Section leader, national presence in girls 100-meter dash, high jump and long jump looks to lead Coronado to Division 2 crown

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor 

Alysah Hickey has enjoyed one of the most memorable seasons by any female athlete in CIF-San Diego Section history, but the Coronado High junior wants her greatest accomplishment Saturday to be leading the Islanders to their first section championship.

Hickey enters the San Diego Division 2 final at Mt. Carmel High as the section’s overall leader in the 100-meter dash, high jump and long jump, an exceptional combination that has allowed her to emerge this season as one the country’s most versatile performers.

But after second- and third-place team finishes the past two seasons, Hickey is more motivated than ever to help Coronado reach the top of the podium.

“It’s extremely exciting for me. Ever since I’ve been a part of Coronado’s track team, we’ve always come close to winning the girls CIF title, but we’ve never won it before,” Hickey said. “I remember freshman year when we got second, it was toward the end of the meet and I was still there, and it was me and a distance runner and my best friend (Ruthie Grant-Williams) and we were all hanging out and about to leave and we didn’t even know we got second.

“It was literally just us three girls and our head coach (George Green) on the podium and Cathedral Catholic had like 30-plus girls surrounding the podium and it’s the funniest photo I’ve ever seen because there are three of us and 30 of them.”

Cathedral Catholic is still in the hunt this season, seeking a fifth Division 2 crown in six years, with La Costa Canyon pursuing back-to-back titles and University City attempting to capture a fourth championship, including its first since 2006.

But Coronado’s title hopes don’t just rest on the running and jumping of Hickey, who has personal bests of 11.87 in the 100, 5-10 in the high jump and a wind-aided 19-5.25 in the long jump.

The Islanders will rely on fellow junior Teresa Perez to triple in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters, along with the support of freshmen Abigail Hundley in the 1,600 and Sofia Van Arsdale in the 800, in addition to junior Madden Hundley in the 1,600.

Grant-Williams is a potential scorer in the high jump, long jump and 100 hurdles for Coronado, which also has junior Victoria Perez competing in the discus throw final. The Islanders also return their entire 4x100 relay lineup from a fourth-place finish last year, with Abigail Whittemore and Madison Shanks joining Grant-Williams and Hickey.

“It’s not that we accumulated more girls, I think it’s just a lot of our girls have improved in their particular events and that’s accumulating us a lot more points. We’ve had the same girls, pretty much, since freshman year,” Hickey said. “We have a few freshmen and sophomores in the distance events, but most of the girls in my grade have just improved so much, so it’s just that constant improvement. We may not have that many girls, but we do excel in the events that those girls are put in.”

Hickey captured Division 2 titles in the 100, 200 and high jump last year, helping Coronado accumulate 66.5 points, trailing La Costa Canyon (73) and Cathedral Catholic (70). It was a step forward from her freshman season when Hickey didn’t win an individual championship and the Islanders finished with 59 points to place runner-up to Cathedral Catholic (145).

HICKEY INTERVIEW AT 2017 CIF-SAN DIEGO SECTION FINALS

The Islanders have been able to remain a contender because of the foundation of a strong middle school program, plus the all-around talent and competitive spirit of Hickey, who matched the No. 4 clearance in section history in the high jump, has the No. 8 long jump under all conditions and has run equal to the No. 11 all-time San Diego performer in the 100.

“Obviously, she is a great role model and team player,” Green said. “She would have run the 200 this season if it weren’t for her 19-5.25 jump in our first meet at the Mt. Carmel Field and Distance meet. That was the first time she’d long jumped seriously in a big meet. She’s jumped off and on in duals for points, but the sprints and high jump have always been her main events.”

Among the 20 high school female athletes in the country this year with at least a 5-10 high jump clearance, Hickey — who achieved the height for the first time in her career April 21 to win the 60th Mt. SAC Relays at El Camino College — is the only one who has run under 12 seconds in the 100, in addition to long jumping beyond 19 feet.

HICKEY INTERVIEW AT 60TH MT. SAC RELAYS

Morgan Smalls of Panther Creek NC has cleared 6-0.25, with a 19-3.50 long jump and Anna Hall of Valor Christian CO boasts a 5-10 clearance, combined with a 19-0.75 long jump. Zatoria Thompson of St. Thomas Aquinas FL has run 11.62, along with her 5-10.75 clearance.

But none of her fellow national high jump standouts have duplicated the success of Hickey, who ranks in the top 60 in the country with her wind-legal 100, top 25 with her wind-legal long jump and top 20 overall in the high jump.

“I guess when a girl with 11.87 speed in the 100 and a 5-10 high jump puts those two abilities together in the long jump, something good is bound to happen,” Green said. “It didn’t take a genius to figure out what her fourth event would be (along with the 4x100).”

Despite her potential to post the top overall marks in all three individual competitions Saturday — the first time at the section championship meet a female athlete would achieve that feat in those specific events — the focus for Hickey remains team success first.

“Especially in my San Diego Section, I try to represent the events that I am leading in with humility and poise,” Hickey said. “I don’t really think it changes how I’m going to approach this meet this weekend. I think it would be something really cool to achieve, but it’s not something I’m going to go into the meet thinking about. I’m just going to do my best for the team and try to accumulate as many points as I can.”

Although she is a significant favorite in the high jump and long jump, Hickey knows the biggest challenge to sweeping all three individual titles will come in her final event of the day, the 100.

Madison freshman Aysha Shaheed prevailed May 11 against Hickey at the City League finals by eight-hundredths and posted a faster qualifying time Saturday in the section prelims by a 12.11 to 12.22 margin, although they weren’t competing in the same heat. Hickey last produced a sub-12 effort at a May 3 league meet when she ran 11.94.

“This year, I’ve been focusing on jumps and not running the 100 as much,” said Hickey, who trains during the offseason with the Oregon-based Step Ur Game Up Track Club since her grandparents live in Portland.

“I had a little bit of a knee problem from league finals, just because I had been jumping so much, but I needed to get that time in so I could make it to CIF prelims.

“I see her as an extremely close friend of mine, but sometimes, your friends are going to beat you in a race. I think she’s great and if she wins, she wins and I’m not going to be upset because she is a friend and I feel like if you win, you deserve it. She has impressive times and she’s an impressive athlete and she’s been amazing, but I’m going to go out there and fight because that’s my title.”

In addition to leading by example on the track, Hickey remains a calming presence for her teammates, despite the stakes being higher than ever Saturday for Coronado at a section final.

“A lot of the girls who made it haven’t necessarily made it to the CIF finals, so me being a veteran, I’m making sure that I’m uplifting everyone and making sure that the girls aren’t nervous,” Hickey said. “They do know that we could possibly win a title, but I’ve been telling my girls, ‘Let’s not focus on the title, let’s focus on ourselves.’ They know how to run their race, they don’t need to perform any extra, so like coach said, ‘Just do what you’ve been doing.’

“If we get the title, we do, if we don’t, it’s fine as long as in their race or field event, they felt good about it and they tried their best, then we go away with that.”

What Hickey could leave Mt. Carmel with are the memories of one of the most impressive one-day showcases in section history. But her most desired recollection at the end of a long Saturday would be standing on top of the podium, holding a championship plaque and posing for photos while being surrounded by her coach and eight teammates.

“You don’t usually see a school like us coming. Nobody usually expects Coronado to excel in track,” Hickey said. “Prelims were not what we are capable of, so I have a lot of hope for the finals. We definitely have a lot of extra fight that we can bring (Saturday).”