Two Ukiah High Track and Field athletes headed for North Coast Meet of Champions
Two Ukiah High School Track and Field athletes are headed for the North Coast Section Meet of Champions — the last step to the State Meet — in Dublin, Contra Costa County, on Friday/saturday May 19/20. Senior Airiana Adams and sophomore Nicole Muniz placed in the top six at the Redwood Empire North Coast Section Meet in San Rafael last weekend, opening their door to the big time. Airiana placed 3rd in shot put (33 7-3/4 ) and 4th in discus (98 0 ), and Nicole 6th in long jump (16 2 — 1/2 ). Adams competed at MOC last year, throwing and placing well, though missing the exclusive cut to make State. This is Muniz’s first time qualifying for MOC. In her second year of varsity competition, she was the highest-placing soph in the deep field of long jumpers from 6 counties from Marin to Del Norte, and part of Napa. She was the 3rd highest placing soph in 2 other events in which she narrowly missed top 6: 10th in triple jump (31 9 ) and 12th in high jump (4 8 ).
Airiana represents only 8 graduating senior girls and boys from the young, promising Ukiahi team, who competed well with their Sonoma County North Bay League opponents in March and April dual meets and the NBL Championships May 2 & 4. Other standout sophs at the RW Empire meet, who missed qualifying but showed great varsity potential, were led by Savannah Nelson, placing just shy of MOC qualifying 8th in disc (90 10 ) & 9th in shot put (32 5-3/4 ). Junior Arlena Franco was close behind in shot at 30 8-1/4 for 14th.
Nelson joined Muniz, soph Ashley Reed, and senior Jaydn Diaz to place a competitive 16th in the 4x100meter relay in 52.76 seconds, slightly off their best but within one second of 10th place. The 3 younger girls will need a 4th sprinter next to take the place of the multi-talented Diaz, who also competes in shot and disc. Their potential in this intricate baton-passing event is great.
Though no varsity boys qualified for the Meet Of Champions at the San Rafael RW Empire meet, Senior Julian Maldonado closed out a 4-year career with strong placings of 16th in shot (38 3-1/2 ) and 18th in disc (101 11 ); soph Jackson Giglio ran his usual brave 400m race against upperclassmen, running 55.20 for 24th place, with several runners bunched in the 54’s and 55’s. Two other hardworking sophs, Kobi Hasunuma and Guy Glenzer, teamed with Giglio and junior Juan Mendoza to place 17th in the gruelling 4x400m relay, in a respectable 3:48.55. Next year, if each of them can shave a few seconds off their onelap times, they could be Moc-bound.
All of these athletes earned the right to compete at Redwood Empire by top-5 placings at the earlier North Bay League meet, an honor in itself.
The continuing story of a promising T&F future at Ukiah High is well told by the performance of the Junior Varsity Boys team. Whereas the best girls competed Varsity at the NBL meet, numerous talented frosh and soph boys chose to enter the NBL’S as JV’S. The result was impressive.
Ukiah’s JV Boys placed 2nd by 7 points to powerhouse Maria Carillo, and would’ve won the meet had not other soph boys gone with the varsity.
Leading the emerging stars is Andrew Mcniel, a sophomore who won the JV high jump (5’10”) & triple jump (37 6 ), and placed a close 2nd in the 110m high hurdles in 17.53. His performances would’ve been competitive in Varsity; Andrew’s accomplishments in these highly technical, physically demanding events in his first year in the sport are remarkable. Other bright spots: Xavier Fierro, 8th in JV 100m at 12.23; freshman Zach Martinez’s 18ft, 1 in. long jump and 5’8 high jump, both for 2nd place, and frosh Cheveyo Minz, who despite injury, completed a UHS JV Boys sweep of the high jump at 5’2 , well below his healthy best. Frosh Caelan Brown and Parker Mitchell placed 10th & 15th in the 100m, Brown and Fierro 4th & 10th in 200m. Sophs Oscar Ruiz and Kobi Hasunuma went 1st and 5th in 1600m (5:02 & 5:14).
Frosh Carlos Orozco, also ever-improving, ran strong, 2:38 & 5:54 in the 800/1600m. Freshman Grayson Rosenberg, though not placing in the pole vault, is making quick improvement in his new event — and in the long and high jumps.
The girl distance runners, who will lose 4-year senior miler and 2-miler (1600 & 3200m) Amanda Mucho, are progressing toward varsity competitiveness. Josie Bogner and Eva Bailey, juniors who run 800, 1600, & 3200 at times, also took on the 300m hurdles this year, and strong freshman 1600/3200 racer Arianna Quinones, are hoping for more long distance team mates in future cross-country and T&F seasons, from Pomolita and Eagle Peak Middle Schools and UHS.
Gutsy junior Jack Rahn ran a tough 1600/3200 Varsity NBL double against a powerful field, placing 15th & 16th in 4:57.76 & 10:53.71. The younger distance runners also mostly competed on Varsity in dual meets this year, gaining strength and experience chasing the league’s best. With off-season training and 2 years of endurance built up, they’ll be ready to run faster times next season. Sophs Ruiz and Austin Ross will join their above-mentioned 4x400m team mates to race distances from a quarter mile to 2 miles — and 3 miles in X-country. The Wildcats will bid goodbye to their top miler and captain, senior Andrew Tarin, who was limited in competition this season due to academic demands and need to earn college money, but still had some strong races, and provided stability and inspiration to his younger team mates.
Reese Bartolomei and Daniel Malarich, steadfast members of the girls & boys weight throwing team, will graduate, leaving an example of hard practicing and steady improvement for JV throwers like Jessica Kraemer — a sophomore with a future — and Michael Naja, another promising JV soph (who placed 6th in shot and 15th in disc at NBL); both will shoot for varsity distances in 2024.
Mark Strattman, a dedicated sprinter, will also graduate. No athlete on the team practiced harder and competed with more heart. His fine running form, gutsy workouts, and sportsmanlike attitude will be missed. His times did not win him medals; his presence and effort won him admirers and friends.
Look next week for results of the MOC for Airiana Adams and Nicole Muniz, and for Peter Brewer’s professional class photos from the team’s season and the championships.