Marysville claims section crown

First track title in program history; Jenks sets meet record

Marysville High’s boys track and field team made history on Thursday night, taking home the program’s first Sac-Joaquin Section championship after topping the field during two days of competition at the Division IV-V Meet at Cal State Stanislaus in Turlock.

It marked the eigth section title in any sport for Marysville – the Indians had won two in boys basketball, two in girls track, and one each in football, baseball and softball before Thursday. Marysville started running track and field when it first opened its doors in 1871.

“Watching them as freshmen and to be so talented even then, I just knew they were the ones to finally win a section title in boys track and field,” said Marysville coach Marcy Tarr.

“I told them during the first day of competition that they were in the running to win the section, and that’s all I had to say to them. They wanted it so bad, and it was a great feeling as a coach to see them come together to motivate and believe in themselves the way they did.”

The meet featured top competitors from the 13 D-IV and D-V leagues from throughout the section. Tuesday was the trials and top eight in each event advanced to Thursday’s finals. Marysville won the D-V title.

Topping the list of performers for the Indians was senior Parker Jenks, who took first in both the shot put and the discus. Jenks set a meet record in the shot put with a throw of 55 feet, 9 ⁄ inches and

became a two-time meet champion in the discus with a heave of 157-5.

Mikah Bernal is became a twotime meet champion by winning the 400 in a time of 51.53 seconds. Bernal also finished second in the 200 by clocking in at 22.35, and joined Cornell Greenwood, Gary Walker and Noah Childers on the winning 4x100 relay team. They timed in at 44.21.

Tim Spence placed third in the discus (142-9), David Kerstan finished fourth in the 800 (2 minutes, 2.34 seconds) and Ethan Maycroft took fourth in the pole vault (11-6) to round out the top performers for the Indians.

Athletes who finished in the top five in each event qualified to compete in next Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Meet from May 2526 at Elk Grove High.

Pirates’ Grotegeer shines In Yreka – Wheatland junior Erica Grotegeer won three events and took third in another at the Northern Section Division II Meet on Friday.

Grotegeer won the shot put (366), discus (154-4) and the long jump (17-2), and placed third in the 100 (12.85) to lead the way for the Pirates.

Abby Meder took third in the varsity girls shot put (34-5).

Wheatland’s varsity boys squad finished third as a team and was led by first-place finishes by Travis McCane in the 400 (51.51), CJ Duncan in the 800 (2:01) and Anthony Alvarez in the 300 hurdles (41.57). McCane, Duncan, Anthony Alvarez and Xavier Sanchez also took first in the 4x400 relay in a time of 3:31.40.

Sanchez finished second in the 200 (22.94), Aryam Lora-Martinez was third in the 100 (11.44), and the group of Sanchez, Lora-Martinez, Alvarez and McCane took third in the 4x100 relay (44.73).

Winners in frosh-soph action for Wheatland were Austin Gaylord in the boys 100 (11.82), Kona Pina in the boys long jump (18-2) and Emily Wilkins in the girls discus (89-5).

BOYS TENNIS Bal finishes second in D-II In Roseville – River Valley’s Luvdeep Bal capped off a stellar freshman campaign for the Falcons by taking second at SacJoaquin Section Division II Tournament on Tuesday at the Johnson Ranch Racquet Club.

Bal began the day with a straight-set 6-3, 6-2 victory of Kennedy’s Matthew Lin in the semifinals to keep his perfect season intact.

The win propelled Bal to the championship match, where his unbeaten streak came to an end with a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Ceres senior and top-seeded Nolan McCraig, who was making his third appearance in the final.

It marked the first time all season that Bal lost even a set. He finished the season with a 28-1 overall record.