Santa Barbara High’s Davis Flanagin and Andreas Dybdahl advanced to the final in their respective events at the CIF State Track & Field Championships on Friday.
Dybdahl will run in the boys 1600 meters while Flanagin advanced out of Friday’s prelims in the long jump.
“Santa Barbara hasn’t had two boys in the state finals since my first season here in 1996,” said coach Olivia Perdices. ” That was Phillip Pipersburg and Erik Landriz. They were teammates at Cal the next four years.”
Dybdahl won heat 1 of the 1600 meters in 4:12.05. He is the No. 7 seed in the 12-runner final. Anthony Fasthorse of Ventura won heat 2 and is seeded first at 4:10.48.
“He ran a smart, controlled race and eased to the front in the final stretch,” said Perdices of Dybdahl. “He’s done a great job navigating all the rounds to get here and I can’t wait to see what he can do against a lot of familiar faces tomorrow.”
Heat win 4:12.05 and a spot in the 1600 meter State Finals for Andreas Dybdahl 🔥@NoozhawkSports @sbnpnews @PrepCalTrack @MilesplitCA pic.twitter.com/sHGY0vbyaO
— Olivia Perdices (@Oli805SB) May 27, 2023
Cate School’s Sebastian Sutch, running in heat 1, was disqualified for cutting inside too soon during the break on the backstretch. Sutch finished the race in 4:12.84, which would have qualified him for the final.
Cate coach Tim Weir filed an appeal to the CIF.
“I didn’t see it,” said Weir. I filed an appeal and I was told by a CIF official that it was reported by the judge on the track. It is a judgment call and they do not review those calls.
“Seb was obviously very disappointed. It’s an extremely tough way to end the season. I have been coaching track and field for a very long time and have never seen this type of disqualification.”
Flanagin tied his lifetime best of 22-7.5 in his first jump for the early lead, then had to wait through two flights of boys seeded ahead of him to see if he’d made it. He ultimately finished in the 12th and final qualifying spot by a quarter inch.
“Absolutely clutch,” said an excited Perdices. “A big jump in a big moment to give himself a chance to keep the season alive. I hope he can ride that momentum to some big jumps tomorrow.”