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San Diego Section 2005 Championships

Grossmont Conference athletes gear up for state

Dax Danns (Helix): 100 dash (1^st section, 10.65), 200 dash (1^st section 21.57).

Durran Moore (Mt. Miguel): 400 dash (2^nd section, 49.69).

Chris Costa (Granite Hills): 100 high hurdles (3^rd section, 15.13).

Roberto Archibold (Monte Vista): 300 intermediate hurdles (2^nd section, 38.92).

4x100 relay: Helix (2^nd section, 42.71).

Scott Finley (Granite Hills): pole vault (2^nd section, 15-8).

Karlin Stewart (Mt. Miguel): long jump (2^nd section, 22-6.5).

Janie James (Helix): 200 dash (2^nd section, 24.77), 400 dash (2^nd section, 55.45).

LaKenya Simon-West (Grossmont): 400 dash (3^rd section, 56.94).

April Montgomery (Helix): 800 run (2^nd section, 2:17.30).

Sharika Thompson (Helix): 100 hurdles (1^st section, 14.82).

Amber Haywood (Monte Vista): 100 hurdles (2^nd section, 15.29), 300 hurdles (1^st section, 44.99).

Chastity Toilolo (Helix): shot put (2^nd section, 38-3).

Daniella Thu (Monte Vista): discus (3^rd section, 131-1).

East County athletes run, jump, vault to CIF titles

By Phillip Brents

Posted May 31, 2005

Helix’s Dax Danns, Sharika Thompson, Janie James, April Montgomery and Chastity Toilolo, Granite Hills’ Chris Costa and Scott Finley, Monte Vista’s Amber Haywood, Roberto Archibold and Daniella Thu, Mt. Miguel’s Karlin Stewart and Durran Moore and Grossmont’s LaKenya Simon-West all earned admittance to the San Diego Section’s annual track and field royal court by qualifying to compete at this weekend’s state championship meet in Sacramento (June 3-4).

The section’s royal court is otherwise known as the San Diego Section divisional finals. The latest members of the section’s royal court were installed Saturday, May 28, in competition at Mt. Carmel High School. Thirteen Grossmont Conference athletes, plus one relay team, earned the right to advance to the state finals. The 13 East County athletes qualified in a total of 16 individual events.

They will compete first in the state prelims on Friday, June 3, for the right to compete in the state championship meet the following day, also in Sacramento.

Danns, James and Haywood all qualified to compete in two individual events.

The top three finishers in each event, plus those who met a predetermined standard, at this year’s section finals qualified for the state meet. The section finals consisted of two flights in each event. The A-flight was comprised of the top nine section qualifiers who would be eligible to qualify for the state finals. The B-flight was comprised of athletes with the next nine best marks who would score points for their team toward determining the respective Division I and Division II team champions.

Danns (boys 100 and 200 dashes), Thompson (girls 100 hurdles) and Haywood (girls 300 hurdles) all qualified by placing first in the A-flight of their respective events while Moore (boys 400 dash), Archibold (boys 300 intermediate hurdles), Finley (boys pole vault), Stewart (boys long jump), James (girls 200 and 400 dashes), Montgomery (girls 800 run) and Toilolo (girls shot put) all qualified by placing second in the A-flight of their respective events. Three more athletes – Costa (boys 110 high hurdles), Simon-West (girls 400 dash) and Thu (girls discus) – all earned qualifying nods as third-place finishers in their respective A-flight events.

Danns and James, both in Division I, and Haywood and Thu, both in Division II, finished as double CIF champions in their respective individual events while Finley and Thompson, both in Division I, and Archibold, in Division II, also finished as individual division champions.

Danns, a junior, established himself as the section’s fastest sprinter after blazing to times of 10.65 and 21.57 seconds in the 100 and 200 dashes, respectively. He timed 10.89 to win last year’s 100 section title and clocked 21.80 in finishing second last year in the 200 dash (to Mira Mesa’s Tredale Tolver). The Helix junior entered the section finals with the top qualifying times of 10.63 and 21.61 posted a week earlier in the section prelim meet.

Danns placed ninth at last year’s state finals in the 100 dash with a time of 10.62, proving he has the ability to go faster this year.

Haywood, a sophomore, lived up to that traditional sports adage "on any given day" by upsetting several higher-seeded athletes in qualifying for the state meet in both hurdles events. That adage is not overused for a reason.

Haywood had sixth-best qualifying time in the 100 distance (and finished second) and the fourth-best qualifying time in the 300 distance (and finished first).

In the 100 hurdles, Haywood finished second to Helix junior Sharika Thompson, who has held down the top ranking in the section for the bulk of the season, but who came into the meet trailing top qualifiers Charay Savage of Otay Ranch and Carli Lloyd of Fallbrook. Thompson timed 14.82 at the section finals to place her name firmly on the No. 1 position. Clearly someone who was peaking at the right time, Haywood timed 15.29 to upend both Lloyd (15.38) and Savage (15.47). Haywood had qualified at 15.54.

In the 300 hurdles, Haywood (44.99) moved up 0.8 second to finish ahead of Morse sophomore Cori Franklin (45.17) and Torrey Pines junior Mallory Mainquist (45.71).

Thompson, who was favored with the top qualifying time of 45.24, was disqualified in the event.

Haywood’s times were the top times among Division II hurdlers. She stood on the awards stand alongside senior teammate Elizabeth Carnes, who placed second in the division in the 300 hurdles with a time of 45.45. Carnes had entered the event with a qualifying time of 46.06.

James sped to times of 24.77 and 55.45 in finishing second in both the 200 and 400 dashes. She had entered the meet with qualifying times of 25.00 and 56.23, respectively. Her finals times were the best among Division I runners. In both races, the Highlander junior finished second to University City senior Shakara Lott (24.39 in the 200 and 54.25 in the 400). Lott, who repeated her section titles of a year ago, finished as the Division II champion in both events.

Simon-West finished behind both Lott and James in the 400 dash with a time of 56.94 – more than a second faster than her qualifying time of 57.97.

Montgomery qualified as the second-place finisher in the girls 800 run by posting a time of 2:17.30. She had entered the finals as the third-fastest qualifier with a time of 2:19.02 behind top-qualifier (and event champion) Kelly McCann of La Costa Canyon and Rancho Bernardo freshman Krista Egenese. McCann topped the finals field by dropping two-and-a-half seconds from her entry time to win in 2:13.93 while Montgomery dropped a similar amount to move up to second.

McCann finished as the Division I champion; Montgomery was second.

For the Helix senior, the state qualifying berth in the track event was a particularly satisfying moment and it completed the quest she had begun last fall when she became the Highlanders’ lone individual qualifier to the state cross country finals. She qualified for the state meet in the 800 (as the section’s third-place finisher) as a junior but not in cross country.

"I wanted to go to state and I accomplished that goal, especially for this year in track. It’s been a difficult season. I injured my ankle early in the season. But with each race, I’ve only given my best," she said.

Finley will be making a repeat trip to the state finals in the boys pole vault after placing sixth last year to earn a state medal as a junior. He vaulted 15-8 to finish behind 2005 section champion Jeff Coover of La Jolla (16-4) at this year’s section finals. Coover, whose mark set a school record and a new section meet record, finished as the Division II champion while Finley, who holds the school record at 16-2, finished as this year’s Division I champion.

The Granite Hills senior had vaulted 15-6 in the prelims – the same height at which he placed second in last year’s section finals. Coover won the Division II title last year at 14-4.

Adding more muscle during the offseason was the key to increasing his height over the crossbar, said Finley, who estimated he added about 10 pounds of more muscle since last year. "I actually got up to about 195 during the offseason but dropped about 15 pounds for track. You start with a lot of bulky muscle, then you get into track, you start working out, weight training and sprint training. It’s definitely helped me out."

Finley placed sixth at last year’s state finals with a vault of 15-3.75, with the winning height of 16-4 posted by Granite Bay sophomore Scott Roth. This year, Finley ranks among the state leaders.

"There’s a little more confidence going into state this year. The strategy is basically the same – just stay focused, jump high and just hope it all comes together," Finley said.

The Granite Hills vaulter had set a goal of clearing 17-0 this season. "I still have a few meets to do it," he said.

The Golden West Invitational follows the state championships. That meet, which will also take place in Sacramento, draws elite talent from throughout the nation and serves as a standard for determining national All-American status. The Junior National championships are scheduled later in June in Carson. The qualifying mark for the latter meet is 16-0.75.

Finley hopes he’s up for it – literally.

Monte Vista’s Thu competed in both the girls shot put and discus, placing third in the discus (131-1) to earn her state qualifying berth while finishing seventh overall in the shot put (36-6.25) ahead of Mt. Miguel’s Antonique Seales (eighth, 36-5.25) and El Cajon Valley’s Michelle Thompson (36-4.25).

Thu had entered the section finals as the top qualifier in the discus (145-1) but El Camino senior Dereka Winters won the event with a throw of 146-0. Winters also finished as the section champion in the shot put (42-10.5).

Both of Thu’s marks, however, were good enough to place her first among Division II entrants.

"It’s just repetition, just practice," said Thu, who has competed in both events for the past seven years. "The most important thing is being consistent."

Helix’s Toilolo entered the section finals with a prelim put of 36-7.75 and upped that to 38-3 in the finals to place behind El Camino’s Winters. Toilolo won the Grossmont South League title with a put of 39-3.5.

Stewart -- the reigning Grossmont South League champion in the long jump (22-8.5) and triple jump (45-9.5) -- matched his qualifying mark of 22-6.5 to place second in the A-flight finals competition in the boys long jump. The Mt. Miguel junior had entered the event as the top qualifier but was upstaged by El Camino freshman Nelson Rosario, who jumped 23-2.75 to stun the field after entering the finals with a sixth-best qualifying mark of 21-7.5.

Stewart did place first overall among Division II long jumpers.

Stewart finished fourth in the triple jump at 45-9.5 – more than two feet farther than his fifth-best qualifying mark of 43-9. The final state qualifying berth went to Calvin Christian senior Sam Renihan, who jumped 45-11.5 to edge the Matador jumper by two inches.

Renihan finished as the Division II champion in the triple jump while Stewart was second.

In the boys 400 dash, Mt. Miguel’s Moore clocked 49.69 to place behind St. Augustine junior Robert Christenson (49.38). Moore, who won the 2005 Grossmont South League title in the event at 51.93, had entered the finals with the top qualifying time of 50.10. Christenson had the third-best qualifying time of 50.39.

Granite Hills’ Costa entered the section finals at the top qualifier in the boys 110 high hurdles (14.73) while Monte Vista’s Archibold entered the section finals as the top qualifier in the boys 300 intermediate hurdles (39.29).

Costa had won both hurdles events at the league championships by timing 14.72 and 39.31. The Eagles hurdler had led the section in both distances at various junctures this season but settled for third place in the shorter distance with a time of 15.13 behind race winner Derrick Barkum of Brawley (14.77) and runner-up Louie Pratt-Hazen of Rancho Buena Vista (15.12).

Archibold, meanwhile, improved on his prelim time to finish behind El Camino junior Derrel Davis (38.67). Davis had traded off with Costa at times this season for the top hurdles time. However, the El Camino junior fell in the 110 race and was disqualified, opening the door for Costa to qualify for the state meet, though Costa had to jump over the fallen Wildcat on the way to the finish line. Costa had the lead midway through the 300 race before faltering on the last hurdle and finishing fourth (39.89).

The Helix boys relay unit will also be looking to improve on its time of 42.61 it posted in placing 13^th at last year’s state finals. The Highlanders clocked 42.71 in placing second to Torrey Pines (42.58) at this year’s section finals. Helix entered the May 28 section meet with a prelim qualifying time of 42.92.

The weekend after the state meet, on June 11-12, a multi-event high school track and field championship will be held at Cuyamaca College. Registration is from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. on June 11. Competition begins at 11:30 a.m.