Valley) 41-8½
SP: Stamatia Scarvelis (
Dos Pueblos, Goleta) 51-9¼
DT: Nikki Okwelogu (
Clovis West, Fresno) 168-4
