Castaic High School junior Meagan Humphries was one of numerous high school track and field stars fans couldn’t ignore at the state meet in Clovis over the weekend.
Humphries didn’t disappoint and brought in 25 points for the Coyotes, enough for a tie in third place. The junior finished top five in all four of her events, highlighted by a 40-foot, 6.25-inch leap in triple jump. Humphries’ jump was just an inch shy of the gold medal mark.
The Coyote junior also soared in the long jump to a mark of 20 feet, 3.25 inches, which was also good for a state silver medal.
“In all honesty, I wasn’t expecting to do nearly as well as I did in long jump,” Humphries wrote in a text message. “I believe my furthest jump at state last year was 18-6, so I’m ecstatic to see the improvement. I’m also really happy with how I did in triple. Based on my performance on Friday, I was a little worried about how I’d do on Saturday. I’ve been told that when it really matters, I always rise to the occasion and I’m proud to affirm that statement once again.”
Humphries also finished fourth in high jump after clearing the 5-foot, 8-inch bar before a fifth-place finish in the girls’ 200-meter dash.
The Coyote sprinter was in a tight pack coming up on the final stretch. Humphries contemplated diving at the finish line but settled for an exaggerated lean that pushed her into fifth and just in front of former teammate Adonijah Currie, of Quartz Hill.
“I’m really proud of myself for making it to state in the 200,” Humphries wrote. “Last year I only made it up to Masters, so making it to state in that event was a big achievement in itself … Given the circumstances from that day, four events and never leaving the field, I’m satisfied with my placement.”
On top of Humphries’ standout day, the Santa Clarita Valley was again well-represented.
Hart High School senior Laura Brennan ended her high school shot put career with a throw of 42 feet, 7 inches, earning her fourth place.
West Ranch senior Bille Issa finished 10th in 9 minutes and 3.97 seconds in a deep boys’ 3200-meter state championship run that featured 30 of the state’s best distance runners.
Issa will continue his distance running career at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Canyon High School sophomore Jordehn Gammage finished 14th in the boys’ 300-meter hurdles prelims. Gammage’s mark of 38.60 seconds was just 0.27 seconds off a trip to the finals, but he ended his season in hurdles as the fastest underclassmen in Clovis.
Gammage also helped Canyon shave a little time of the 4×400-meter dash team’s time. The hurdler, along with Jeremiah Taylor, Josh Cambaliza and Emrys Coleman, reached 12th at state with a finish of 3 minutes and 20.5 seconds.
Golden Valley High School freshman Marley Scoggins also ended her season strong in prelims. Scoggins finished the day with a 12-second finish in the girls’ 100-meter dash preliminaries, where she ran the third-fastest time by a freshman on the day.
Castaic will likely be a favorite at the state meet next season with Humphries and fellow jumper Regan Thompson both returning to the team. Thompson wasn’t able to hit her personal best of 5 feet and 6 inches in high jump in Clovis, but took in the experience of jumping with the best at state. The junior leaped to clear the bar at 5 feet and 3 inches at state but wasn’t able to advance past prelims.
“Regan and Meagan” both shine in multiple events and will return for Castaic in 2024 for their senior seasons.
“I’m very excited to see what happens with the program in the future,” Humphries wrote. “I’m confident I’ll have Regan by my side next year at state and I can’t wait to see what the program as a whole is capable of.”