Bishop Diego’s AV Bennett booked return trips to the CIF-SS Division Finals to defend his titles in the 100 and 200 and qualified in the long jump and 4×100 relay at Saturday’s Division 4 Prelims at Carpinteria High.
Bennett won his heat in the 100 and placed sixth overall in a time of 11.11. There was fast company in the division — the four heat winners clocked under 11.0, with Serra’s Isaiah Diego-Williams going the fastest at 10.79.
In the 200, the UCLA-bound Bennett qualified with a time of 22.62, the eighth fastest time of the day. He was second to Diego Williams (21.71) in their heat.
Bishop Diego’s 4×100 relay qualified with the eighth fastest time of the day at 43.69. The team of Tommy Murrillo, Isaiah Veal, Bennett and Mark Sorocco, were second in the heat behind St. Joseph (43.05)
Bennett went 20-10.75 on his third attempt to earn a berth in the Division 4 long jump finals at Cerritos College on Saturday.
Carpinteria qualified four athletes for the CIF Finals. Tri-Valley League champion Chance Wright won his heat and was the fourth fastest qualifier in the 110 high hurdles with a tie of 15.60. He just missed making it in the 300 hurdles.
Brian Buchmiller and Jimmy Graves were among the nine qualifiers in the pole vault with 12 foot clearances.
Annalisa DeAlba earned a finals spot in the discus with a toss of 111-8. It was the fifth best mark of the competition.
Gaby Fantone will be the first alternate in the 300m hurdles after finishing 10th with a time of 48.77
Cate School’s Kyril Van Schendel advanced to the finals in the 1600 and 3200. His 1600 time of 4:28.77 was the eighth fastest overall and his 3200 time of 9:41.23 was fourth best.
Joel Serugo of the Rams went 21-04.50 to qualify in the long jump.
Santa Ynez distance runners Grehson Smith and Johnny Jimenez moved to the next level of competition. Smith ran 4:27.23 for the fifth-best time in the 1600, while Jimenez finished No. 5 in the 3200 at 9:40.26. Giulio Giordani cleared 12-0 to qualify in the pole vault.
From St. Joseph, CJ Cole had a big day, qualifying in the 100 (11.14), 4×100 relay (43.05) and shot put (46-08). Blake Jaekels ran 15.83 to advance in the 110 hurdles and Jose Garcia qualified in the discus at 131-03.
Emily Donohue of the Santa Ynez girls was the top qualifier in the 3200 (10:58) and made it in the 1600 with the ninth best time of 5:1167. The 1600 winner, Mazzy Genovese of Rolling Hills Prep ran 4:59.68.
Also qualifying for the Santa Ynez girls were the 4×400 relay team (4:07.08), Laura Trupe in the high jump (5-0) and Sarah Perkins in the shot put (35-8.50).
Saturday’s prelims featured one of the best sprinters in the country in Lauren Rain Williams of Oaks Christian. She didn’t disappoint, posting times of 11.65 in the 100 and 23.30 in the 200.
Other impressive marks on the day included Serra’s girls 4×100 team going 47.92 and boys triple jumper Jah Strange of Xavier Prep leaping 47-9.75.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.