Mustangs hold off strong challenge from Fort Bragg at track and field championships
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ST. HELENA >> The Middletown High School varsity girls and Lower Lake High School junior varsity girls claimed North Central League I championships Wednesday afternoon during the Coastal Mountain Conference Track and Field Championships in St. Helena.
It’s the second straight year Middletown head coach Wyatt Hall has watched his Lady Mustangs claim a league title, and they needed a strong team effort to pull off the repeat as they turned back a strong challenge from Fort Bragg, outlasting the Timberwolves 210.5 to 176.5.
“I am so proud of all my athletes,” Hall said. “They trained hard all season and performed well at the championship. I have 22 athletes moving on to the NCS (Class A) Championships next Saturday (Saturday, May 17) at Montgomery High (in Santa Rosa).”
Added Hall, “My varsity girls team had a lot of athletes step up to defend the title. In track it takes so many athletes performing well to capture a title. The athletes that are scoring points in fifth and sixth place matter just as much as those placing top three and earning a medal.”
All five Lake County schools took part in the CMC Championships. Medals went to the top three finishers in all events. Clear Lake, Kelseyville, Middletown and Upper Lake top-eight finishers advance to the NCS Class A meet in Santa Rosa while top-four finishers from Lower Lake move on to the NCS Redwood Empire Championships on Saturday, May 17 at Fortuna High School. Lower Lake competes in a different division because of its higher enrollment.
Varsity girls
Lake County had two clear standouts in the varsity girls division. One was Middletown’s Makayla Mace, who earned points and medals in four different events.
Mace finished second in the 100-meter dash (13.01 seconds), second in the 200 (27.27), second in the 100 hurdles (17.81) and third in the pole vault (7-6).
“Makayla Mace continued her outstanding year by placing top three in all four of her events,” Hall said. “Mace has been consistently placing high all year. I was worried a few weeks ago when she suffered an injury and missed some time, but she bounced back and continues to impress.”
Kaylah Billig of Clear Lake was no less impressive. Of the three firsts secured by Lake County athletes in the varsity girls division, Billig had two of them. She not only won the shotput (30 feet, 6 inches), edging out Middletown’s Krystal Ocken (30-2), but Billig won the discus as well with a toss of 105-11 ½. The next best throw was 90-7 by Ocken.
Middletown’s 4×800 relay team added the only other county first as Alivia Stark, Ally Cherry, Veronica Daughtery and Bailey Smith finished in 12 minutes, 18.53 seconds. Second and third place also went to Lake County teams. Kelseyville’s Aylin Aguilar Estefany Munos, Mikaela Rico and Arionna Sanderson were second in 12:49.64, and Upper Lake’s Autumn Clark, Sofia Cruz, Leyla Marcks and Isabelle McCarty placed third in 13:44.39.
Isa Barnes and Jolene Holley of Middletown also made big contributions to the Mustangs’ winning team point total. Barnes finished second in the 300 hurdles (51.83) and third in the 100 hurdles (17.81) while Holley took third in the high jump (4-8) and sixth in the triple jump (28-11 ½).
“Jolene Holley is another athlete who stepped up for the team,” Hall said. “She placed third in the high jump based on jumps, but she also performed in the triple jump for the first time, finishing sixth. Holley is a great athlete who was willing to learn a difficult event for the team. I can’t think of a better example of a team player.”
Other medal winners were Lynneah Davis of Lower Lake, third in the 100 (13.38); Crystal Duval of Middletown, third in both the shotput (28-5) and discus (90-0); and the runner-up Lower Lake 4×100 relay team of Irianna Milano, Lynneah Daniels, Crystal Montanez and Mary Watson in 54.67.
County athletes also pulled down a handful of individual fourth-place finishes. They were Middletown’s Smith in the 400 (1:05.35), Sophia Yebra in the 3,200 (13:51.64) and Madeline de la Torre in the discus (81-8), Kelseyville’s Nyejzniya Krohn in the long jump (14-9 ½), and Lower Lake’s Kaylee Case in the 100 hurdles (18.30).
Varsity boys
Top Lake County finishers in the varsity boys division were Upper Lake’s Jack Demunck, second in the shotput (37-5); Yahir Rodriguez of Kelseyville, third in the 200 (23.63); Ashton Hartmann of Lower Lake, third in the long jump (19-4); Seth Watson of Middletown, third in the discus (117-5 ½); and Daniel Garner of Lower Lake, third in the pole vault (9-6).
Lower Lake’s 4×100 relay team of Jimmy Shankles, Hadley Mick, Christian Rodriguez and Jeremiah Lopez also finished third in 46.92.
Fourth-place finishers were Lower Lake’s Lopez in the 200 (23.66) and triple jump (37-6), Shankles in the long jump (19-3), Steven Rich in the shotput (34-3), and Jorge Carlos in the discus (114-1/2), and Middletown’s Bryton Caviness in the pole vault (9-0).
Middletown’s 4×800 relay team of Quinn Murray, Isaac Losada, Ren Ueno and Richard Ramos also came in fourth in 10:04.71.
Fort Bragg won the team title, dominating the competition with 200.5 points. Middletown was a distant second with 94.5.
JV girls
Lower Lake’s JV girls rolled up an impressive 215 points to claim the league championship in front of Fort Bragg (185).
The Trojans won 10 events. Double-event winners were Stella Aleman in the 100 (13.93) and 200 (29.09), Angela Martin in the 1,600 (6:59.33) and 3,200 (16:17.59), and Riley Givens in the 300 hurdles (53.72) and triple jump (31-0).
Other individual firsts went to Lower Lake’s Cristal Castro-Luna in the 400 (1:07.79) and Jennifer DeJesus in the long jump (13-5 ½).
Lower Lake also pulled down firsts in the 4×100 relay (Castro-Luna, Jessica Garcia, Evelyn Zendejas and Aaliyah Jacinto) in 56.38, and the 4×400 relay (Castro-Luna, Givens, Vanessa Martinez and Eleyna McTeague) in 4:51.01.
The Trojans secured a handful of seconds as well – Lorena Inong in the 400 (1:17.63) and 1,600 (7:18.30), Castro-Luna in the high jump (4-0), and DeJesus in the triple jump (26-5 ¼). Thirds went to Castro-Luna in the 200, Lola Meyer in the 800 (3:17.92) and 1,600 (7:19.40), and Jordan Stark in the pole vault (5-6).
JV boys
Fort Bragg won the JV boys league title with 262.5 points to 112 for runner-up Lower Lake.
Middletown’s Luke Mace won the high jump (5-0) and finished second in the 100 (12.02) while also running a leg on the Mustangs’ third-place 4×100 relay team, which also included Zachary Norris, Jose Ramirez-Walle and Jamisen Jackson). They finished in 50.73.
Lower Lake’s Kody Ranous won the shotput (40-7) while teammate Alfonso Rones won the discus (117-6) and finished third in the shotput (38-3). Yet another first went to Lower Lake’s Raijhier McKneely in the 110 hurdles (17.48).
Other second-place finishes went to Lower Lake’s Logan Case in the 3,200 (11:44.05) and Sevin Thomas in the discus (93-2), and to the Lower Lake 4×800 relay team of Case Daniel Zamora, Jorge Gonzalez and Emliano Rivera in 11:13.78.
Other thirds went to Middletown’s Jackson in the high jump (4-10) and Lower Lake’s Jose Hernandez Gomez in the discus (86-8 ½).
Advancing athletes
Other county varsity boys advancing to the Class A meet on May 17 are:
Clear Lake – Nolan Ewing, 100 (eighth).
Kelseyville – Alex Fordham, 300 hurdles (seventh) and 110 hurdles (eighth).
Middletown – Tyler Galamay, 100 (sixth), Cale McLean, high jump (tie fifth), Esteban Muniz, triple jump (sixth), Jay-J Gerst, shotput (eighth), Dylan Caviness, pole vault (fifth).
Upper Lake – Jerod Rosales, discus (seventh) and 300 hurdles (eighth), Kaden Coltharp, high jump (tie fifth).
Other county varsity girls advancing to the Class A meet on May 17 are:
Clear Lake – Paisley Himenes, 300 hurdles (eighth).
Kelseyville – Arionna Sanderson, 400 (seventh), Aylin Aguilar, 3,200 (eighth), Grace Hobbs, 100 hurdles (eighth).
Middletown – Casandra Padilla, 100 (fifth), Cat Barriga, 800 (seventh) and pole vault (seventh), Sophie Yebra, 1,600 (eighth), Lupita Cabrera, 3,200 (sixth), Mia Hoogendoorn, 100 hurdles (sixth) and high jump (sixth), Taylor Thompson, discus (fifth) and shotput (eighth), Evelyn Finney, discus (eighth).
Upper Lake – Saphira Hughes, long jump (sixth) and 100, Angelina Bendure, shotput (fifth), Autumn Clark, 300 hurdles (sixth).
