SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Track & Field

San Diego CIF/Masters report

Bulldogs take fast lane in CIF track

Story by Phillip Brents

Photos by Paul Martinez (www.photosport.com)
Posted May 25, 2003

Ramona High School’s track and field team rolled out in high gear for the 2003 spring sports season and ended it with much of the same momentum.

The Bulldogs qualified athletes in eight individual boys events and seven individual girls events for this year’s San Diego Section Division II championship meet May 31 at Poway High School. This came after an equally productive showing at the Valley League finals.

At right, Ramona's John Parker competes in CIF boys 100-meter dash prelim heat.

Juniors James Rhoades, John Parker and Wade Jennings along with seniors Jeremy Adams and Richard Clingman all qualified for this year’s CIF finals meet on the boys side while freshman Brenna Tucker, sophomores Adora Dacosta-Muniz and Samara Matthews, junior Mishon Stalnaker and senior Kali Vandervort led the team’s girls CIF finals qualifiers.

Rhoades, Parker and Vandervort all won Valley League titles.

Rhoades led Ramona’s hopes to produce a state meet qualifier this year after posting top nine section qualifying marks in both the 200 and 400 meters at the May 24 CIF prelim meet at Poway High School. (Athletes with the top nine marks in each event from both the Division I and Division II prelims meets advanced to the San Diego Section Masters state qualifying pool with athletes with the next nine best marks earning points for their teams in the race for division team championships as well as individual CIF titles.)

The Bulldog sprinter gained notoriety earlier in the season by winning the 400 dash at the Poway Trackfest, held April 11-12 at Poway High, and has not stopped there. He was hoping for a top three finish at the concurrent May 31 Masters meet to earn a trip to the state finals June 6-7 in Cerritos.

Rhoades, who was eighth in the 400-meter dash in 51.75 at last year’s Division II finals, emerged from the traffic jam at this year’s CIF Division II prelim meet with the top qualifying mark of 48.58 in the 400 event. The time ranked as the section’s second-fastest time turned in during the season behind University City’s De’Sean Cunningham (47.58).

Rhoades became a two-event Masters qualifier in the 200-meter dash with his second-fastest divisional qualifying time of 22.50. He captured the Valley League title in the 200 meters in 22.71 and was second in this year’s Valley League 400 finals to Westview’s Atiba Liverpool.

Parker (100-meter dash and long jump), Adams (110 high and 300 intermediate hurdles), Matthews (shot put and discus) and Vandervort (shot put and discus) each qualified in two events.

Parker won the 100 meters in 11.29 at the Valley League finals while finishing third in the long jump. He subsequently lowered his time in the 100 to 11.17 at the CIF prelims to post the fourth-best qualifying time.

Parker finished second in the long jump at last year’s Division II meet with a jump of 21 feet, 7.5 inches. His mark at the Valley League finals of 21-5.5 placed him behind winner Mark Cordes of Escondido (21-10) and runner-up Loniel Robinson of Orange Glen (21-7).

Adams was sixth in the division at last year’s 110 high hurdles finals with a time of 15.90 but had moved up to third this year with a best time of15.43. He also ranked third in the division in the 300 intermediate hurdles with a best time of 40.91. The Bulldog hurdler placed second in both events at the Valley League finals to Orange Glen’s Chris Reina.

Vandervort was second in both the shot put (35-9) and discus (120-8) as a junior at last year’s Division II finals and had recorded the top marks in the division during the regular season in both her specialty events -- ranking fourth in the section with a 39-4 mark in the shot put. She finished first in the Valley League finals with a discus mark of 127-0 and second in the shot put (37-9) to San Pasqual’s Torrie Albini (38-4).

At the Valley League finals, Matthews finished second in the discus (108-9) and third in the shot put (36-8.5).

At right, Ramona's Erin Hearn, left, and Alanna Bennett compete in the girls 3200 event at May 24 CIF prelims.

Dacosta-Muniz paced Ramona’s girls track athletes at the Valley League finals with a second-place finish in the 200 meters in 27.25 and lowered that mark to 27.00 to sneak into the CIF finals in a fast field.

Clingman, who had the ending to last fall’s cross country season diminished by an injury, qualified for this year’s CIF finals in the 3200 meters (where he ranked sixth in the division with a 9:48.93 time to significantly better last year’s CIF finals mark of 10:12.74).

Junior Mishon Stalnaker paced the Bulldogs in the girls distances this season with the fifth- best qualifying time in the girls 1600 meters at 5:20.26. Her best time entering the CIF prelim meet had been 5:27.8.

The Bulldogs boys 4x400 relay team posted the third-fastest qualifying time in the CIF prelims (3:28.48) while Ramona’s girls 4x100 relay team also qualified for the CIF championship meet after finishing sixth in qualifying (51.20). Both times were season best marks.