St. Ignatius junior Ellie McCuskey-Hay eyes gold at CCS track and field finals
As a freshman, out of lane 8, a great start propelled her to a second-place finish in the CIF State Meet 100-meter dash in 11.52 seconds. Later in the competition she let loose on her final attempt of the long jump, going 19 feet, 7¼ inches to place sixth.
Both marks that day at Veteran's Memorial Stadium in Clovis were considerable personal bests — her previous top numbers were 11.81 and 18-10½.
'That was such a surreal moment,' McCuskey-Hay said last week from the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club, where she was the San Francisco High School Awards' female athlete of the year. 'I couldn't believe that had happened. Seems so long ago. … I've come very far since then. I'm more consistent than ever.'
The day and memory bring big smiles to the petite, powerful, fast-twitched 5-foot-4 athlete. But it could also be a burden to beat two elite marks, which are still lifetime bests.
Last season she finaled in both events at state, taking fifth in the long jump (19-0) and ninth in the 100 (11.71). This season, heading into Saturday's Central Coast Section finals at Gilroy High School, she ranks fifth in the state in the 100 (11.54) and seventh in the long jump (19-7).
She's perfectly positioned to break those freshman marks and add to her collection of four state medals. The 4x100 relay team that she anchors with Breion Glaspie, Avery Hui-Bytof and Sophia Boudraa also ranks 17th in state at 47.11 and could reach a state finals.
But McCuskey-Hay, the daughter of a Marin Waves Track and Field Club founder and director, knows nothing can be taken for granted in this sport. There's weather. Starts. Health.
And, perhaps most important, a mindset.
That's why McCuskey-Hay works with a sports psychologist to manage a sport where every millisecond and movement counts.
'I would say I'm pretty hard on myself when things don't go the way I'd like them to,' McCuskey-Hay said. 'Restructuring that mindset really helps me.
'I've been doing this so long, I know all the abilities are there. It's a matter of putting it all together and being optimistic.'
She's been a model of consistency, breaking 12 seconds in all nine races this season — winning eight — while running 11.54 twice and 11.55 once. Her only non-victory was placing fifth at the nationally recognized Arcadia Invitational, where she went 11.54.
In the 200, she won six of eight times with a best of 23.90 (wind-aided), the 11th best time in California this year. McCuskey-Hay could easily bring home four golds from Saturday's meet as she did at the West Catholic Athletic League championship on May 9.
North Salinas sophomore Clara Adams and Mountain View senior Hannah Rutherford in the 200 present the biggest obstacles for McCuskey-Hay.
'I definitely have certain expectations and would like to run certain times and jump certain distances," McCuskey-Hay said. 'But I think it's important to go with the flow.'
More CCS athletes to watch: The boys 1,600 should be the most competitive as Menlo School-Atherton senior Landon Pretre (4:06.23) and Los Gatos senior Aydon Stefanopoulos (4:06.62) possess the third- and fourth-best times in the state this season. They also rank first and fifth in the 3,200. … Crystal Springs Uplands-Hillsborough senior Benjamin Bouie, the defending champion with a best of 4:06.92, and Sacred Heart Cathedral senior Miles Cook (4:08.33) are two more strong threats in the 1,600. … Other top 10 state marks this season from CCS athletes include: Woodside senior Mattheo Lacasia (400, 47.22, ninth), St. Ignatius senior Prince Buchango-Babalola (110 hurdles, 13.98, seventh), Serra senior Luke Lewis (shot put, 61-6¼, fourth), Woodside senior Evan Usher (shot put, 59-8, ninth), Mountain View senior Rutherford (400, 54.01, fourth), Palo Alto senior Kinga Czajkowska (girls 1,600, 4:46.34, fourth), Mitty senior Maya Ifo Desai (girls discus, 154-11, fourth), Monta Vista-Cupertino junior Lelani Laruelle (high jump, 5-8, tied for second), Burlingame senior Avery Boyse (pole vault, 13-0, second), Monta Vista senior Clara Fan (triple jump, 39-0, 10th).
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19 hours ago
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10 High School Track And Field Athletes Who Were Competitive On A World Level In 2025
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Yahoo
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St. Ignatius boys basketball wins California Live title in NHSBCA bracket
As has been the case many times before in recent decades, it's a good time to be a St. Ignatius College Prep boys basketball fan. The Wildcats made the CIF-Central Coast Section Open Division finals and Division I regional semifinals/state quarterfinals this past season, and they're in good shape for another big year ahead led by rising senior guards and SF Chronicle All-Metro selections Raymond Whitley (2nd Team) and Shawn Boquiren (Honorable Mention). Look no further than California Live 2025, as Whitley and SI opened with three consecutive one-possession victories before cruising past Palisades 90-70 for the NHSBCA title. The first three victories came 61-58 over Cypress, 78-76 over Vanden, and 73-71 over Inderkum. What's more, all three of those teams went 3-0 other than their losses to St. Ignatius. Throw in Palisades, and St. Ignatius went 4-0 against teams that otherwise went 12-0. Talk about powering through a brutal path to the crown – but the Wildcats had more than enough juice left when they dropped 90 points in the final game. Advertisement The rest of the bracket was no joke either. It consisted of Cardinal Newman, San Ramon Valley, Saguaro (AZ), Colony, Franklin (Elk Grove), Viewpoint, San Marcos, Maranatha, Leuzinger, San Juan Hills, and Shadow Ridge (NV) as countless Division I scouts looked on. Whitley averaged better than 14 points, four rebounds, and four assists a game as a junior, and was also named 1st Team All-WCAL. The versatile 6-foot-3 combo guard is a serious candidate to make a push for Bay Area MVP honors as a senior, and he and Boquiren are a lock to constitute one of the premier backcourts in the Bay Area and beyond. Other top expected returners include senior guard Steele Labagh and 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Alex Moore. RELATED:
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West Virginia asks Supreme Court to hear trans athlete case after ruling on gender-affirming care
West Virginia on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to hear a case against a state law barring transgender athletes from girls' and women's school sports teams, citing the high court's recent decision to uphold a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for minors. In a statement, West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey (R) said the state is confident in the merits of its case and defense of its law, the 'Save Women's Sports Act' that former Gov. Jim Justice (R) signed in 2021. 'The law is constitutional and complies with Title IX,' McCuskey said Tuesday, referencing the federal law against sex discrimination that President Trump's administration has said prohibits transgender girls from participating on girls' school sports teams. McCuskey praised the justice's ruling in the Tennessee case, U.S. v. Skrmetti, as 'a landmark decision' but said it did little to answer the specific question West Virginia first posed to the court in 2023. 'That is why we are urging the Supreme Court, through our supplemental filing, to take our case and allow the women and girls of West Virginia to begin enjoying the protections of the Save Women's Sports Act,' he said. The Supreme Court rejected a previous request to lift a lower court order that has since 2023 prevented West Virginia from enforcing its law against a now-high school student who throws discus and shot put for her school's girls' track-and-field team. When the student, Becky Pepper Jackson, first sued the state over its restrictions on transgender athletes, she was 11 years old and in middle school. Last spring, West Virginia's former attorney general, now-Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R), asked the high court to intervene for the second time. The justices have yet to respond. West Virginia's supplemental filing argues the Supreme Court's Skrmetti ruling warrants a fresh review of the law, which it says confronts 'a serious social debate.' A previous decision by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the measure violates Title IX and the U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection Clause. 'United States v. Skrmetti disclaims any guidance on the Title IX question presented here, and the decision's equal-protection analysis does not address critical questions unique to athletics,' the filing, submitted by McCuskey, the Alliance Defending Freedom and attorneys representing members of the West Virginia Board of Education, says. It asks that the justices take up the case rather than sending it back to the 4th Circuit for further review, citing incongruity in how federal courts have responded to challenges of similar laws in over half the country. 'A remand will not resolve these circuit conflicts,' the filing argues. 'Assume the unlikely scenario where the Fourth Circuit changes course on remand and holds that a law assigning athletic teams by sex does not differentiate based on transgender status or, alternatively, holds that transgender status does not constitute a suspect class. Both circuit splits would remain: the first would move from 2–3 to 1–4, and the second from 4–2 to 3–3. The Court should thus review now.' The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing Jackson, did not immediately return a request for comment on the filing. In its ruling last week, the Supreme Court declined address whether transgender status is a 'quasi-suspect class' under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. In a concurring opinion, Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote that transgender people are neither a 'suspect' nor 'quasi-suspect' class, classifications that would trigger heightened scrutiny when laws discriminate against them. 'Beyond the treatment of gender dysphoria, transgender status implicates several other areas of legitimate regulatory policy — ranging from access to restrooms to eligibility for boys' and girls' sports teams,' she wrote. 'If laws that classify based on transgender status necessarily trigger heightened scrutiny, then the courts will inevitably be in the business of 'closely scrutiniz[ing] legislative choices' in all these domains.' West Virginia's filing on Tuesday says the Supreme Court should grant its petition and explain that laws restricting trans athletes' participation in girls' sports do not classify based on transgender status 'or hold that transgender-based classifications do not affect a suspect class.' The filing also argues that the high court must decide whether its reasoning in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 shields employees from discrimination based on their sex or gender identity, can be applied to other statutes, including Title IX. The Supreme Court declined to answer that question in its Skrmetti decision. 'Girls deserve a safe, fair playing field today — not years from now — and the ruling's present harm to women and girls is stark,' the filing says, referring to the 4th Circuit ruling that is blocking the law. The Supreme Court must act to resolve a question 'of national importance,' the filing argues, referencing an executive order signed by Trump in February that threatens to revoke federal funding from states and schools that continue allowing trans athletes to participate in girls' and women's sports. 'Should they follow an executive order that threatens all their funding—even funding unrelated to athletics? Or should they follow a court order that has not yet been applied to them?' the filing states. 'The years of delay that would follow were the Court to grant, vacate, and remand here would not help, especially when Skrmetti did not purport to address the legal questions that drive this case.' 'The Court should take up this petition,' the filing adds, 'and resolve this 'important issue' once and for all.'
