Prep notes: Track and field heats up; Davis swimmer wins state; Jesuit volleyball rolls on
The weather is heating up just as the high school track and field season starts to really sizzle.
The Sac-Joaquin Section Masters championships are scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Davis High School, where the top finishers advance to the 103rd CIF state finals in Clovis on May 26-27.
Ian Dossman of Franklin of Elk Grove is the section leader in the 100-meter dash at 10.53 seconds, which the senior uncorked Friday night at Folsom in winning the section D-I race. He also won the 200 in 21.42.
The area’s leading 400 runner is John Dailey of Whitney, who won Friday’s one-lap race in 48.71 and expects another victory at Davis.
Brandon Moreno of Jesuit on Friday was third in the D-I section 800 in 1:56.38 after winning the preliminary race at 1:56.27, and he 1600 in 4:16.62, edging Callum Turner of Whitney in both races with the rematches this week sure to be worth a watch. The 800 Masters also figures to be hotly contested, a race that will include D-I section winner Jeffrey Overgaard (he won at Folsom in 1:56.27) and Jonah Reynolds of Jesuit taking second at 1:56.36.
Devin Pereira of Rocklin took the 3200 at Folsom in 9:20.19. Stephen Dahdouh of Pleasant Grove, the area leader in the 110 hurdles, won his specialty on Friday in a personal best 13.98, just ahead of Delta League rival Myles McFarland of Cosumnes Oaks (14.07). Dahdouh was second in the 300 hurdles in 39.71, behind Cameron Williams of West of Tracy (38.62).
Cosumnes Oaks won the section D-I 4x400 in 3:22.05, followed by Granite Bay (3:23.58). Davis took the 4x800 relay in 7:58.82 with Whitney second in 8:03.09 and Jesuit third in 8:13.59.
Benjamin Condrin tossed the discus 164 feet, 6 inches to take the section D-I title, beating teammate Matthew Palchak (153-2). Tyler Lange of Oak Ridge took the shot put with a 51-9 effort with Palchak second at 51-0.5.
The rematches at Davis count for a lot more now.
Girls track
Ihe Okoh of Franklin won the section D-I 400 in 56.29 and Lilly Escorcia of Elk Grove the 800 in 2:15.15 with the rematch of Delta League rivals to take place on a Delta League track at Davis.
Katie Kopec of Whitney won the 1600 in 4:59.26 and the 3200 in 10:56.64, a remarkable double feat of 12 total laps.
Whitney won the 4x100 relay in 48.31, beating Franklin (49.03), and the Wildcats took the 4x800 in 9:23.00, just ahead of St. Francis (9:26.91). Ashanti Elie of Whitney won the high jump at 5 feet, 7 inches, and teammate Juliana Roberson won the long jump at 17-7 ¾ and the triple jump at 38-0, edging Grace Sloan of Rocklin (37-8 ¼).
Whitney has the star power and depth to win a lot more events, if not team titles.
Madison Pelfrey of St. Francis won the pole vault at 12-2 and Sol Bitners of Davis took the discus at 135-10.
CIF swimming finals
Sarah Bennetts of Davis won the CIF state 100 breaststroke at the CIF state swimming championships at Clovis on Saturday, and the Blue Devils placed fourth as a team with 125 points. Delta League rival St. Francis placed sixth with 117 points.
A senior, Bennetts won in 1:00.11 for 20 points. Davis placed third in the girls 200-yard medley relay in 1 minute, 42.07 seconds and was second in the 400 yard freestyle relay with Bennetts leading off and followed by Adelia Biello, Sara Kos and Ava Portello, good for 34 points.
St. Francis senior Ava Chavez was second in the 200 free in Clovis and was on two freestyle relay teams that scored points. Santa Margarita won its fourth consecutive team title with 263 points.
Chavez broke her 200 free school record for the third consecutive week, clocking a 1:47.42. She then was the runner-up in the 100 fly with a 53.67 effort. St. Francis came in having won its first section championship in 12 years and first league title since 2015.
Boys volleyball
Top-seeded Jesuit repeated as section Division I champions, beating No. 2-seeded Whitney 3-0 at Jessup University in Rocklin.
The Marauders under coach Sara Marks moved to 37-3 with their 10th consecutive victory, earning the No. 7 seed in the CIF Northern California D-I regional. Jesuit opens on Tuesday night at No. 2 Valley Christian of San Jose (32-5).
Jesuit’s 6-foot-5 senior outside hitter Vince Semon has recorded a team-high 479 kills.
In D-II, No. 7 Woodcreek (25-3) plays at No. 2 Sanger (38-8) of the Fresno region, having won the section D-II title with a 3-1 victory over Antelope as Ty Nakamura had 17 kills and Andrew Gordon 11.
Antelope (27-6) dropped into the NorCal D-III field as the No. 4 seed and hosts De La Salle (25-13) on Tuesday.
Whitney, seeded second in NorCal D-III, plays Northgate of Walnut Creek (21-11).
Encina (22-5) lost to Ripon Christian in the section D-IV finals and earned the No. 4 seed in NorCal D-IV and will host No. 5 California Crosspoint of Hayward (26-4).
Girls soccer
The top six divisions crown section soccer champions in the fall, but the smallest of the smalls of D-VII finish out in the spring.
Foresthill defeated Delta 2-1 on a goal by Noelle Payne in the 50th minute for first-year coach Bobby Quattlebaum, whose team secured the first team championship in school history in finishing 15-3.
Foresthill’s first goal was from Amy Saxelby and keeper Ruby Linstadt kept Delta of Clarksburg at bay, capping a trying academic year for a school that endured record fires and then record snowfall.
