Local track standouts headed to state meet
Over a dozen local athletes will be heading to the CIF track and field state meet this weekend after punching their tickets at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet on Saturday in Moorpark.
The Foothill League champion Canyon Cowboys will send a host of their top athletes who are aiming to leave their mark on state after “leaving their scent on it” last year.
Jordehn Gammage and Mikaela Warr will represent Santa Clarita in the most events as each Cowboy will be competing in three events.
Gammage made a huge jump at Masters, finishing with new personal records in the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles. Gammage, a junior, finished third in the 110 in 14.06 seconds, shaving nearly 0.2 seconds off his previous PR, while hitting 37.81 seconds in the 300.
The hurdler will also compete with the best in the state in the 4x400 alongside Jeremiah Taylor, Josh Cambaliza and Myles McCrory after the group took fifth in 3 minutes and 18.88 seconds.
Warr, a holder of multiple school records, will represent Canyon at state in her final meet before heading off to San Diego State track. Warr finished third in the 100-meter dash in 11.54 seconds and fifth in the 200-meter dash in 23.85 seconds. The senior will also compete in the girls 4x100-meter relay at state alongside Briana Bartone, Emoni Wright and Alaya Graves-hogains.
The latter three will also compete in the 4x400-meter relay with Keziah Wright after finishing sixth at Masters in 3 minutes and 51.47 seconds.
Sacramento State commit George Stansell will be one more Cowboy at state, as the senior hit a mark of 167 feet and 5 inches in discus.
The qualifying Cowboys will be gunning it out for the state title and looking to bring Canyon its first state champion in 20 years.
Castaic’s Meagan Humphries will compete in her fourth state meet as she prepares for the long and triple jump. The Texas commit hit an 18-foot, 6-inch mark in the long, while soaring 39 feet and 5.25 inches in the triple for a third-place finish.
While Humphries has made state in each of her four varsity seasons, she’s aiming for her first win at state and hopefully some more hardware to return to Castaic.
Valencia will send Brian Bonner to race in the 100 and in the 4x100 with Bryton Cole, Ronald Bruner and Deandre Kermah. The Foothill League record-holding team finished sixth overall in 41.66 seconds at Masters. Bonner hit a new PR in the 100 for the second week in a row, running the sprint in 10.48 seconds on Saturday.
Golden Valley juniors Addae Ma’at and Kiera Donovan will both head to state. Donovan, the CIF champion in discus and fourth-place finisher in shot put, will only compete in the latter after a 42-foot throw at Masters.
The Santa Clarita Valley has not boasted a state champion since 2019 when Valencia’s Kai Wingo won the 800-meter run. The wait may finally be over with a host of talented athletes paving their own paths to their ultimate goal of the state meet.
The state meet begins on Friday in Clovis at Buchanan High School.