Canyon High School senior Lanai Gant put her stamp on the Foothill League track and field finals held last week at College of the Canyons, breaking the league record in the girls’ 400-meter dash.
Gant beat out her teammate, freshman Lyric Scott, with a time of 54.41 seconds, more than a tenth of a second ahead of the previous record held by Canyon alumnae Alysia Johnson, a former Olympian.
“It felt really good,” Gant said. “I wasn’t thinking of getting the meet record, but when I came back from the stands, everybody told me I got it. I said, ‘Wow, OK.’”
Gant is the top seed in the 400 in the upcoming CIF Division 2 preliminaries, where she will also compete in the 200 along with Scott.
Canyon senior Nathan Hernandez also made history at the league finals, becoming the first pole vaulter to earn the title of league champion three times. He led all boys with a mark of 14 feet, 6 inches, half a foot shy of the 15-foot vault he had at the team league championships a couple of weeks prior.
“I was looking for consistency,” Hernandez said. “But, I mean, it’s better to qualify for CIF prelims than nothing. So, it’s just a blessing.”
Hernandez is seeded second in the upcoming CIF Division 2 preliminaries, though he has a long way to go to match Redlands’ Michael Cullen’s mark of 16 feet, 2 inches.
Castaic senior Monty Coleman also made some history, tying the school record in the boys’ high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 2 inches to win the event. He tied 2024 graduate Gio Valentin’s record despite having only competed in the event a few times before.
“It feels crazy,” Coleman said. “You know, like, two weeks ago, I’d never jumped in my life.”
Coleman is the top seed in the upcoming CIF Division 3 preliminaries.
Golden Valley senior Kiera Donovan didn’t break any records, but she did win in both the girls’ discus and the shot put. She hit 143 feet, 7 inches in the former, shy of her personal-best mark of 151 feet, 2 inches, while heaving 38 feet, 1.5 inches in the latter.
The Cal State Fullerton commit is now a three-time league champion in the discus and is looking to defend her two CIF titles in the event, with the first step being CIF preliminaries on Saturday at Moorpark High School.
“I’m super excited,” Donovan said. “Everything’s going pretty well. I think I could still do better, though, and I’m pushing myself to increase my PRs.”
Donovan is seeded fourth in the preliminaries, though her personal record would put her at the top of the list.
Some other notable Foothill League stars seeded in the top five for the Division 2 preliminaries include (athlete, school, event):
- Jordehn Gammage, Canyon, boys’ 300-meter hurdles and 100-meter hurdles.
- Tyler Halvorsen, West Ranch, boys’ 800.
- Addae Ma’at, Golden Valley, boys’ long jump and triple jump.
- Josh Farley, Golden Valley, boys’ triple jump.
- Myles McCrory, Canyon, boys’ long jump.
- Graysen Rivera, Hart, boys’ shot put.
- Emoni Wright, Canyon, girls’ 100 and 200.
- Tamea Crear, West Ranch, girls’ 200.
- Avery Prestridge, West Ranch, girls’ 300-meter hurdles.
- Natalie Cottrill, Hart, girls’ high jump.
- Nyah Fields, Golden Valley, girls’ long jump and triple jump.
Gammage is seeking to retain the CIF and state titles he earned in the 300-meter hurdles last year as a junior.
Cottrill, a sophomore, not only won the high jump, beating out teammate Gianna Costello with a leap of 5 feet, 2 inches, but also the girls’ 800 with a time of 2:19.30.
“That was a real struggle,” Cottrill said of her performance in the high jump. “I fought through the bitter end and, well, I guess it wasn’t that bitter, but I did struggle. But I stuck through, had some grit, got first. The 800, that was really fast. I’ve never ran something like that time-wise before, but I ran with no fear. I just told myself, ‘I am strong, I am strong,’ and that really just helped push me.”
She won those two events after dropping out of the 400 to conserve her energy.
Castaic’s Clair Silvestro is seeded fifth in the 300-meter hurdles in the CIF Division 3 preliminaries.
