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Preview - 10 Boys Storylines to Follow at California CIF Outdoor State Championships

Published by
DyeStat.com   May 22nd 2019, 2:52am
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By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Here are 10 storylines involving male athletes to keep an eye on Friday and Saturday at the 101st CIF State Championships at Buchanan High’s Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis:

Lord of the ring looks to reign supreme again

Bakersfield Liberty senior Daniel Viveros has the potential to not only become the first repeat shot put champion since former Bakersfield Frontier star Matt Darr in 2009-10, but also to become just the third male athlete to surpass 70 feet in meet history.

Fallbrook graduate Brent Noon produced a 74-4.75 (22.67m) mark in 1990, which remains the state championship record, with former St. John Bosco standout Matt Katnik delivering a 72-foot effort (21.94m) in 2015.

Viveros enters the state prelims as the national leader at 71-3 (21.71m), in addition to ranking No. 5 in state history. The Central Section record remains 71-10 (21.89m) by Bakersfield’s Van Mounts from 1997.

Viveros, who has won 30 consecutive high school shot put competitions, is attempting to become only the sixth male athlete in state history to capture back-to-back shot put titles and has an outside chance of becoming the first individual to sweep the shot put and discus championships in the same year since Esperanza graduate Bronson Osborn achieved the double in 2016.

One and done for Young, Anderson and Strangio seek daily double

Three of the elite distance runners in the country will square off Saturday in the 3,200-meter final when Newbury Park junior Nico Young, Jesuit junior Matt Strangio and Redwood Larkspur senior Liam Anderson meet for the first time since April 6 at the Arcadia Invitational.

Young prevailed in that race, running his first of three sub-9 performances with a national-leading 8:40.

Anderson is the reigning 1,600 champion and Strangio is last year’s winner in the 3,200, with both athletes pursuing the demanding double. Young is focusing solely on the 3,200, looking to become Newbury Park’s first state track champion after capturing the Division 2 cross country title in November.

Anderson, the reigning Nike Cross Nationals champion, prevailed against fellow All-Americans Young and Strangio in the December race, but has yet to run faster than either individual in the 3,200 this year.

Strangio is attempting to become the first back-to-back 3,200 state champion since Royal graduate Michael Cybulski in 2005-06. Anderson is trying to become the first male athlete to repeat in the 1,600 since Bakersfield Stockdale’s Blake Haney in 2013-14, along with pursuing Redwood Larkspur’s first 3,200 championship since Fred Huxham in 2014.

Christon tries to secure sprint sweep

From 2008-14, Cathedral’s Randall Carroll, Covina’s Remontay McClain, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s Khalfani Muhammad and Mater Dei’s Curtis Godin swept the 100- and 200-meter state titles in each of those seven seasons, but there hasn’t been a double sprint champion since.

San Diego Madison senior Kenan Christon looks to end that drought Saturday, attempting to capture championships following a pair of sixth-place finishes last year.

Christon ascended to the No. 5 performer in state history with a wind-legal 20.55 in the 200, setting the San Diego Section record in the Division 2 prelims.

Christon equaled the No. 12 performer in state history with his wind-legal effort of 10.33 seconds in the 100 at the San Diego Section finals. He also boasts a wind-aided performance of 10.26.

He has the potential to eclipse the San Diego Section wind-legal 100 record of 10.30 held since 1992 by Southwest High’s Riley Washington.

Washington’s performance is also the wind-legal state championship record, with Vista Murrieta graduate Javelin Guidry running a wind-aided 10.13 in 2017. Washington is the last San Diego Section sprinter to capture the 100 title, with Patrick Henry’s David Russell the last 200 state winner in 1977.

Another Vista Murrieta graduate Michael Norman produced the state finals record in the 200 by clocking 20.30 in 2015. Norman’s wind-legal state record is 20.14 from the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Christon’s biggest challenger in both events is expected to be Sherman Oaks Notre Dame standout Christian Grubb.

The all-timer against the first-timers

Long Beach Poly boasts the most boys state team championships in history with 10, but the Jackrabbits haven’t captured a title since 2011.

A pair of potential first-time winners look to extend that drought for Long Beach Poly, with Clovis North and Upland in contention for podium positions.

Long Beach Poly has the advantage of having entries in both the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relays, with Clovis North only in the 4x100 and Upland solely in the 4x400.

But Clovis North benefits from junior Caleb Foster being entered in the 110-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump, along with junior Isaiah Galindo in the 1,600 and 3,200, along with Naythn Scruggs in the 100.

Upland has Caleb Lutalo Roberson in the 300 hurdles and 100, in addition to Namir Hemphill in the 300 hurdles and triple jump.

In addition to the two relays, Long Beach Poly boasts Liam Anderson in the 110 and 300 hurdles, Kenyon Reed in the 100 and 200, Everett Steward in the 400, DeAngelo Chester in the 200 and William Frankenfeld in the 3,200.

Upland looks to continue a trend of Inland Empire teams capturing titles in recent years, following Vista Murrieta, Rancho Verde and Murrieta Mesa. Clovis North is attempting to become the first Central Section boys team to prevail since Clovis East and Bakersfield Frontier shared the crown in 2009.

Proud family pole vault legacy

Redondo Union standout Tate Curran joined father Anthony Curran and uncle Tim Curran, both former Crespi standouts, as a state pole vault champion in 2017.

St. Francis Mountain View junior Scott Toney has the opportunity to add to his family’s list of pole vault achievements should he be able to capture the championship Saturday.

His father Steve Toney captured the state crown for Menlo-Atherton in 1986 with a 16-2 clearance (4.92m). Older brother Marc Toney placed sixth for St. Francis in 2013 and oldest brother Shawn Toney finished ninth for St. Francis in 2010.

Scott Toney has even more motivation after not clearing the opening height of 14-3 (4.34m) at last year’s state prelims.

He’ll have to contend with Rancho Bernardo senior Jacob Rice, who finished fourth last season and has cleared 16-4 (4.97m) this year, along with fifth-place finisher Skyler Magula of Marina.

Lodi senior Samuel Wright, the state leader at 16-8 (5.08m), along with Oak Ridge junior Tyler Burns – who boasts a 16-3 clearance (4.95m) – are also leading contenders, along with Miramonte senior Marcus Young, who cleared 16-1 (4.90m) on Monday at the North Coast Section Meet of Champions.

Ruler of the runway

Clovis North junior Caleb Foster is looking to become the first male athlete to sweep state titles in the long jump and triple jump in the same year since Castro Valley star Nate Moore achieved the feat in both 2013 and 2014, entering the state prelims as the leader in both events at 25-1.50 (7.65m) and 49-1.25 (14.96m).

But Foster, who finished fourth in the long jump last year and didn’t compete in the triple jump final, will face significant challenges in pursuit of becoming Clovis North’s first male athlete to capture a state championship.

St. Mary’s Berkeley junior Malcolm Clemons, the reigning state long jump champion with an effort of 25-1 (7.64m), returns in an attempt to become the eighth male athlete to capture back-to-back crowns in meet history.

Upland junior Namir Hemphill, 13th in the triple jump last season, and Point Loma senior Altan Mitchell are the only other athletes in the state this season besides Foster to have soared past 48 feet.

Caleb Foster is looking to follow older sister Rhesa Foster, the 2016 girls long jump champion, by winning a state title for the Broncos.

Unfinished business

Caleb Foster is also competing in the 110-meter hurdles following a seventh-place finish last season, but no athlete in the event has more motivation than St. Mary’s Stockton junior Jamar Marshall.

Despite running 13.68 seconds last season, Marshall endured a false start at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters meet and didn’t have the opportunity to compete for a state championship.

Marshall has run under 14 seconds 12 times this season, including a national-leading 13.50 at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 finals, edging Merrill West senior Warren Williams, who clocked the fourth-fastest time in the country this season at 13.55.

Marshall and Williams, fourth at last year’s state final, have competed head to head in eight meets already this season, with Marshall winning the past six matchups.

Foster is the only other athlete in the state to have run under 14 seconds, with a personal-best 13.96 at the Central Section North Area qualifying meet. He has yet to square off against Marshall or Williams this season.

No Sac-Joaquin Section athlete has ever won a state title in the 110 hurdles. The last individual from the section to capture a high hurdles championship was Sacramento High’s Doug Busby in the 120-yard hurdles in 1936.

Long road to 400-meter rematch

Four athletes with their own individual sources of motivation return to pursue the 400-meter title Saturday.

Clayton Valley senior Cameron Reynolds took runner-up last season and is the top returning talent in a deep field.

West Ranch junior Solomon Strader won his prelim heat, but wasn’t able to compete in the final.

West Valley senior Ismail Turner was disqualified in last year’s championship because of a lane violation.

And Monterey Trail senior Zach Larrier missed advancing to the final by one-tenth and is looking for an opportunity to contend for the state crown.

Add in Harvard-Westlake senior Brayden Borquez, who didn’t finish his 300-meter hurdles prelim race last year, and there is no shortage of inspiration for any of the leading contenders.

Larrier enters the prelims as the state leader at 46.49 seconds from the Arcadia Invitational, with Borquez and Turner also having run under 47 seconds this season.

Strader won the Southern Section Masters meet in a personal-best 47.04, with Reynolds taking second behind cousin and teammate Justin Lowe at the North Coast Section Meet of Champions. Reynolds, who ran 47.27 in last year’s final, has clocked 47.36 this season, with Lowe running 47.58.

Johnson aspires to be local legend

Buchanan has crowned only one boys state champion in program history, when Kyle Alcorn captured the 3,200-meter title in 2002.

No Bears athlete, regardless of gender, has won a state title in any field event.

Senior Christian Johnson is hoping his final appearance in the discus ring will produce a memorable moment for the host school at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Johnson, who placed eighth last year, is looking to return the Central Section to prominence after Bakersfield Foothill’s Dayshan Ragans, Bakersfield Foothill’s Matt Darr and Clovis East’s Willy Irwin captured discus titles from 2008-10.

Johnson is one of six athletes in the field to have surpassed 190 feet this season, including junior Aidan Elbettar of Newport Harbor, the state leader at 197-4 (60.14m).

Bakersfield Liberty senior Daniel Viveros, 12th in last year’s final, and Elbettar are the only California athletes to have prevailed once in head-to-head discus competition against Johnson this season.

Kyler Van Grouw, who transferred from Fresno Central to Buchanan, is the top returning athlete from last season following a fifth-place finish. Newbury Park senior Gino Cruz is also in contention again after securing seventh last year, along with Ventura senior Carlos Aviles, who finished 11th.

Another Westmont winner or significant Valencia victory

No teammates have ever won boys 800-meter titles in consecutive years.

The only time it has occurred in meet history was at the 880-yard distance, when Compton’s Jerome Walters won in 1947, followed by teammate Wilbur Firestone in 1948-49.

But Westmont junior Garrett MacQuiddy has the potential to match the achievement last year’s winner Jason Gomez in Saturday’s final.

There is also history at stake for Valencia senior Kai Wingo, who is looking to become the first male athlete in program history to capture a state championship.

Aly Drake captured Valencia’s first girls state title in the 800 in 2009. A decade later, Wingo – the state leader at 1:52.08 – is looking to produce another champion for the Vikings.

The Sac-Joaquin Section Masters meet produced four athletes under 1:55, led by Jesuit junior Chase Gordon, who boasts a personal-best 1:53.06.

Loyola senior Mason Ratkovich is also a leading contender with a personal-best 1:52.38, along with San Pasqual senior Noah Tellez-Velazquez, who has run 1:52.52.



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