Jefferson’s sprint double leads De La Salle
An hour before the first race of Saturday’s North Coast Section Meet of Champions finals at Dublin High School, De La Salle-Concord coach Terrell Ward was asked if he thought his team had what it takes to repeat as champion.
“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s awfully breezy. Things change race by race. We need to stay consistent. We need guys to step up.”
De La Salle needed Jaden Jefferson.
After Acalanes-Lafayette edged the Spartans in the 4x100 relay (41.65 seconds to 41.79) in the first race, thanks to a terrific anchor leg by Trevor Rogers, Jefferson roared back to win the 100 meters over state leader Paul Kuhner in a wind-aided 10.46 seconds to 10.50.
Jefferson, whose best wind-legal time is 10.51, said it took a nearly perfect race to beat his football and track rival for the first time.
“I had a good start, good reaction time, good drive phase,” Jefferson said. “That was my race.”
It was no different about 90 minutes later, as this time Jefferson held off Rogers to take the 200 in 21.39 to 21.80.
Rogers went on to win the long jump (24 feet, 2 inches), but Jefferson’s sprint double carried the Spartans to the team championship with 53 points to 44 for runner-up Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa and Acalanes (33). It was De La Salle’s second straight and fifth Meet of Champions team title.
Other highlights:
• Pittsburg used depth, a 4x100 relay title (47.49) and a 400 win from Milani Bell (56.33) to claim the girls title with 64 points over Campolindo-Moraga (50) and San Ramon ValleyDanville (37).
• State leader Pinkie Schnayer, a senior from Campolindo, won the shot put with a throw of 45-2½ , well off her state-leading mark of 48-5. The UC Irvine signee won the discus on Friday.
• Montgomery-Santa Rosa sophomore Hanne Thomsen, who won the state title in the 3,200 as a freshman but was out last year with an injury, returned to her winning form with a victory in the eight-lap race in 10:16.66, well ahead of runner-up Shea Volkmer (10:34.05) of Campolindo, who earlier won the 1,600 (4:53.78).
• Pittsburg junior Khaliq Muhammad (16-0) and his sister Jathiyah, a senior, each easily won the pole vault. Jathiyah set the meet record of 14-1, bettering her 2022 mark of 14-0.
• Nairobi Smith, a senior at tiny International of San Francisco, swept the girls sprints, winning the 100 (12.05) and 200 (24.49).
• Maria Carrillo-Santa Rosa freshman Cameron Jones won the most unusual 800 in meet history, posting a time of 1:57.04 while running by himself after the meet’s final scheduled event, the 4x400 relay. His coaches had won an appeal that Jones had been impeded by a disqualified runner, not to mention some hurdles left on the track. With a few hundred fans still in the stands, Jones crossed in a time better than the time of 1:57.93 by original winner Leighton Sproul of Berkeley. Jones has a best of 1:55.86.
Central Coast Section: At Gilroy High School, St. Ignatius (55 points) rode the efforts of its hurdlers and field event standouts to win its second CCS title — and first since 1991. Serra and Bellarmine tied for second with 47.
St. Ignatius senior Zane Thomas won the 300 hurdles (38.45) and was second in the 110 hurdles (14.56), just behind Bellarmine’s Prince Najeeb BabalolaBuchango (14.55), while teammates Lexington Lehnert (pole vault, 16-0) and Noah Gonzalez (triple jump, 46-11) also won titles.
Other Metro winners for the boys included Los Altos senior Nathaniel Guillory (100, 10.78; 200, 21.37), Serra freshman Jeovanni Henley (400, 47.97), Crystal Springs Uplands-Hillsborough junior Benjamin Bouie (1600, 4:06.92), Palo Alto senior Grant Morgenfeld (3,200, 9:04.09), San Mateo junior Luka Sebisanovic (high jump, 6-6), Wilcox-Santa Clara Tyson Bonilla (long jump, 23-43⁄¼4) and Serra junior Luke Lewis (shot put, 57-9⁄½ ).
Mitty’s girls, who finished second last season, won their third team title and first since 2004 with 63 points, while Los Altos (56) and St. Ignatius (44) were second and third, respectively. The Monarchs dominated the hurdles, going 12-3 in the 100s, led by winner Laniah Simpson (14.63). They also won the 4x100 relay (47.62).
St. Ignatius sophomore Ellie McCuskey-Hay, the state runner-up last season, won the 100 (11.99) and long jump (18-1⁄½ ). Summer
Young, a daughter of former San Francisco 49er and Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young from Menlo School, won a jumpoff to take the high jump at 5-6.
Other girl Metro winners included Mountain View junior Hannah Rutherford (400, 53.81), MenloAtherton senior Tatum Olesen (1600, 4:53.08), Palo Alto junior Kinga Czajkowska (3,200, 10:39.76) and Gunn-Palo Alto senior Avery Adelman (300 hurdles, 43.94),
Baseball at Oracle on Monday: Can one player actually take down an entire team? That may be the biggest story line as likely Academic Athletic Association MVP Kieran Baker and his Lincoln squad (1512) take on Lowell (20-5-1), winners of 22 San Francisco Section titles and eight in the past nine seasons, at Oracle Park. First pitch for the SFS crown is at 4 p.m. Admission is free.
Baker led the section in virtually every offensive category, including hits (47), RBIs (37), doubles (14) and home runs (seven). The 6-foot-3, 180-pound senior catcher is hitting .595 and has scored 38 runs.
“He’s definitely a college prospect,” said Lowell coach Daryl Semien, whose team went 17-0 against AAA foes while holding a 214-5 run differential, including 39-2 edge against Lincoln in three games.