Shinnick posts top 400 time in prelims

The Damien senior, who has overcome injuries, runs his heat in 47.14 seconds.

CLOVIS, Calif. — La Verne Damien High’s Zachary Shinnick knows that he is fast.

He has always known this. He just has not always had the opportunity to show it.

A hamstring injury in the Arcadia Invitational his junior year signaled an end to his viability as a postseason contender.

He has had minor bouts with a separate hamstring and ankle sprain this season, but nothing serious enough to sideline him for long.

Since the Baseline League Finals, Shinnick has felt like himself again, and he is happy to have one more chance to perform at the stadium that is referred to as “The Gateway to Track and Field.”

Shinnick dropped the top 400 meters time in the preliminaries of the CIF State Track and Field Championships on Friday at Veterans Memorial Stadium on the campus of Clovis Buchanan High.

The senior completed his trek around the track in 47.14 seconds.

“It just makes this much sweeter,” Shinnick said. “I didn’t get a chance to run at state last year, and I thought that I could have run pretty well.”

The USC signee stated that he felt as though he was running by himself. It is a special class of athlete that can find himself or herself in such a position at the state meet.

“In practices, I run by myself,” he said. “This isn’t much different. I know I’ll get a good push in the finals tomorrow.”

Oak Park’s Robbie Otal has been as consistent as they come. Since the month of April, he has flirted with the 200-foot mark in the discus on a weekly basis.

He has surpassed that threshold on three separate occasions in the postseason, his latest coming in Friday night’s state preliminaries. His throw of 206 feet, 11 inches garnered him the No. 1 seed heading into the finals.

“This is my goal, to win a state title, since freshman year,” the Princeton-bound Otal said. “I’m finally in a position to do it, so I’m just going to go out tomorrow and get it done. There’s nothing stopping me now, and we’re just going to go out and kill it.”

Carson’s girls’ 400 relay team of Kenyla Miles, Saundria Martin, Jaylen Walker, and Kaelin Roberts established a state-leading time of 45.81 seconds in winning their heat.

Agoura’s Tara Davis leaped to a new personal record in girls’ triple jump, posting a mark of 43 feet, 4 inches (1.0 meters per second wind). The Georgia signee is in rarified air. The national record is 44 feet, 21⁄4 inches, set by Ychlindria Spears of Luling, Texas, in 2001.

Davis also claimed the top spots in the 100 hurdles (13.31) and the long jump (20-8.25).