Sonora girls, boys shatter school records at first meet
Sonora head coach Frank Garcia always knew Mia Kjaer had talent. He never predicted, however, that she would become the greatest girls pole vaulter in school history at the first meet of the 2023 season as only a junior.
Kjaer moved her name to the very top of the Wildcats’ record book with an 11-foot vault Saturday morning, improving upon her previous personal best mark of 8 feet, 6 inches to surpass Erin Massa’s 2001 mark of 10 feet by an entire foot.
The moment was simultaneously exciting and frustrating for the do-itall junior, who said she is proud of the accomplishment but also hungry for an even better mark.
“Directly after is different than after an hour. Directly after, I was a little upset I didn’t jump the next (height) 11 feet, 3 inches, because you know, I just did three tries and it was all super close,” Kjaer said. “An hour later it’s like, ‘Well, I am really glad I was even able to get to 11 (feet).’”
Kjaer suffered a chronic ankle injury through her early season at Sonora due to the intensity of the jumping events she competed in, according to Garcia, but has excelled since getting healthy.
“Last year, she had an unfortunate ankle injury at the beginning of the season,” Garcia said. “We knew she had talent, but today she really showed that she is multi-talented in hurdles, jumps, sprints and possibly the discus. That record held since 2001 at 10 feet, and she broke it today by a foot (in) early season. She is just on fire.”
In a rematch of last year’s Mother Lode League championships on the girls side, the Wildcats finished in second place behind the Bret Harte Bullfrogs, 106-80. Kjaer’s performance was a big part of the team’s success, as she accounted for 31 of their points across the 100-meter hurdles, pole vault, 300-meter hurdles and discus events.
“She is obviously getting a lot of points, and when it comes down to league that will matter,” Garcia said. “When we get to divisionals and sections, just to have a few elite (athletes) on the same varsity girls team; we are going to do well.”
That elite group includes the likes of Erica Walker in the throws, Brianna Personius in the distance events and Ava Fox in the short sprints and long jump.
Ava Fox won the long jump over MLL rival Aariah Fox of Bret Harte by more than a foot with a mark of
17-03.50. She also took third place in the 100-meters.
Though the Wildcats fell to the Bullfrogs last year, Garcia said the top-level talent the team features this season might be able to combat Bret Harte’s impressive depth.
“We are low on numbers for the girls team, but we make that up in some good talent,” Garcia said. “It’s been Bret Harte, Calaveras has always been really great in everything. It will come down to numbers, seconds and thirds, fourth, fifth, sixth.”
The boys team took third place in a crowded team battle, finishing as the top MLL team at the meet with 81.5 points.
The Wildcats dominated the sprint events, scoring 23 points in the 200-meter dash alone — the highest number of points scored in any event by a single team. Bryce Nicolson, Kaden Robison and Declan Gardiner took first, second and fourth places. The team scored a total of 44 points in the sprint events.
Nicolson won an elusive short-distance triple-crown with victories in the 100- and 200-meter races to go along with his long jump crown. He notched personal bests in all three events, running 11.22 and 23.27 in each of the sprints, respectively, and jumping 20-09.25 in the long jump.
“I knew quite a bit of the guys there, mostly from football,” Nicolson said. “Owen Nash, he is a really big guy. Really lengthy legs, man, it’s pretty intimidating. I knew there was going to be competition there, and having people who are at similar speed pushed you a little bit more.”
After opening with a leap of 19 feet, 11 inches on his first attempt in the long jump, Nicolson said he tweaked his starting mark with the help of his coach which helped him use up every inch of the board to jump as far as possible.
“I was getting my footing wrong the first couple of times,” Nicolson said. “The third one, I adjusted a little bit with some help from coach and actually got right on mark.”
The Wildcats were also able to score 37.5 points in the field events across the discus, high jump, long jump and shot put, led by Roger Alderman in the throws. The team was missing distance star Broen Holman, who set a school record in the 3200 meters at the Dublin Invitational with a time of 9:03.11 to qualify for the highly-competitive Arcadia Invitational.
Kjaer has also qualified for Arcadia, but may not go. The event conflicts with an AP mock test she plans to take, but that won’t stop her from chasing down a new record.
“If I am holding at the top, I am already above 12 (feet) where I am, it is just the matter of whether I can get the rest of my body to where I am holding,” Kjaer said. “The goal for the season is 12. I am going to try to get to 12.”