Stars gear up for the big stage

Will there be tears of joy or tears of sorrow? Will the top athletes soar or will someone unexpectedly emerge from the pack, just as Heritage middle distance runner Jett Charvet did in the boys 800 last year?

The 100th edition of the California Interscholastic Federation state track and field championships is set for this weekend at Buchanan High’s Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis, and the Bay Area will be well represented.

Charvet is back to defend his crown in the 800.

California’s Alyssa Brewer is back, too. She is aiming for a third consecutive championship in the girls 800, but that no longer seems like a shoo-in after she placed second at the North Coast Section Meet of Champions last weekend in a time that was nearly four seconds slower than her stateleading mark of 2 minutes, 8.99 seconds.

Bothered by a recent foot ailment, as reported by the Bay Area News Group’s Phil Jensen, will the USCbound Brewer be able to fend off a field that includes Concord’s Rayna Stanziano, who is seeded No. 1 going into the prelims Friday after winning the NCS Meet of Champions in 2:10.06?

The headliner among Bay Area athletes, Bishop O’Dowd’s Tierra Robinson-Jones, is going for a rare double. She is seeded No. 1 in the 400 (52.69) and the 200 (23.56). If she wins both, she would be the first Northern California girl ever to finish first in those two distances at the same state meet.

Robinson-Jones took second at the state meet last season in the 400 and will be a sizeable favorite this weekend, her personal-best time — set in the NCS final — ranking No. 1 in the state by more than a second.

The 200 figures to be tighter. Long Beach Poly’s Ariyonna Augustine, seeded second, has the state’s top time this season in 23.53.

“I’m just happy that I’m PR’ing and all my hard work is paying off,” Robinson-Jones told Jensen last weekend.

Charvet, bound for UCLA, won’t have Alex Scales to game plan against this year after the Bellarmine College Prep standout qualified in only the 1,600. But the quest for back-to-back titles in the 800 will not be easy for the Heritage star.

Mater Dei’s Sam Van Dorpe is seeded first after running a stateseason-leading 1:51.44 at the Southern Section meet. Charvet’s time last weekend — the 1:51.69 — ranks second in the state.

Three other Bay Area runners also are seeded among the top five — California’s Bobby Poynter (third, 1:52.46), Piedmont’s Reece Proctor (fourth, 1:52.64) and Westmont’s Jason Gomez (fifth, 1:52.89).

Charvet said he will aimto emerge from the prelims with a good spot for Saturday’s final.

“Then,” he added, “leaving everything out there in the final. It’s the last race. I’ll give it everything I have.”

Athletes from the Bay Area News Group’s coverage area occupy four of the top five seeds in the girls triple jump, led by Silver Creek’s Arianna Fisher, a Missouri-bound senior.

Fisher jumped 41 feet, 5 ½ inches to win the Central Coast Section championship last weekend and has a state-leading mark of 42-9, set at the CCS Top 8 meet in April.

But she will have to overcome stiff competition to bring home a first-place medal. Kali Hatcher of St. Mary’s-Berkeley — the state runner-up in the event last season — is seeded third at 41- 0 but has gone 42-3 ½ this season to rank only behind Fisher among state leaders.

Leigh’s Hawa Kamara is seeded fourth in 40-11 ½, and Castro Valley’s Allanah Lee is the fifth seed at 40-7 ½.

Mater Dei’s Dominique Ruotolo jumped 41- 0 ½ at the Southern Section Masters Meet last weekend to qualify second.

Clayton Valley Charter’s Daylon Hicks is the top qualifier in the boys high jump at 6-8. But it figures to be bunched near the top, given that three others also qualified with leaps of 6-8, including state season leader and defending state meet champ Sean Lee of Trabuco Hills, who cleared 7-3 in February. What’s it going to take at state? “Probably around 6-8, except I can’t mess up on 6-5, stuff that I should be easily getting,” Hicks said.

Hicks’ teammate, Cameron Reynolds, has the state’s top season time in the boys 400 (47.09) but is seeded fourth at the state meet in 47.56.