Metro top qualifying marks for CIF track and field state championships
De La Salle-Concord junior Jaden Jefferson is the leader in the 100 meters after setting a North Coast Section record with a winning 10.30 seconds time on Saturday at Dublin High. He hopes to lead the Spartans to a first state title for the program and the team has extra incentive, competing for their late head coach John Harvey who died suddenly April 28 from a respiratory condition.
Other top qualifiers from the Metro region are Menlo School-Atherton senior Landon Pretre (in the boys 3200 (8:48.57), Pittsburg senior boys pole vaulter
Khaliq Muhammad (17-1), San Ramon Valley-Danville sophomore girls high jumper Riley McMullen (5-6) and St. Mary's-Berkeley girls triple jumper Kira Gant Hatcher (40-10.50), who also ranks second in the long jump (19-4.75).
State trials scheduled starts are 3 p.m. Friday with field events and running events beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday's finals are scheduled at 4:30 p.m. (field events) and running events (5:45 p.m.).
Note that meet directors previously have pushed back start times due to extremely warm weather and with temperature forecasts both days in the 100s, that is a distinct possibility again.
Below are all the top qualifiers in each event, along with all Metro athlete who qualified and qualifying teams.
BOYS
(Top qualifier, with local metro qualifying marks from section meets.)
100 meters: 1. Jaden Jefferson (De La Salle) 10.30
Other Metro qualifiers: Chad Works-Wright (El Cerrito) 10.43, Khairee Baker (American Canyon) 10.68, Prince Babalola Buchango (St. Ignatius) 10.78, Rahsjon Duncan (McClymonds) 10.79, O'Bryan Flanigan (Sacred Heart Cathedral) 10.95, Syd Villegas (Lincoln) 10.95
200 meters: 1. RJ Sermons (Rancho Cucamonga) 20.97
Metro qualifiers: Jefferson (De La Salle) 21.11, Works-Wright (El Cerrito) 21.28, Babalola Buchango (St. Ignatius) 21.43, Jaylyn Smallwood (El Cerrito) 21.69, Duncan (McClymonds) 22.31, Villegas (Lincoln) 22.40
400 meters: 1. Jaelen Hunter (Servite) 46.91
Metro qualifiers: Mattheo LaCasia (Woodside) 46.92, Tim Edwards (Pittsburg) 47.71, Sean Walsh (St. Francis) 47.94, Chase McMullen (San Ramon Valley) 48.90, Ian Sweeney (Bishop O'Dowd) 49.19, Phinehas Browne (Oakland Tech) 49.31, Ikembuchukwu Udeh (De La Salle) 49.88
800 meters: 1. Lucas Alberts (Jesuit) 1:51.27
Metro qualifiers: Caeden Gardner (Tamalpais) 1:54.62, Sebastien Swain (Piedmont) 1:54.67, Thomas Hekl (Amador Valley) 1:54.74, Shrey Chettiar (Bellarmine) 1:54.81, Tristan Kippes (Palo Alto) 1:55.95, Henry Witt (Lowell) 1:57.88
1,600 meters: 1. Conor Lott (Clovis North) 4:05.80
Metro qualifiers: Benjamin Bouie (Crystal Springs Uplands) 4:06.02, Aydon Stefanopoulos (Los Gatos) 4:08.80, Miles Cook (Sacred Heart Cathedral) 4:10.09, Arrin Sagiraju (Dougherty Valley) 4:10.46, Will Hauser (Menlo School) 4:10.37, Will Mulliken (Archie Williams) 4:12.20, Stephen Sziebert (Bellarmine) 4:12.65, Stefan Langridge (International) 4:13.44, Nicolas Rivas (Galileo) 4:22.88
3,200 meters: 1. Landon Pretre (Menlo School) 8:48.57
Other Metro qualifiers: Trey Caldwell (De La Salle) 9:08.91, Tadhg Murray (De La Salle) 9:09.75, Djali de Chalus (St. Mary's) 9:14.43, Gus Schafer (Oakland Tech) 9:46.28, Rivas (Galileo) 10:45.55
110 high hurdles: Jasir Fontenot (San Diego) 13.40
Metro qualifiers: Chase Young (De La Salle) 14.04, Babaloa Buchango (St. Ignatius) 14.32, Nathaniel Maddox (Dublin) 14.49, Aaron Adamos (Dublin) 14.50, Antonio Bayon (Redwood) 14.60, Joshua Haven (Bellarmine) 14.72, Ryan Gray (Oakland Tech) 15.33
300 hurdles: 1. Kingston Waring (Culver City) 36.91
Other Metro qualifiers: Haven (Bellarmine) 37.93, Luke Kazee (St. Ignatius) 38.79, Young (De La Salle) 39.20, Krish Sandhu (Moreau Catholic) 39.53, River Lockwood (Acalanes) 39.68
4x100 relay: 1. Servite 40.40
Metro qualifiers: El Cerrito 41.02, De La Salle 41.20, Serra 41.44, Hillsdale 41.81, Mountain View 42.18, American Canyon 42.38, Lincoln 43.79
4x400 relay: 1. Long Beach Poly 3:10.83
Metro qualifiers: Mountain View 3:18.68, St. Francis 3:19.68, De La Salle 3:29.78, Tamalpais 3:31.92, Acalanes 3:24.75
4x800 relay: 1. Mira Costa 7:37.84
Metro qualifiers: Crystal Springs Upland 7:51.87, Las Lomas 7:53.64, Bellarmine 7:54.48, Analy 7:57.04, Lowell 8:07.67
High Jump: 1T. Joshua Harel (Notre Dame-Sherman Oaks), Matthew Browner (Chaminade-West Hills), 6-10
Metro qualifiers: Grady Wachob (Benicia) 6-6, Ben Stout (Amador Valley) 6-6, Ryan Shen (Monta Vista) 6-6, Haven (Bellarmine) 6-6, Bayon (Redwood) 6-4
Pole Vault: 1. Khaliq Muhammad (Pittsburg) 17-1
Other Metro qualifiers: William Freas (Tamalpais) 15-6, Ethan Radford (Bellarmine) 14-8, Bayon (Redwood) 14-2
Long Jump: 1. Kayden Lewis-Burnley (Clovis) 24-8¾
Metro qualifiers: Shen (Monta Vista) 23-7¾, Ernest Okere (Clayton Valley) 23-4¾, Levi Harte (Encinal) 23-0¾, Oskar Herlitz (Sacred Heart Prep) 22-11¾, Noah Gonzalez (St. Ignatius) 22-7½, Kaleb Pleis (San Ramon Valley) 22-6, Kaleb Banh (Lincoln) 21-3½
Triple Jump: 1. Keith Cotlage (Cajon) 48-10
Metro qualifiers: Anthony Dean (De La Salle) 47-11, Cameron P. Jones (Bishop O'Dowd) 46-10½, Gonzalez (St. Ignatius) 46-7¾, Benicio Labuguen (Westmoor) 46-5, Jasaun Mabrey (Sacred Heart Cathedral) 46-1½, Maddox (Dublin) 45-11½, Alex Martin (Valley Christian) 45-11, Banh (Lincoln) 42-0¾
Shot Put: 1. McKay Madsen (Clovis North) 67-4½
Metro qualifiers: Joshua Taylor (King's Academy) 59-4, Evan Usher (Woodside) 57-9½, Case Jacobson (St. Francis) 57-5, Maxime Morelle (Sacred Heart Prep) 57-4½, Chibuike Ihe (Pittsburg) 55-10¼, Emmanuel Fitzgerald (San Mateo) 55-6, Alexander Gorobets (Washington-San Francisco) 45-4¼
Discus: Madsen (Clovis North) 204-9
Metro qualifiers: Isaac Duren (Mitty) 164-0, Usher (Woodside) 162-8, Fitzgerald (San Mateo) 162-4, Deonte Littlejohn (Acalanes) 156-3, Zach Bruce (California) 154-0, Bryant Angel (Mission) 139-11
GIRLS
100 meters: 1. Journey Cole (Redondo) 11.36
Metro qualifiers: Ellie McCuskey-Hay (St. Ignatius) 11.78; Amirat Temi Aganju (Pittsburg) 11.78; London Shedd (Liberty) 11.90, Julia Bayon (Redwood) 11.98, Avery Hui-Bytof (St. Ignatius) 12.36, Alicia Choy (Lowell) 12.56
200 meters: 1. Keelan Wright (Chaparral) 23.21
Metro qualifiers: McCuskey-Hay (St. Ignatius) 24.06, Bayon (Redwood) 24.63, Hannah Rutherford (Mountain View) 24.72, Shedd (Liberty) 24.78, Isabella Moriyama (Monte Vista) 24.90
400 meters: 1. Clara Adams (North Salinas) 53.23
Metro qualifiers: Rutherford (Mountain View) 53.99, Madison Kohli (Los Gatos) 55.35, Eden Enoru (Heritage) 57.19, Moriyama (Monte Vista) 57.54
800 meters: 1. Makenna Herbst (Carlsbad) 2:03.30
Metro qualifiers: Sabrina Zanetto (St. Francis) 2:09.79, Josie Hill (Technology) 2:10.16, Lily Symon (Los Altos) 2:10.29, Hailey Sellers (Branson) 2:12.25, Ava Padilla (Monte Vista) 2:12.80, Chloe Leduc (Oakland Tech) 2:20.14
1,600 meters: 1. Chiara Dailey (La Jolla) 4:43.57
Metro qualifiers: Hanne Thomsen (Montgomery) 4:47.26, Kinga Czajkowska (Palo Alto) 4:47.75, Amaya Bharadwaj (Palo Alto) 4:49.63, Farah Allen (Branson) 4:50.49, Ani Stieg (Archie Williams) 4:51.12, Anna Salter (Crystal Springs Uplands) 4:56.63, Leduc (Oakland Tech) 5:13.63
3,200 meters: 1. Rylee Blade (Santiago) 10:11.38
Metro qualifiers: Thomsen (Montgomery) 10:19.56, Amrie Lacefield (Montgomery) 10:25.52, Lily Montilla (Las Lomas) 10:29.01, Veronica Taira (Menlo School) 10:48.53, Brooke Oliveira (Castilleja) 10:48.96, Maya Eisenberg (Mountain View) 10:52.01, Leduc (Oakland Tech) 11:59.55.
110 high hurdles: 1. Anisa Bowen-Fontenot (San Diego) 13.38
Metro qualifiers: Emma San (Dublin) 14.59, Hughes (Los Altos) 14.64, Tatum Trucks (Carondelet) 14.73, Hope Diekmann (San Ramon Valley) 14.76, Shiloh Haliburton-Rudy (Mitty) 15.04, Sara Nordlund (Menlo-Atherton) 15.19
300 hurdles: 1. Morgan Herbst (Carlsbad) 39.95
Metro qualifiers: Janelle Wanliss (Santa Rosa) 43.74, Haliburton-Rudy (Mitty) 44.23, Nordlund (Menlo-Atherton) 44.57, Soleil Warner (Bay School) 45.11, Kiana Chen (Carlmont) 45.17, Savannah Sawyer (Ygnacio Valley) 45.36
4x100 relay: 1. Long Beach Poly 45.94
Metro qualifiers: Pittsburg 46.98, Mitty 47.51, Valley Christian 47.56, St. Mary's 47.62, Los Gatos 47.81, Redwood 48.50, Lowell 50.45
4x400 relay: Long Beach Wilson 3:43.71
Metro qualifiers: Los Gatos 3:51.74, Pittsburg 3:53.33, St. Francis 3:53.80, Dublin 3:55.54, Sacred Heart Cathedral 3:56.12, Clayton Valley 3:57.59
4x800 relay: 1. Claremont 8:59.39
Metro qualifiers: Palo Alto 9:11.71, Monte Vista 9:13.96, Branson 9:14.07, St. Francis 9:16.64
High Jump: 1T. Riley McMullen (San Ramon Valley), Jasleen Gandhoke (St. Francis-Sacramento), all 5-6
Other metro qualifiers: Rachael Osicka (California) 5-5, Kaitlyn Schuh (San Mateo) 5-4, Lelani Laruelle (Monta Vista) 5-4
Pole Vault: 1. Paige Echsner (Del Norte-San Diego) 13-5
Metro qualifiers: Olivia Miles (University) 12-0, Avery Boyse (Burlingame) 11-9, Katherine Cueva (Menlo-Atherton) 11-3, Kaitlyn Hancock (Washington-Fremont) 10-11, Miranda Howeth (Dublin) 10-11, Alexa Bernard (Lowell) 10-0
Long Jump: 1. Amaya Estes (Canyon Crest Academy) 19-6.
Metro qualifiers: Kira Gant Hatcher (St. Mary's) 19-4¾, Annalise Horn (Redwood) 19-0, McCuskey-Hay (St. Ignatius) 18-6, Clara Fan (Monta Vista) 18-5½, Idara Essien (Castro Valley) 18-2, Jolee Chan (Lincoln) 16-7¼
Other metro qualifiers: Santia Ali (Clayton Valley) 39-11, Corinne Jones (St. Mary's) 39-5½, Hughes (Los Altos) 39-0, Amaya DeFlorimonte (Bishop O'Dowd) 38-7, Sophie Schwarz (Westmont) 38-1½, Fan (Monta Vista) 38-1½, Daia Sanders (Bishop O'Dowd) 37-11, Horn (Redwood) 37-9¾, Lanai Mitchell (Bishop O'Dowd) 37-7½, Brooklyn Pitigoi-Aron (Valley Christian) 37-6¾
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But that time Salinas (21-8) had a 2-0 lead and would never trail thanks in part to a home run, double and single from Gigi Rossi. … In Division 3, Hillsdale-San Mateo sophomore Lola Jones (three-hitter, seven strikeouts, no walks) outdueled Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa senior Callie Howard (two-hitter, eight strikeouts, two walks) in a 1-0 win in San Mateo. Taylor O'Mahoney's one-out RBI single scored Mia DeMartini who led off with a double to score the winning run in the seventh for the Knights (21-9-1), who won their second straight game with a walk-off. … In D4, Stevie Knight went 4-for-4 and pitched a one-hitter with eight strikeouts to lead top seed East Nicolaus (Sutter County) to a 4-0 win over San Leandro (23-9). CIF Northern California Baseball Championships Division 1: No. 1 De La Salle 5, No. 3 Serra 4 Division 2: No. 1 Yuba City 3, No. 2 St. Francis 2 Division 3: No. 3 Rancho Cotate 2, No. 1 Roseville 1 Division 4: No. 5 Menlo School 2, No. 3 Santa Clara 1 Division 5: No. 1 Etna 6, No. 2 Stevenson 5 CIF Northern California Softball Championships Division 1: No. 2 Del Oro 5, No. 1 Oak Ridge 3 Division 2: No. 2 Salinas 4, No. 4 Liberty-Brentwood 1 Division 3: No. 1 Hillsdale 1, No. 2 Cardinal Newman 0 Division 4: No. 1 East Nicolaus 4, No. 3 San Leandro 0 Division 5: No. 1 Biggs 4, No. 3 King City 2
San Francisco Chronicle
06-06-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
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Alec Blair said no matter what happens Saturday he'll likely shed a tear. The De La Salle-Concord center fielder, one of the Bay Area's best two-sport high school athletes ever, plays in his final prep sporting event when the top-seeded Spartans (28-4) host Serra (28-6) in a Northern California (CIF) Division 1 championship game. Both teams are coming off 3-0 home wins on Thursday, De La Salle over St. Mary's-Stockton and Serra beat Los Gatos. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. CIF Northern California playoffs HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL Division 1 Semifinals De La Salle 3, St. Mary's-Stockton 0 Serra 3, Los Gatos 0 Saturday's championship: No. 3 Serra (28-6) at No. 1 De La Salle (28-4), 4 p.m. Division 2 Semifinals No. 1 Yuba City 11, No. 5 Lodi 3 No. 2 St. Francis-Mountain View 2, No. 6 Acalanes 0 Saturday's championship: No. 2 St. Francis (22-10) at No. 1 Yuba City (30-5), 4 p.m. Division 3 semifinals No. 4 Fowler (29-3) at No. 1 Roseville (22-11), 4 p.m. (Friday) No. 3 Rancho Cotate at No. 2 Carmel (21-10), noon (Friday) Division 4 Semifinals No. 3 Santa Clara 6, No. 2 West Valley 0 No. 5 Menlo School (22-8) at No. 1 Woodland Christian (27-6), noon Friday Division 5 Semifinals No. 1 Etna 9, No. 4 Los Molinos 6 No. 2 Stevenson 6, No. 6 Lincoln-SF 0 Saturday's championship: No. 2 Stevenson (21-8) at No. 1 Etna (20-7), 2 p.m. HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL Division 1 Semifinals No. 1 Oak Ridge 7, No. 4 Whitney 0 No. 2 Del Oro 6, No. 3 St. Francis 5 Saturday's championship: No. 2 Del Oro (30-2) at No. 1 Oak Ridge (26-4), 10 a.m. Division 2 Semifinals No. 4 Liberty-Brentwood 17, No. 1 Vanden 10 No. 2 Salinas 1, No. 6 King's Academy 0 Saturday's championship: No. 4 Liberty (25-4) at No. 2 Salinas (20-8), 4 p.m. Division 3 Semifinals: No. 1 Hillsdale 3, No. 5 Liberty-Madera 2 No. 2 Cardinal Newman 1, No. 6 Pleasant Valley 0 Saturday's championship: No. 2 Cardinal Newman (24-6) at No. 1 Hillsdale (20-9-1), 4 p.m. Division 4 Semifinals No. 1 East Nicolaus 1, No. 4 Northgate 0 No. 7 Aptos (18-8) vs. No. 3 San Leandro (22-8) at Burrell Field, 6 p.m. Friday Saturday's championship: Aptos-San Leandro winner at No. 1 East Nicolaus (24-6), 4 p.m. Division 5 Semifinals No. 1 Biggs 11, No. 4 Miramonte 6 No. 3 King City 14, No. 7 Balboa 5 'Regardless of the outcome I'll be a little sad,' Blair said before flashing a big smile. 'I'll be a little happier though if we get it done. That would be legendary.' Which is how some would describe the 6-foot-7 senior's athletic career on the basketball and baseball teams. His teams have gone a combined 198-50 in that span, collected five North Coast Section and two Northern California titles. Blair has been a four-year All-Metro player in basketball and two years in baseball, with a third time also guaranteed with a team-leading .446 average heading into Saturday's game with 33 hits (14 for extra bases), 30 runs and 24 RBIs. The long and rangy outfielder is ranked among the top 50 recruits nationally in both sports, which is extremely rare. He plans to play both at the University of Oklahoma. His most vivid memory in four years he said 'is just growing up with all my guys, the brotherhood we've built. I'll never forget it.' What will he be thinking about heading into Saturday's game? 'Just winning. It's that simple. Score more runs than Serra and don't let them score.' That's what either winning pitcher Graham Schlicht (De La Salle) or Nate Hui (Serra) did Thursday in semifinal shutouts. Schlicht, a Stanford commit, walked a season-high four, but struck out nine and allowed just four hits. Hui scattered seven hits and struck out two. A pair of RBI singles from Antonio Castro — he tied De La Salle's single-season record with 44 RBIs — was all the offensive support Schlicht needed. 'He was phenomenal,' Blair said of Schlicht's performance. 'Not one ball was hit to me. I didn't have to do anything.' This will be the second time the teams have played this season — De La Salle won a 5-2 tournament game over Serra on April 16. Over the last two decades, the Spartans hold a 7-5 series lead, winning the last three meetings. Five Metro baseball teams and three softball will play for NorCal titles and two others have a chance Friday with semifinal wins. More baseball: In Division 2, Landon Kim fired a two-hitter with five strikeouts, lifting second-seeded St. Francis to a 2-0 home win over No. 6 Acalanes-Lafayette. Tanner Wall had two hits and an RBI for the Lancers (22-10), who now travel to Sutter County to face top seed Yuba City (30-5), which beat fifth-seeded Lodi, 11-3. The Honkers are 30-5. … In D4, No. 5 seed Menlo School-Atherton (23-8) moved into the finals Friday with a 15-11 win over Woodland Christian in a game suspended on Thursday due to darkness. Menlo (23-8) will travel to third-seed Santa Clara (29-3), a 6-0 winner over West Valley as Jaxton Chao had three hits and two RBIs and Drew Diffenderfer pitched a five-hitter with five strikeouts. … In D5, sixth-seeded Lincoln-San Francisco lost at No. 2 Stevenson-Pebble Beach (21-8) which received a combined three-hitter by Jacob Hall and Alex Wang. Softball: In D1, Ava Bulanti and May Meltz had two hits each, but St. Francis fell 6-5 at Del Oro-Loomis. The game see-sawed throughout with the Lancers (28-4) scoring twice in the first inning and Del Oro (30-2) answering with three in the bottom half. Del Oro blasted three home runs, from freshmen Emma Johnson and Caelyn Campos and sophomore Avyn Brower. … In D2, fourth-seeded Liberty-Brentwood (25-4) put on its hitting shoes with a 17-10 win over Vanden-Fairfield, scoring eight in the second inning to take control. Jewel Cooper led a 21-hit attack with four hits. The Lions now travel to Salinas (20-8), a 1-0 eight-inning winner over King's Academy-Sunnyvale behind a five-hitter and nine strikeouts from Abi Jones. King's Academy wasted a 16-strikeout, five-hit performance by junior Katia Nesper. … Second-seed Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa (24-6) will travel to top-seed Hillsdale-San Mateo (20-9-1) after tight semifinal wins. Hillsdale pulled out a 3-2 home victory over fifth-seeded Liberty-Madera, pushing across a round in the bottom of the eighth. Sophia Shelton had two hits and an RBI as did Giuliana Brum, making a winner out of sophomore Lola Jones (five-hitter, nine strikeouts over eighth innings. Senior pitcher Callie Howard struck out eight and allowed five hits as Newman defeated Pleasant Valley-Chico, 1-0. … In D4, No. 4 seed Northgate-Walnut Creek dropped a 1-0 semifinal game at East Nicolaus, which will play the Friday winner between Aptos at San Leandro. … In D5, Miramonte-Orinda and Balboa had seasons end with semifinal losses.
