Changes go into effect this school year
Paige Sefried has been competing at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I and Masters track and field championships at Elk Grove High for the last three years.
But the Lodi High runner, now a senior, could be racing here within the city limits next spring.
At Thursday’s Media Day meeting at the Sac-Joaquin Section office, located in Lodi, one of the many items discussed was finding a new location for the Division I and Masters trials and finals next spring. The D-I trials and finals will be held May 8 and 10, and the Masters on May 16-17.
Will DeBoard, the section’s assistant commissioner, said that Elk Grove High is replacing its all-weather track next year. But it may not be completed in time for the D-I and Masters’ meets.
In April at the section’s Board of Managers meeting, Lodi High track and field coach Greg Wright, who is also the cross-country coach, said he and Lodi High Athletic Director Robert Winterhalter made a proposal for Tokay High’s on-campus stadium to host one or both meets.
Wright noted that he and Winterhalter have talked with Tokay High Athletic Director Michael Holst about the idea of hosting the D-I and/or Masters’ events next May.
The on-campus stadium has its artificial turf in place. But the bleachers for the home and visitor’s sides, press box and the synthetic all-weather track are expected to be installed and completed in the next few months.
Sefried, who took third place in the girls 400-meter race at 56.21 seconds at the Masters to advance to the CIF State Track and Field Championships in May, hopes that section officials give the approval to hold one or both meets at Tokay’s upgraded facility.
“I think that will be very convenient,” Sefried said. “I think that would also be nice. This past year, the track there (at Elk Grove High) was OK. This would be great for athletes to run on a fresh track.”
Another perk Sefried, Wright and DeBoard all agreed is that if one or both meets are held at Tokay’s stadium, it would be a perfect centralized location for all
schools in the section. Yuba City is the farthest north, and Los Banos in Merced County is farthest south.
DeBoard said that section officials would need to inspect Tokay’s upgraded facility first, once the stadium is complete.
Should the section hold the D-I and/or Masters’ meets at Tokay’s revamped on-campus stadium, there would be pluses for Tokay and Lodi. Both schools would be able to make money off parking and the concession stands. The section keeps the admission money.
Other topics at Media Day were:
• Former section assistant commissioner John Williams, a Galt resident who is now the Sierra Valley Conference commissioner, will be one of 12 people who will be placed into the section’s Hall of Fame 2018 class. The ceremony will take place at the Hyatt Regency in Sacramento on Sunday, Oct. 21.
• The football playoffs in Divisions I, II, III, IV, V and VI will go with a 12-school format. The Nos. 1 through 4 seeds will have the first round bye. The Nos. 5-12 will play, with the winners advancing to play Nos. 1-4 in the second round. Division VII will be a six-team bracket, with the top two seeds having first round byes.
• Staying with football, all league champions — be it outright, shared or tri-champions — will receive an automatic playoff berth.
• In basketball, the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, home of the Sacramento Kings, will be the site for both boys and girls basketball section title games.