Ramona track teams flying out of the blocks

By Phillip Brents
Posted May 1, 2003

Ramona High School’s track and field team appears to be rolling out in high gear for the 2003 spring sports season.

The Bulldogs finished seventh out of 23 teams in last year's San Diego Section Division II girls championship meet and 13th out of 26 teams in last year’s boys finals. Supported by a large class of returning athletes, this year’s boys team may be looking to climb up the rankings when the division finals and state qualifying meet are contested May 31 at Poway High School.

Several athletes are bidding for spots in this year’s state championship meet. The top three finishers at the combined May 31 CIF finals/Masters state qualifying meet advance to the state finals along with those who meet a pre-established time or distance standard.

Senior Bryce Yeaton, who finished fifth in last year’s Division II finals with a time of 11.18 in the 100-meter dash, topped the section with an electronic time of 10.90 seconds entering May. He was seventh at last year’s Masters meet in 11.08.

Yeaton’s section-leading 10.90 time, however, looks to be challenged by returning state bronze medalist Reggie Bush of Helix. Bush held the section’s top clocking in the event at 10.48, though the time was posted in wind-aided conditions. Bush finished third in last year’s state finals in 10.74 after winning his prelim heat in 10.42.

Yeaton, who had the best electronic time of 22.58 in the 200 meters among Division II sprinters, led Helix’s Darrell Hutsona (10.97) and El Camino’s Billy Walker (11.04) for top non-wind aided marks in the 100.

Junior James Rhoades, who was eighth in the 400-meter dash in 51.75 at last year’s division finals, had turned in the section’s third-best time of 49.78 in the event this year (second in the division). He won the 400 at the Poway Trackfest, held April 11-12 at Poway High, by timing 49.78.

Junior John Parker, who finished second in the long jump at last year’s Division II meet with a jump of 21 feet, 7.5 inches, ranked third in the division this year with a jump of 21-3.25 behind Serra’s Vinnie Weathers (23-8) and University City’s Eric Nyberg (22-0). At the Titan Trackfest, Parker was second in the long jump at 20-8.25 to event winner Anthony Bradley of Mira Mesa at 21-4.

Senior Richard Clingman, who had the ending to last fall’s cross country season diminished by an injury, finished 13th in the 3200-meter run in 10:12.74 at last year’s Division II meet. He had already bettered that time this year with a 9:48.93 to rank fifth best in the division. That time placed him fourth overall at the Titan Trackfest.

Jeremy Adams was sixth in the division at last year’s 110 high hurdles finals with a time of 15.90 and had moved up third in the division this year with a time of15.46. He ranked second in the division in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 40.91.

At the Titan Trackfest, Adams was second in the 300 intermediate hurdles with a time of 40.91 and took fourth in the 110 high hurdles (15.46).

In relay events, the Bulldogs also ranked among the section leaders — owning the sixth-best mark in the 4x100 relay in 43.36 (second in the division) and eighth in the 4x400 relay in 3:31.13 (fourth in the division).

Ramona received some exceptional individual performances while competing in the meet's afternoon session at the annual Jaguar Invitational, held April 26 at Valley Center High School. 

Parker won the boys 100 meters with a time of 11.33 seconds while Rhoades finished sixth in the highly competitive 400 dash with a time of 51.77.

Adams third in the 110 high hurdles in 15.85 behind event winner Daniel Chang of Bonita Vista (15.17) and runner-up Corey Dart of Granite Hills (15.67). Adams was sixth in the 300 intermediate hurdles with a time of 41.79 to trail the top time posted by Bonita Vista’s Justin Hillery (39.5).

In the long jump, Parker finished seventh overall with a jump of 20-8. Ramona was fourth in 4x100 relay and fifth in the 4x400 relay.

At the Titan Trackfest, Ramona took second place in the 4x100 relay in 44.04 behind the meet record 42.99 established by Morse (besting the old mark set last year by the same school at 43.16).   

While Ramona’s depth may not be as strong at the section level this year on the girls side, the Bulldogs still possess some outstanding individual talent.

Kali Vander Vort was second in both the shot put (35-9) and discus (120-8) as a junior at last year’s finals while Mishon Stalnacker finished third in last year’s 400 finals in 59.78 as a sophomore.

Vander Vort had recorded the top marks in the division this year in both her specialty events -- ranking second in the section with a 39-4 mark in the shot put.

At the Jaguar Invitational, Stalnacker posted the second-best run in the 1500 meters at 4:59.91 while Allison Beresford cleared 5-0 in the high jump to match the second-highest mark on the day.

The CIF prelims will take place May 24 at Poway High School, followed the next week by the CIF finals and Masters meet at the same site.

Nine Division 1 and nine Division 2 athletes will qualify into an “A” heat and a “B” heat at the prelims. For the finals, the top 9 marks out of these 18 go to the “A” heat, the other nine will compete in the “B” heat. Only “A” heat athletes can advance to state meet. The “B” heat will go towards determining the respective Division 1 and Division 2 team champions, with the top marks from the two heats in each event counted in the scoring. Individual Division 1 and Division 2 champions may come out of either heat based on top marks.

Swimming
Junior Ryan Tucker helped Ramona secure third place in the boys division in the Granite Hills Invitational on April 26 by finishing first in the 50-yard freestyle event and third in the 100 backstroke event.

The defending San Diego Section Division  II champion in both the 50 and 100 freestyle events, Tucker timed 22.54 seconds to finish ahead of Grossmont’s Matt Clements, whose 23.31 was fast enough for second place in the event. Tucker took a narrow third in the backstroke event with a time of 59.82 — trailing swimmers from Valhalla (59.38) and Granite Hills (59.60). 

Kasey Pierce (100 butterfly) and Brett Bylund (500 freestyle) both recorded second place individual place-finishes for the Bulldogs, who also posted a third-place finishes in the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays and a fourth-place finish in the 200 medley relay.

Pierce (59.42) finished second to Valhalla superstar Clint McLaughlin (54.81), who also won the 200 freestyle event, while Bylund (5:13.58) also took second to a Norseman swimmer in his event.

Ramona finished the high profile meet with 209 points to rank behind invitational champion Valhalla (268 points) and Granite Hills (257 points).

In the girls division, the Bulldogs finished in eighth place in the team standings.

Ramona swept all 11 swimming events to defeat Orange Glen 131-36 in boys competition in the team’s first Valley League swim meet. Tucker scored victories in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly events while Bylund captured the 100 and 200 freestyle events. Will Adams, Rosten Veater, Josh Moore and Pierce also won events for the Bulldogs.