There were pleasant surprises, some nervous moments and a few shocking results in Friday’s qualifying session of the CIF State Track and Field Championships.
Vista del Lago’s Jordan Carter was on the verge on seeing his high school career come to an end, but he uncorked a wind-legal jump of 48 feet, 6 3/4 inches to earn the No. 1 qualifying spot in the boys triple jump. Carter smashed his previous personal best (46-7 1/4) and posted the top mark in the state this season.
Carter will be 1 of 31 Inland athletes competing in individual finals Saturday at Buchanan High School in Clovis. Six Inland relays teams also have advanced to finals.
Ayala’s Kayla McBride will be the busiest Inland athlete Saturday evening. She qualified seventh in the 200 meters (24.09 seconds) and ran anchor legs on the Bulldogs’ 4 x 100 relay (46.47, No. 6 qualifying time) and 4 x 400 relay (3:50.86, No. 6 qualifying time).
Six Inland athletes advanced to finals in two individual events.
Jurupa Valley’s AB Hernandez and Alyssa Alumbres qualified in the girls long jump and triple jump and lead a trio of Inland athletes in the horizontal jumps. Hernandez was second in the triple jump (39-7 1/4) and fourth in the long jump (18-9 1/2), while Alumbres was third in the triple jump (39-5 1/2) and sixth in the long jump (18-7 1/2). Norco’s Kaylee Best qualified seventh in the long jump (18-6 1/2), and Etiwanda’s Alaya Robinson was 10th in the triple jump (37-8).
Su’Riah Williams of Redlands qualified third in the discus (147-5) and seventh in the shot put (41-3 3/4). Joining her in both finals will be Andreese Ortiz of Heritage, who qualified sixth in the discus (141-6) and 11th in the shot put (39-10 3/4).
Roosevelt’s Jeremiah Harris will be the lone Inland boys athlete in two finals, as he qualified eighth in both the 100 meters (PR of 10.53) and 200 (21.45).
Chaparral’s Keelan Wright qualified in both of the girls sprints, but she had to sweat things out for a few minutes in the 200. Wright was seventh in the 100 (11.63), and she grabbed the ninth-and-final qualifying spot in the 200 (24.21). Wright has posted the state’s top times this season in both of those events.
One of the most shocking results in Friday’s session was King’s Jaden McKee failing to qualify for the boys pole vault final. He entered the state meet as a title favorite and the state’s only vaulter to clear 17 feet. But McKee missed all three tries at 15-6 and was unable to win the jump-off for the final spot.
Michael Cullen of Redlands did advance to the finals in the boys pole vault, as he cleared 15-6 on his first attempt and finished tied for fourth.
Yucaipa’s Benjamin Lingenfelter experience disappointment early Friday evening, as he fouled on all three of his attempts in the discus. Lingenfelter entered the state meet ranked No. 5 in the state in the discus. But Lingenfelter bounced back and qualified sixth in the shot put with a personal-best of 56-5 1/2.
Carter, Harris and Lingenfelter were just three of the eight Inland boys athletes who registered personal-best times or marks Friday evening.
Paloma Valley’s Jayden Epps continued his late-season tear, as he qualified third in the boys discus with a PR of 194-9.
Murrieta Mesa’s Arthur Celestine qualified fifth in the boys 110 hurdles with a time of 13.91, the first time he has gone under 14 seconds in his career.
San Bernardino’s Miking Cash will join Lingenfelter in the boys shot put final, as Cash qualified ninth with a PR of 55-8.
Great Oak’s Nicolas Alexis and Santiago’s Amari Reed registered PRs in the boys long jump event, with Alexis qualifying ninth (23-2) and Reed 11th (22-9 1/4). They will be joined in the final by Beaumont’s Tyrus Murguia, who qualified 10th with a mark of 22-10 1/2.
Three Inland athletes advanced to the final in the girls 1,600 meters: Santiago’s Braelyn Combe (4:50.91, third), Murrieta Valley’s Sofia Lieberman (4:51.37, seventh) and Temescal Canyon’s Megan Crum (4:52.13, ninth). Claremont’s L’Mio Edwards qualified eighth in the girls 800 meters (2:11.08).
Vista Murrieta’s Aspen Fears and Great Oak’s Michal Coates both advanced to the girls pole vault final after clearing the bar at 12-3.
Seven other Inland boys athletes advanced to finals in their respective events: Beaumont’s Daniel Agbelusi (fifth in the 300 hurdles, 37.87); North’s Dontae Smith (sixth in the 400, 47.89); Liberty’s Juan Juarez (ninth in the 800, 1:53.71); Vista Murrieta’s Kosi Nwafor (10th in the triple jump, 46-4 3/4); Great Oak’s Westin Brown (11th in the 1,600, 4:12.19); Grand Terrace’s Exzavior Oliver (tied for 11th in high jump, 6-4).
Murrieta Valley’s boys 4 x 100 relay team posted a time of 41.64 to grab the final spot in Saturday finals.
The boys and girls 3,200 meters and the 4 x 800 relays did not have qualifying runs Friday, but there will be Inland representation in Saturday finals.
Santiago’s Rylee Blade will be looking to defend her state tile in the girls 3,200 run. Woodcrest Christian’s Eyan Turk and King’s Maximo Zavaleta will be competing in the boys 3,200 meters.
Claremont and Santiago are in the field for the girls 4 x 800 relay. Great Oak is the lone Inland representative in the boys 4 x 800 relay.
