Santa Barbara High, San Marcos and Dos Pueblos turned in strong showings at the Channel League Track & Field Championships on Thursday in Oxnard.
With plenty of impressive showings throughout the day, the Dons, Royals and Chargers will now each send several student-athletes to the CIF-SS Prelims next Saturday.
Santa Barbara High
Elina Stump captured a trio of individual Channel League titles, repeating as league champion in the 100 hurdles and triple jump, while claiming first in the 300 hurdles as well. She also finished the day in second in the long jump.
“I’m really impressed with how Elina handled a tough day at long jump and bounced back in her other events,” Santa Barbara High head coach Olivia Perdices said.
Malachi Johnston also earned a back-to-back league title with a lifetime best throw of 55-0.25 in the shot put. He also took third place in the discus.
“That mark was a big breakthrough for [Johnston] at shot put,” Perdices said.
The Dons’ boys 4×800-meter relay team of Noah Davis, Lucca Lowry, Ethan Walp and Kik Van Engelen crossed the finish line first with a season-best time of 8:19.86 to win the league title.
As for the girls 4×800-meter relay squad, Ailey Alexander, Olivia Arevalo, Sydney Burgoyne and Itzel Rayos-Jimenez finished as runner-ups with a season-best 10:11.81.
“Great racing by every one of those kids,” Perdices said of the 4×800 relay teams. “I’m so proud of how they executed and how hard they ran for each other.”
Shea Gannon (triple jump, 2nd place, 35-5.25), Chris Lopez (200-meter, 2nd place) and Jarrod Shalhoob-Conaway (high jump, 3rd place, 6-2) all qualified for the CIF-SS prelims as well.
“Clutch performances (by Gannon, Lopez and Shalhoob-Conaway). I’m excited for the three of them to keep competing,” Perdices said.
San Marcos
Elsie Tuttle impressed in several events for the Royals, taking second in the 800-meter and 1,600-meter races as an individual and earning third place as a member of the 4×400 and 4×800-meter relay races.
As a result, Tuttle qualified for the CIF-SS prelims in the 800 and 1,600, while the 4×400 relay squad will also compete in the postseason.
“Elsie ran great today. She is very competitive and she thrives in these types of races,” San Marcos head coach Marilyn Hantgin said.
Layla Llewellyn and Autumn Richardson qualified for CIF-SS prelims in the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter races, respectively.
“These two girls just work so hard. They were determined to get themselves to the next meet,” Hantgin said.
Meanwhile, Harlyn Griffin (discus, 2nd place), Jaylee Farias (triple jump) and Margaret Deakyne (100 hurdles, 3rd place) will all compete in their events in the CIF-SS prelims as well.
On the boys side, Logan Patterson Deakyne was crowned the Channel League champion in the 300 hurdles and was a member of the second-place 4×400 team that qualified for CIF-SS prelims.
TJ Deakyne also qualified in a pair of events, earning a spot in the long jump and high jump. Logan Hale also had a strong day with a personal-best mark of 141-03 in the discus to punch his ticket to the postseason.
“Logan is really coming on at the right time of the season,” Hantgin said. “It’s a great experience for him to make CIF as a 10th grader.”
Oliver Werkhoven secured a Channel League title for the Royals as well, jumping 46-2 in the triple jump to take first place.
Dalton Shupe (pole vault, 2nd place) and Alex Silva (400-meter, 3rd place) rounded out the team’s CIF-SS prelim qualifiers.
“Royals had a solid showing at finals. We had so many personal bests today,” Hantgin said. “It was a great day to end on such a positive note. My coaches have done an amazing job with these athletes.”
Dos Pueblos
Kellan Cotter earned a pair of Channel League individual titles, winning the 200-meter with a time of 22 seconds and taking the top spot in the 400-meter at 49.73 seconds.
The Charger boys success continued as Cullen Gully won the 800-meter race at 1:57.27 and Owen Abbott’s time of 4:13.95 was good for first place in the 1,600-meter.
Cotter and Gully teamed up with Atton Hayes and James Dominguez to win the boys 4×400 relay race in 3:25.49.
In the girls 4×100 relay, Tabitha Weller, Hazel Burgess, Lucia Riley and Ruby Streatfeild recorded a time of 49.29 seconds to win the league title.
The duo of Alix Hollingsworth (discus, 114-06) and Luna Gnagy (high jump, 5-0) capped off the team’s first-place finishes.
Dos Pueblos track & field did not provide information.