Several of the Foothill League’s best will head to the state track and field meet after standout performances at the CIF Masters meet on Saturday at Moorpark High School.
Castaic will send its star junior duo of Meagan Humphries and Regan Thompson. Humphries will compete in four events at the state meet in Clovis, one of which will be high jump, alongside Thompson.
Humphries also found her way back to state for the second straight year after qualifying in the 200-meter dash, long jump and triple jump.
“Honestly, we were just looking to qualify today,” Humphries said. “That was the main goal. We’re looking at one or two jumps in both horizontals and something high in high jump. In the 200, we were hoping for a PR which I did manage to hit. But other than that, just focusing on making it a state prelims.”
Thompson cleared the auto-qualifying bar at 5 feet, 5 inches on her third attempt and erupted after she hit the pit.
“I saw her get a little stressed out,” Humphries said. “I just went over to tell her first of all, last attempt adrenaline is such a real thing. It’s going to kick in. Her issue was jumping into the bar, and I was telling her it’s such an easy fix and that she should just focus on leaning away from the bar and she’ll get it easily and that’s exactly what she did.”
Humphries’ personal best in the high jump is 5 feet, 10 3/4 inches, but topped the podium with a 5-foot-7-inch mark. The junior also finished third in the high jump with a leap of 19 feet, 3 3/4 inches, before flying 38 feet, 7 3/4 inches in triple jump.
The junior’s final competition of the day was the 200, where she’d compete alongside former teammate Adonjiah Currie, who now runs for Quartz Hill. Humphries finished with her best time of the season and came in fourth with a 23.55-second mark, just behind Currie in second.
“It feels incredible,” Humphries said. “It seems crazy to be doing this in so many events. I think I’m ready for it. It’s definitely a test of endurance and it’s definitely testing my mentality. It’s really good preparation because I’m planning on becoming a heptathlon in the future. So it’s just preparing me for that.”
Golden Valley freshman Marley Scoggins will also head to state in sprints. Scoggins finished seventh in the girls 100-meter dash with an 11.93-second finish. The only freshman in the race cleared the auto-qualifying mark and will be the Grizzlies’ sole competitor in Clovis.
In distance, West Ranch senior Bille Issa will also head to state for the second straight year after his second-place finish in the 3200-meter run. Issa stayed in a tight pack led by Jason Parra of Millikan for the first seven laps before the dramatic final lap. Issa also bested Foothill League rival Owen Ahten of Hart, who finished in 9:14.67.
Dana Hills sophomore Evan Noonan dug deep for a huge push to win the race by over eight seconds. Issa stayed right with Parra until the final 50 meters, where he jumped his competitor to take the silver medal, finishing in 8:57.68.
Saugus will send its boys’ 4×800 relay team to state after the group finished fifth in 7:53.27. The team found itself near the end of the pack before senior Jacob Fredericks ran a strong two laps to reach as high as third place. The Centurions ran hard to finish the race and were rewarded with a trip to state.
Fredericks will run again at state alongside Gavin Dion, Sebastian Peraza and Jonathan Durney.
Canyon will send sophomore Jordehn Gammage to state after his performances in the 300-meter hurdles and as part of the Cowboys’ 4×400-meter relay team.
Gammage was a tad off his CIF runner-up time but still qualified in the hurdles with a 38.65-second finish, good for eighth. The sophomore ran with Emrys Coleman, Josh Cambaliza and anchor Jeremiah Taylor en route to a fifth-place finish in the 4×400 in 3:20.72.
Hart’s Laura Brennan will return to state after another impressive day in shot put. Brennan, a CIF champion in shot put and soccer, heaved the iron 42 feet, 8 inches to earn a bronze medal on the day.
Canyon junior George Stansell finished his season strong in shot put and launched a 51-foot, 11-inch mark at the Masters meet.
Golden Valley’s Kiera Donovan was just off her personal best in discus but finished the day, and her sophomore season, with a mark of 131 feet, 6 inches.
The 13 qualifying athletes will head to their final meets this weekend for one last showdown this season among the best in California. The top athletes in the state take the field on Friday at Clovis High School.
“I’ve struggled to keep up with state rankings but honestly, I’m just looking to go there and just do my best and do what I normally do,” Humphries said. “We are hoping to get PR’s and I’m hoping to do a lot better in the 200.”