Noah Ray, a junior at Buchanan High and the program record holder in the 800 meters at 1:52.66 and the mile at 4:12.94 along with contributing to the fastest performances in school history in the 4x800-meter relay (7:52.43) and distance medley relay (10:05.47), joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss the return of the California state track and field championships May 27-28 to his home venue at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis for the first time since 2019. Ray is entered in the 1,600 meters following a runner-up finish May 21 at the Central Section Masters meet in a personal-best 4:09.68 at Veterans Memorial Stadium, which has him closing in on the 2012 program record of 4:07.72 by Cody Brazeal. He examines the energy surrounding the Buchanan program after both boys and girls teams captured Central Section Masters titles and how all of the current Bears student-athletes are inspired and motivated to compete for their past teammates who didn't have an opportunity to participate in a state championship in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ray shares how beneficial it has been to compete against Clovis junior and Tri-River Athletic Conference rival Christopher Caudillo, who boasts the fastest time in the 1,600 field at 4:03.83 and won the Central Section Masters crown in 4:07.57. He also analyzes the potential to become the first Buchanan male athlete since Kyle Alcorn prevailed in the 3,200 meters in 2002 to secure a state championship. Ray expresses gratitude for his coaches and teammates Brenton Maddox, Zach Weaver and Quincy Patton who have helped his improvement and progress throughout the season and credits the insight and wisdom of past teammates Bo Olsen, Austin Gillen and Sebastian McGehee-Adams for helping his development during the early stages of his high school career. He reflects on the opportunities to achieve program records in the 4x800 at the Arcadia Invitational and the DMR at the Oregon Relays, and how meaningful the experiences were to be part of such competitive fields in both races. Ray also shares his ambitions to continue improvement in cross country next fall and to expand his range to become more competitive in the 3,200 during his senior year. He also explains how meaningful it would be for him and Caudillo to secure the top two spots in the May 28 final and to capture the first title in the event for the Central Section since Blake Haney of Bakersfield Stockdale in 2013-14 and for Fresno County since Bob Seaman of Reedley won the mile in 1953 and Kellen Martinez of Fresno Edison took the mile in 1940.