By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Here are 10 storylines to keep an eye on Friday, May 26 and Saturday, May 27 at the 103rd CIF State Championships at Buchanan High’s Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis:

New relay royalty recognized

For the first time in meet history, the 4x800-meter relays will be scored events Saturday in addition to the 4x100 and 4x400, with host Buchanan High having the potential to capture at least one, if not sweep both titles, boasting the fastest times in the state in both genders this season.

Buchanan ran 8:59.12 in the girls 4x800 on April 14 at the 63rd Mt. SAC Relays, becoming only the fourth program in state history – joining JSerra, Long Beach Poly and Harvard-Westlake – to produce a sub-9 performance. JSerra set the state record last year by clocking 8:52.68 at Nike Outdoor Nationals.

The Bears will rely heavily on underclassmen Tayler Torosian, Sierra Cornett and Elle Lomeli, in addition to senior Sydney Sundgren in its pursuit of making history at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Del Norte (9:00.77) and JSerra (9:03.27) took the top two spots April 7 at the 55th Arcadia Invitational and are both legitimate contenders, with Southern Section Masters winner Claremont (9:07.84) the only other lineup in the state to run under 9:10 this season.

Buchanan boasts seniors Noah Ray and Zach Weaver, as well as Luke Sanders and Ryan Kunkel, on a quartet that prevailed at the Arcadia Invitational in a state-leading 7:43.84.

San Clemente, with a group of four juniors in Brett Ephraim, Jackson Brownell, Pierce Clark and Taj Clark, won the Southern Section Masters meet in 7:45.93.

Long Beach Poly (7:44.90) and Long Beach Wilson (7:45.51) are both strong challengers. The Jackrabbits boast the state record of 7:28.75 in 2011, with only Long Beach Poly, Great Oak and Don Lugo achieving sub-7:40 efforts in California prep history.

Pleasant pursuing another special sprint double

Rodrick Pleasant, a senior at Gardena Serra, has achieved an all-conditions state 100-meter best and equaled his wind-legal all-time mark in consecutive weeks, but the Oregon commit has an opportunity to become the first sprinter to win championships in both the 100 and 200 in consecutive years since Khalfani Muhammad of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in 2012-13.

Pleasant produced wind-aided efforts of 10.30 and 20.56 seconds in the 100 and 200 to sweep both titles last season.

He ran a wind-aided 10.09 on May 13 at the Southern Section Division 4 final at Moorpark High to eclipse the all-conditions fastest performance in state history of 10.13 achieved by former Vista Murrieta standout Javelin Guidry in 2017.

Pleasant clocked a wind-legal 10.14 for the second year in a row at the Southern Section Masters meet May 20 at Moorpark High, matching his state record.

Jordan Washington of Long Beach Jordan, Nick Miller from Clovis North, Anthony Flowers of South Torrance and Robert Stitts from El Cerrito are all looking to steal the spotlight from Pleasant.

The state 200 record of 20.14 was established by former Vista Murrieta star Michael Norman in 2016, with Pleasant running a wind-legal 20.40 in the Southern Section Division 4 final last year to elevate to the No. 2 all-time competitor in California.

The fastest wind-legal efforts produced at the championship meet are 10.30 in the 100 – shared by Riley Washington of San Diego Southwest in 1992 and Kenan Christon from San Diego Madison in 2019 – and 20.30 in the 200, the latter by Norman in 2015.

Humphries has sights on heroic showcase

It has been nearly 40 years since Wendy Brown of Woodside captured the girls state team title by herself, scoring all 38 points with victories in the high jump, long jump and triple jump, along with placing second in the 100-meter hurdles at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.

Castaic High junior Meagan Humphries is taking on a similar schedule, with the same ambition and potential as Brown after qualifying for four individual finals.

Humphries will also compete in the high jump, long jump and triple jump, with her lone track event being the 200 meters.

Humphries ran a wind-aided 23.55 in the 200 at the Southern Section Masters meet May 20 at Moorpark High. She has also cleared 5-10.25 (1.79m) on Feb. 4 at the California Winter Outdoor Championships at Arcadia High, in addition to winning the Southern Section Division 3 long jump title with a wind-legal leap of 20-0.25 (6.10m) and producing a wind-legal mark of 40-8.75 (12.41m) in the triple jump April 28 at the Foothill League finals.

Humphries is one of five qualifiers to run under 24 seconds in the 200, along with one of four entries to surpass 20 feet in the long jump and one of five competitors to soar beyond 40 feet in the triple jump this season, in addition to being the state leader in the high jump.

Humphries will need to accumulate more than 30 points in order to put herself in championship contention, as every winning girls team since 1992 has reached at least that level and beyond.

St. Ignatius freshman Ellie McCuskey-Hay is another female athlete taking on a significant schedule, entered in the 100, 200, long jump and 4x100 relay, with Campolindo senior Mari Testa competing in the 100, 200 and 100 hurdles.

Legends of the L.A. City Section

Carson is looking to return to the top of the girls team podium for the first time since capturing the championship in 2016, but the quest for Granada Hills to secure the boys team title has been a much more patient pursuit.

The Highlanders are looking to become the first L.A. City Section boys program since 2005 to win a state championship, when a David Gettis-led Dorsey lineup capturing the crown at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento.

Gettis won the 400 title, in addition to contributing to victories in both the 4x100 and 4x400 to help Dorsey accumulate 38.5 points.

Dijon Stanley, a Utah-bound running back, is a leading contender in the 200 and 400, as well as elevating Granada Hills in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, along with Jordan Coleman, Jayden Davis and Kanye Martin.

The Highlanders have never won a state title in an individual or relay event, but the wait Saturday might not last long, as Granada Hills is the favorite to prevail in the 4x100 relay after clocking a City Section record 40.28 on April 8 at the 55th Arcadia Invitational, which ranks No. 3 in California prep history.

Long Beach Poly boasts the 4x100 state record of 40.14, with Hawthorne producing the championship meet all-time mark of 40.24 in 1989, the only two performances ahead of Granada Hills.

Stanley, who ran a state-leading 45.92 in the 400 at the Arcadia Invitational, achieved a 45.3-second split May 18 on Granada Hills’ 4x400 relay that clocked 3:17.61 at the City Section final.

The Highlanders ran 3:14.69 on April 15 at the 63rd Mt. SAC Relays, with only Long Beach Poly’s state-leading performance of 3:13.86 on May 20 at the Southern Section Masters meet at Moorpark High being faster than Granada Hills.

Carson will rely on significant performances once again from reigning state girls 100 champion Reign Redmond, along with Christina Gray, TaAhjah Fann and Kaitlyn Williams in the 4x100 relay in an effort to remain in podium contention, looking to become the only City Section girls program to capture multiple team championships.

Prolific Notre Dame pair ready for title push

April Fontenette and Aja Johnson from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame are the most impressive prep throwing tandem in the country and they have the potential to lift the Knights to a podium finish with their performances in the discus and shot put.

Fontenette, Johnson and teammate Hope Gordon accumulated 24 points at last year’s state final to help Notre Dame tie for fourth overall.

Arroyo Grande’s Billie Jo Grant and Megan Howard were the last pair of throwing teammates to challenge for a podium finish, combining for 24 points in 2003 to place fourth.

Bakersfield Liberty’s Faith Bender and Bella Rigby were in position to pursue a podium finish, before the 2020 and 2021 state championship meets were canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bakersfield won the girls team title in 1990, led by Dawn Dumble and Melissa Weis accumulating 36 of the team’s 61 points by taking the top two spots in both the discus and shot put.

Johnson is the top sophomore in the country and the state leader in the shot put at 46-10 (14.27m).

Fontenette ranks second in the discus this season at 162-8 (49.59m), trailing only reigning state champion Nailea Fields of Caruthers at 167-8 (51.12m).

Johnson is second nationally among sophomores in the discus at 149-7 (45.60m), with Fontenette one of eight prep athletes in the country to surpass 45 feet in the shot put and 160 feet in the discus.

Notre Dame is seeking its first girls individual title since Vaiva Puodziunas captured the wheelchair shot put crown in 2019.

Fields is looking to become the first repeat discus state champion since Shafter’s Anna Jelmini in 2008-09.

Same barriers, different Upland star

The most decorated boys program in the past decade when it comes to providing hurdling highlights is Upland, with Joseph Anderson, Caleb Lutalo Roberson and Delaney Crawford combining to win the past four 300-meter hurdles championships, in addition to the Highlanders securing three of the past five 110-meter hurdles crowns, with Kai Graves-Blanks prevailing last season.

Davis Davis-Lyric is looking to add his name to the Highlanders’ hurdling legacy, as the favorite in the 110 hurdles and a strong contender in the 300 hurdles.

Davis-Lyric is trying to help Upland become the first boys program in state history to have different athletes win consecutive 110 hurdles championships.

Hollywood achieved the feat in the 120-yard hurdles with Les Eade and Jim Meeks in 1925 and 1926.

Davis-Lyric boasts a state-leading 13.85 seconds from April 8 at the 55th Arcadia Invitational.

Stephen Dahdouh of Pleasant Grove and Logan Lyght from Mater Dei are the only other 110 hurdles competitors to produce sub-14 performances under all-conditions this season.

Cameron Williams of Merrill West and Myles McFarland from Cosumnes Oaks are also legitimate contenders in the 110 hurdles.

Cayden Roberson of Eastvale Roosevelt is the top competitor in the 300 hurdles at 37.59, with Davis-Lyric among a group of seven entries with sub-38 efforts this season.

Graves-Blanks and Crawford swept the hurdling championships last year for Upland. Anderson was the last athlete to win both hurdling titles in the same year in 2017.

Engelhardt chasing distance double again

Ventura sophomore Sadie Engelhardt is still attempting to become the first female athlete in state history to win both the 800 and 1,600 championships in the same year.

And the same competitor is still proving to be the primary obstacle in Engelhardt’s quest for the memorable double, reigning 800 state champion Mackenzie Browne from JW North.

Browne triumphed by a 2:08.66 to 2:09.64 margin in last year’s state final, after Engelhardt won the 1,600 title in 4:36.67.

Browne ran a lifetime-best 2:03.07 to win April 8 at the 55th Arcadia Invitational, elevating to No. 3 in California prep history.

Engelhardt ranks No. 11 all-time in the state at 2:05.66.

Both athletes are also scheduled to compete on their respective 4x400 relay teams.

Engelhardt is attempting to become the first back-to-back 1,600 state champion since Maddy Denner of Oak Ridge in 2017-18. Browne is trying to become the first repeat 800 winner since Alyssa Brewer of San Ramon California in 2016-17.

La Jolla freshman Chiara Dailey, Santa Rosa Montgomery senior Hanne Thomsen, Dana Hills senior Allura Markow, Del Norte senior Hannah Riggins, Buchanan senior Grace Hutchison and Scotts Valley junior Ashlyn Boothby are the primary challengers for Engelhardt in the 1,600.

Poway’s Tessa Buswell, Newport Harbor’s Keaton Robar, JSerra’s Georgia Jeanneret, Castilleja’s Samira Kennedy and Claremont’s L’Mio Edwards join Browne and Engelhardt as the only other athletes in the state this season to run under 2:10. Monte Vista’s Cate Peters achieved the feat last year.

Great Oak’s Isaac Cortes swept the boys 800 and 1,600 state championships at the 2016 final.

Pole podium position

Buchanan’s Hilton Green and Jordan Leveque have the potential to produce a pair of memorable moments on the runway at Veterans Memorial Stadium, not only seeking the first pole vault championships for the program, but also looking to become the first athletes to win the event at their home venue in meet history.

Green was second at last year’s state final, matching Eastvale Roosevelt’s Hunter O’Brien with a 16-5 (5.00m) clearance, but being edged on fewer attempts.

Green achieved a lifetime-best 17-1 (5.21m) clearance May 12 at the Central Section Division 1 final at Clovis East High, the No. 2 performance in Central Section history, trailing only Fresno Hoover’s David Cox and his 17-4 (5.28m) effort in 1991.

Leveque tied for sixth at last year’s state championship with a 12-5 (3.78m) clearance, but she has cleared 13-6 (4.11m) this season, matching the No. 4 competitor in Central Section history.

La Costa Canyon’s Iliana Downing is the only athlete in the girls pole vault field with a 14-foot clearance (4.27m) this season, with Vista Murrieta’s Aspen Fears, Poway’s Avery Hilliard and Harvard-Westlake’s Jessica Thompson the only other competitors to surpass 13 feet (3.96m) this year.

Green is expected to be challenged by Redondo Union’s Dylan Curtis and Turlock’s Maxwell McFarlane, with Newport Harbor’s Leo Davis, Martin Luther King’s Jaden McKee, Torrey Pines’ Joey Weisman and Sage Creek’s Jacob Emerson also clearing 16 feet this year.

Reigning champions ready to run it back

JW North’s Mackenzie Browne and Ventura’s Sadie Engelhardt are two of the five girls individual track champions returning to Clovis, looking to capture back-to-back championships, joining Carson’s Reign Redmond in the 100, Serra’s Brazil Neal in the 200 and Santa Rosa Montgomery’s Hanne Thomsen in the 3,200.

Clovis’ Sydnie Vanek is seeking back-to-back long jump crowns, Los Gatos’ Hannah Slover is pursuing consecutive high jump titles and Caruthers senior Nailea Fields is pursuing a repeat in the discus.

Serra’s Rodrick Pleasant, the defending boys 100 and 200 champion, joins JSerra discus star Brendon See as the only returning boys winners from last year.

See is seeking the first boys discus back-to-back championships since Newport Harbor’s Ethan Cochran in 2011-12, but will face a significant challenge from Clovis North’s McKay Madsen, JW North’s Justice Mephors and John Glenn’s Mikel Udengwu, the most improved thrower in the state.

Pleasant is pursuing the first 100 repeat since Chaminade’s TJ Brock in 2015-16 and the first back-to-back 200 crowns since Vista Murrieta’s Michael Norman, also in 2015-16. Pleasant also has the potential to become the first male athlete since Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s Khalfani Muhammad to repeat in both the 100 and 200 since 2012-13.

Redmond is looking to follow Calabasas’ De’Anna Nowling, who won the 100 title in 2018 and 2019.

The last female athlete to repeat in the 200 was Ariyonna (Augustine) Murphy of Long Beach Poly, who won three in a row from 2012-14.

Thomsen is trying to capture back-to-back 3,200 championships, with Simi Valley’s Sarah Baxter the last female competitor to repeat when she secured three straight titles in 2011-13.

Vanek has the potential to become the first long jumper to defend her state title since former Clovis star Jenna Prandini triumphed in 2010 and 2011.

Riverside Poly’s Abigail Burke repeated in the girls high jump in 2017-18, with Slover seeking back-to-back championships.

Shafter’s Anna Jelmini was the last female discus champion to win consecutive crowns in 2008-09, with Fields hoping to prevail again after becoming the first athlete in Caruthers history to win a championship last season.

Baton bragging rights

Culver City has only captured a pair of girls 800-meter state championships in program history, the most recent coming in 2008, but the Centaurs have emerged as one of the best 4x400-meter relay lineups in the country this season, with Leena Powell, Morgan Maddox, Imaan Minwalla and Joelle Trepagnier clocking a state-leading 3:41.40 at the Southern Section Masters meet May 20 at Moorpark High.

Culver City achieved the fastest 4x400 performance by a California prep quartet since 2014 and the Centaurs are attempting to become the 10th program in state history to produce a sub-3:40 performance.

Long Beach Wilson, which ran 3:43.19 at the Southern Section Masters meet, is seeking its first 4x400 championship since 2006.

JW North, which is expected to be anchored by Mackenzie Browne, is pursuing its first 4x400 crown since 2000.

Chino Hills and Calabasas have also run sub-3:50 this season, with reigning state champion Clovis North also looking to return to Saturday’s final.

Carson and Serra, the only two programs in the state to run sub-46 this year, are expected to clash again in the girls 4x100 final.

Serra is the reigning champion and has won three of the past four titles, with Carson pursuing its first 4x100 crown since 2016.

Long Beach Poly, Long Beach Wilson and St. Bernard are the only girls programs in California prep history to run sub-45, with Carson not only looking to challenge its 2016 school record of 45.06, but also join that elite group.

Serra boasts a 2010 program record of 45.66, a mark that was challenged May 13 with the Cavaliers clocking 45.68 at the Southern Section Division 4 final.

Vista Murrieta was the last boys program to sweep the 4x100 and 4x400 championships in the same year in 2016, with Granada Hills looking to capture both relays in an effort to hold off Long Beach Poly and Buchanan in its quest for the team title.

Oaks Christian, which ran 40.97 on April 21 at the Ventura County Championships, could play spoiler for the Highlanders in the 4x100 relay.

Long Beach Poly is pursuing its first boys 4x400 crown since 2014, and Cathedral could be the first school to repeat since Poly prevailed four years in a row from 2001-04.