Fears leads an Inland uprising in pole vault
Inland track and field athletes shined at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet on Saturday in Moorpark.
Seven athletes won individual titles and several more qualified for this week’s CIF State championship meet.
Vista Murrieta’s Aspen Fears captured the girls pole vault title with a mark of 13 feet, 3 inches, which also is a new Riverside County record. Fears and Murrieta Valley’s Madisyn Negro shared the previous county record of 13-2 (both achieved at the IE Championships earlier this season). Negro finished second at the Masters Meet (12-9).
Roosevelt’s Hunter O’Brien made it an Inland sweep in the pole vault, as he claimed the boys title (16-5).
Orange Vista’s Kailah McKenzie captured the girls 100 hurdles championship in a time of 14.03 seconds. McKenzie was the lone Inland athlete to qualify for the state meet in three individual events. She also finished third in the long jump (196.75) and tied for fourth place in the high jump (5-5).
Upland swept the boys hurdling titles Saturday. Kai Graves-Blanks won the title in the 110 hurdles with a time of 13.75 seconds, and Delaney Crawford prevailed in the 300 hurdles in 37.23.
Graves-Blanks also finished second in the 300 hurdles (37.74) and ran a leg on Upland’s 400 relay team that finished third in a time of 41.76.
Murrieta Mesa’s Cade Moran captured the boys shot put championship with a mark of 66-1. Moran also finished second in the discus event with a toss of 188-4. He will be a favorite to win both events at the state meet.
Chino’s Mia Chavez won the individual title in the girls 800 meters, crossing the line in a time of 2:08.84. Chavez also finished second in the 1600 meters (4:50.33).
Cajon’s Seth Johnson will be busy at the CIF State meet, as he will participate in four events. Johnson was fourth in the 110 hurdles (14.16) and tied for sixth place in the high jump (6-6). He also ran legs on the 400 relay team that finished second (41.66) and the 1600 relay team that placed fifth (3:20.89).
Like Graves-Blanks and McKenzie, three other Inland athletes will be competing in three events at the state meet,
Upland’s Davis Davis-Lyric was third in the boys 110 hurdles (14.14) and fifth in the 300 hurdles (39.21), and his teammate Christopher
Coats was fourth in the 200 meters (21.55) and fifth in the 400 (47.77). Davis-Lyric and Coats will join Graves-Blanks and DeQuan January on the 400 relay team.
Roosevelt’s Naomi Johnson placed second in the girls 400 meters (54.86) and fifth in the 200 meters (24.03). Johnson also ran a leg on Roosevelt’s 400 relay team that finished third (46.58).
Below is a list of the Inland athletes who qualified for the CIF State championship meet, which will be held Friday-Saturday, May 27-28, at Buchanan High School in Clovis. The top six finishers in each event automatically qualified for the state meet, and a handful of other athletes earned spots by hitting the atlarge standard in their respective events.