Week Two Statewide Recap

California prep standouts waste no time
throwing their weight(s) around in 2008! 
Photos courtesy of Collatz family (left) and Rich Gonzalez
Stockdale's Alex Collatz tossed the disc 152-08, the best frosh mark in the nation in nine years!
At right, Mater Dei's Carlo Valdes on his way to winning 100m; he later won the discus in 169-09!

By Rich Gonzalez
Editor, DyeStatCal.com
      (AT A MEET NEAR YOU) – It’s only the second weekend on the outdoor calendar and already there is talk of national leaders and national records. Ah, just  another typical day on the California high school track and field scene.
      Always the hotbed for record-setters and eventual Olympic level talent years down the road, the Golden State appears to be very fertile with elite prospects yet again. Even with the major meets still several weeks away and some athletes just barely making the transition over from a winter sport, local athletes are off to very impressive starts in 2008.
      Here’s our look at the statewide action in Week Two:
      The platters were soaring at alarming rates during Saturday’s East Bakersfield Invitational, where two of the nation’s premier talents collided in the discus ring. One of the combatants is a well-known commodity, with Shafter  HS junior Anna Jelmini entering the new season as the #5 returnee in the nation in her specialty event. The other is a name we’ve been hearing, but the decibel levels surrounding acclaimed Stockdale frosh Alex Collatz rose several notches over the weekend. By the time the implements finally came to rest, California forged to the forefront on the national lists with Jelmini besting her career mark and improving to 156-03 to win the competition and Collatz being not too far behind in flinging the disc to a startling 152-08, the best 9th-grade mark in the nation in nine years! With those tape-measure jobs, Jelmini and Collatz moved to #1 and #2 in the nation in this year’s performance lists.
      Jelmini garnered much attention as a freshman in 2006 when she posted a best mark of 141-00, but an improvement of nearly 15 feet last year quickly catapulted the Central Section star onto the national radar. Needing just one meet into 2008 to improve event further, the immediate future looks bright for Jelmini with the state title within reach.
      Enter Collatz.
      Although her mark of 152-08 was erroneously reported in one newspaper as an age-14 national record, it may only be a matter of time before South Dakotan Briona Reynolds’ age-14 standard of 168-01 and Suzy Powell’s state age-group record of 162-11 come under attack from Collatz’s airborn projectiles. She also now ranks 10th on the all-time national frosh list, which is littered with Californians at #3 (Powell at 162-11 in 1988), Dawn Dumble at #4 (157-07 in 1988), Chaniqua Ross at #5 (157-04 in 1995) and April Burton at #7 (155-03 in 1995).  There’s quite a pedigree for Collatz, whose father Alan is the head coach and throws coach at Cal State Bakersfield, where he has coached close to 100 All-Americans, including a stunning 18 champions in a four-year stretch from 2003 to 2006.
      These two will be fun to watch in 2008!
      On the topic of discus throwers, one of the Southland’s best on the male side is Mater Dei’s Carlo Valdes, who enjoyed a memorable day at the 12th annual Asics/Eagle Invitational (SS) at Santa Margarita High on Saturday. Valdes, who signed a football scholarship to UCLA after a very successful senior season playing wide receiver for the Monarchs, won the discus with a mark of 169-09 to complete his afternoon of action. A very unique afternoon it was as Valdes earned a rare double victory that paired the 100m win along with his triumph in the discus. Valdes opened daylight on the field by 70 meters en route to winning in a wind-legal 11.05. He started the day by anchoring Mater Dei to victory in the 4x100 in 43.11. Fueled by Valdes three wins, the Monarchs would have handily prevailed if the non-scoring 10-team meet indeed had awarded points.
      We will again be tabulating DyeStatCalElite marks for California-based invitationals this spring, with the ‘performance meter’ being a quick gauge for comparing a meet’s relative strength against another of a give weekend. The DSCE cutoffs are based on the previous year’s marks, with the 100th-best performance of 2007 in the traditional events serving as the cutoff point for DSCE inclusion in 2008. For the ‘non’traditional’ events (such as the 4x200, 4x800, 4xmile, etc.) the 50th-best mark in 2007 serves as the cutoff point for 2008. This year’s DSCE cutoff standards will be unveiled on Tuesday.
      The top meet in the state over the weekend was the Foothill Invitational (SS) at Citrus College in Glendora, where several top programs gathered under cool temperatures but some sizzling times. All told, 31 DyeStatCalElite marks were recorded here with schools such as Long Beach Wilson, Rancho Cucamonga, and Loyola among the top representation in attendance. Loyola ran away with the boys team title thanks to double wins by hurdler Ryan Holmes (14.93/39.82) and thrower Nigel Davies (57-09.25/158-09) combining to account for 40 of the teams whopping 150 points. Upland was a distant second with 80 points. Traditional superpower Long Beach Wilson outperformed runner-up Arcadia by more than 30 points to win the girls team championship as the Bruins swept every relay from the 4x100 up to the 4x800 and Angele Cooper rocked the stadium with a fine 12.33 win at 100m. Chino Hills’ Melissa Keltner, one of the state’s top five returnees in the heptathlon, enjoyed a big day in the sand pits to win both the long (17-04.50) and triple (38-03.50) jumps.
      Muir’s boys dashers and their female counterparts from Compton Centennial were joined by distance standouts of both genders from Redondo Union in highlighting the Gahr Relays (SS) on Saturday. The meet, whose 21 DyeStatCalElite marks ranked it as the #2 affair in the state this weekend in terms of performance quality, was contested under clam but cool conditions at Gahr HS in Cerritos. Centennial’s girls racked up four baton wins, including DyeStatCalElite marks in the 4x100 (49.23), the 4x200 (1:44.05 and the 1600m sprint medley relay (4:15.25). Muir, with Coach Mike Knowles already stating this is the best boys team he has had, posted DSCE times in the 4x200 (1:30.75) and shuttle hurdles (1:06.22) and just missed another in the 4x100 (43.30). Redondo had Cody Schmidt anchor the team’s winning boys DMR (10:50.89) while Chloe Curtis experienced a great day with 2:16 and 5:10 relay splits in keying 10:04.68 and 13:04.31 victories at 4x800 and the distance medley relays, respectively.
      Defending state 1600m champion Christine Babcock kicked off her final season of high school competition in grand style with a superb distance relay double at the Earl Engman Relays (SS). Babcock, who has committed to attend the University of Washington in the fall, recorded relay splits of 4:55.8 and 2:16.4 to highlight the performances at the Orange County-based meet. Babcock started her morning by anchoring the Warriors to victory in the Division II race of the distance medley relay, erasing a roughly 60-meter deficit to take the lead about 700 meters into her four-lap test of fitness. Her splits were recorded at 69.9, 77.0, 73.5 and 75.4 as Woodbridge posted a very fine season-opening time of 12.42.9 to defeat a solid Foothill of Santa Ana team by 15 seconds. Babcock returned just over two hours later to lead her team to a bronze medal placing in the 4x800 with a 2:16.4 carry that brought her team across the line in 10:17.25.  El Modena won in 10:00.14.
      Thanks to teams like Murrieta Valley and Vista Murrieta continually displaying excellence during the fall, one pocket of the Inland Empire was quickly becoming among the new hotbeds in the nation for prep distance running. Now the trend is continuing this spring on the track and the wealth is spreading deeper across the “I.E.”. Vista Murrieta had three multi-lappers run in the mid-4:30s in their varsity 1600m race and four runners  (including two that skipped the 1600m) break 10:00 in the 3200m at the Saddle Up Invitational (SS) meet this hosted over the weekend. Chase Welch won the 1600n in 4:33.61 and Noe Ramirez won the 3200m in 9:41.88 while David McDonald doubled to 4:36.45 and 9:48.20 clockings. For good measure, the Broncos also had sophomore Drew Dalton run in the mid 4:30s and just over 10 minutes in his frosh/soph level races.  Also faring very well was Corona, which had top runner Raul Arcos motor his way to a negative-splits win in the 800m (1:57.27) and frosh Michael Gauger win the lower levels 3200m in 10:01.03 and be among three Corona runners to dip under 4:40 for 1600m in the frosh/soph race
      The leading female performer emerging from the Willow Glen meet (CCS) was Pinewood sophomore Angela Gradiska, who secured wins in both the 100 (12.18w) and 200m (24.86) dashes. Gradiska, who has lived in the area since before first grade, is also an excellent tennis player, having earned All-Private Schools Legaue MVP this past year. Although no gauge was present, CCS correspondent Peter Jensen assured that a strong tailwind was present that aided the short sprinters and hurdlers – included Gradiska -- all meet long.  That said, Willow Glen’s Mohamed Abdalla had a pretty fine double in the distances. Despite the pesky breezes, Abdalla won the 800m in 2:01.90 and then doubled back for the 3200m win in a nice 9:34.96.
      So just how good is Saugus in the girls’ distances? Well, very good -- and very deep. But then again, so is all of California these days. What do we mean by that? Simple. While the Centurions showed stunning depth by having five girls run under 5:20 for 1600m at the Don Green Invitational (SS), there were more than a hundred girls in the state that ran faster than 5:10 for 1600m last year, the deepest quality in state history! With that being said, our money is on Katie Dunn (5:12.73 this weekend), Anne Randall (5:18.12), Nina Moore (5:18.25), Kaylin Mahoney (5:13.12), and Amber Murakami (5:13.78) to “light it up when it counts” this spring!
      Reports in mid-January were that Foothill of Bakersfield talents Dayshan Ragans and Chris Schwartz would avoid wintertime competitions in favor of quality training and conserving their energies for the pending season. Both finally were in action at the East Bakersfield Invitational (CE) and debut with promising results. Ragans, the nation’s top outdoor returnee in the shot put (64-01), won that event in 56-06 here and also captured the discus win (171-04) for good measure. Schwartz, the state Division I champion in cross-country, cruised to victory in the 1600 (4:32.6) before doubling back to win the distance deuce in 9:34.6.
      Roseville High senior Blair Wallingford, likely a future Pac-10 competitor in college, posted the top performance at the Steve March Relays (SJS) on Saturday. Wallingford, the 2007 state silver medalist in the pole vault, won his specialty event this weekend in a fine 15-06. He is counting Oregon and the University of Southern California as among his top choices for school in the fall. Woodcreek, which has among the better distance squads in Northern California, won the distance medley in a hand-timed 10:49.7 and saw Chris Romo won the 3200m in 9:51.3.
      One of the top male performers in the state this week was Mt. Whitney senior Ethan DeJongh. Among the more well-rounded athletes around, DeJongh won the high hurdles (14.83w) and the triple jump (45-08.25w) at the Sanger Classic in the Central Section. DeJongh is also one of the Valley’s top high jumpers and performs baton duty on the school’s 4x400 relay efforts. His presence in various areas provides Mt. Whitney with a great starting point in earning postseason team hardware at the Valley Championships.
      If organizing and hosting your own meet is supposed to provide a deterrent to being able to focus well on your own races, the athletes from De La Salle HS must have missed the memo. In addition to hosting another fine DLS/Joe Stocking Super 7 meet (NCS), the Spartans also were the class of the competition thanks to their outstanding sprint crew. Stamping themselves as the best in the Golden State in the early going, De La Salle posted state-leading times in both the 4x100-meter (42.68) and 4x200-meter (1:29.99) relays and among the top ten times in the 4x400 (3:29.78). The Spartans typically are very efficient in the exchange zones with the baton, relying on that precision to often gain the upper hand against physically swifter competition.
      The Oaks Christian/Village Christian Invitational (SS) might be geared primarily toward the small-enrollment schools, but that doesn’t mean the meet cuts corners on quality. With nine DyeStatCalElite marks over the weekend, the OC/VC affair ranked seventh in the state in terms of such quality marks. The finest mark of the meet came from Malibu junior Emani Truluck, who whirled over the barriers in a fine 15.09, although no wind readings were provided from the meet. By the way, how deep is the sprint corps at St. Mary’s Academy, you ask?  Deep enough that the representation from the all-girls school based in Inglewood had both an “A” team and a “B” meet the DyeStatCalElite standard (1:47.36) in the 4x200 meter relay. Their top quartet won the race in 1:41.57 and their “B” was a close third to Paraclete in 1:47.27.
      Although not occurring in an invitational setting, one of the best early-season marks on the West Coast came during the week in dual meet action as Diamond Ranch’s Karyn Dunn  blazed to a reported 13.8 hand time in the 100-meter high hurdles on Thursday. Dunn will seek to emulate the elite success enjoyed by Diamond Ranch alum and current USC talent Terry Prentice.
     Perhaps the most surprising race of the weekend was the 800m sprint medley affair at the Clarke Massey Relays (SJS) in Rancho Cordova. The meet had a nice collection of 10 DyeStatCalElite marks, but six came in the 800m SMR. Although some good teams were on board, to have half a dozen teams meet the DSCE standard on the opening weekend of the season for most teams is a bit surprising. Any chance perhaps the wrong start stagger was used?  Just asking. Don’t kill the messenger, even if I did also initiate the message!
       Until next week, “Keep it fun, everyone!”
            Rich Gonzalez – Editor, DyeStatCal.com

 

Message board! Message board!