Sondre Guttormsen sets pole vault meet record; Tierra Robinson-Jones doubles in 200 and 400, with Maddy Denner, Sean Lee, Abigail Burke and CJ Stevenson all defending titles

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

There were several repeat individual champions and a decade-old meet record was broken, but the two athletes who did the most work Saturday at the 100th CIF State Track and Field Championships helped their teams enjoy the biggest rewards at Buchanan High’s Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis.

PHOTOS | INTERVIEWS | RESULTS

Jazmyne Frost led Serra to back-to-back 4x100-meter relay titles and then helped the Cavaliers rally for a second-place finish in the 4x400 to secure their first team championship since 2012 with 36 points. Sisters Elena Denner and Maddy Denner helped Oak Ridge place second with 33 points, with Calabasas taking third with 31 points.

Christian Shakir-Ricks won the 200 and anchored the 4x400 relay to victory, helping Murrieta Mesa – the third-place team in the Southwestern League – edge rival Great Oak by a 35-30 margin to capture the program’s first state title. Clayton Valley, second in the 4x400, finished third with 28 points.

Shakir-Ricks clocked a wind-legal 20.98 and punctuated the championship for the Rams by teaming with Jermarcus Tate, Matthew Okonkwo and Davonte Williams to run 3:10.86 in the 4x400 relay.

Shakir-Ricks also placed third in the 100 in 10.54, with Okonkwo finishing fourth in the 400 in 47.52 and the 4x100 relay clocking 41.51 to place fifth for Murrieta Mesa, which helped the Southwestern League win a third boys team championship in four years, following Vista Murrieta in 2015-16.

Great Oak was looking to become only the second program in California history to win boys cross country and track and field state titles in the same year, but despite CJ Stevenson repeating in the triple jump with a wind-legal leap of 49-11.75, placing fifth in the long jump with a 23-4.50 effort and joining forces with Joel Collins, Mikel Barkley and Grant Gaskins to secure the Wolfpack’s first 4x100 title in 40.99, Murrieta Mesa was able to prevail after not scoring a point at last year’s final.

Although Serra didn’t win an individual event, Queen Okoh, Jaylah Herron, Destinee Reid and Frost helped produce a second straight 4x100 title in 45.69, becoming the first program to achieve the feat since Long Beach Poly in 2013-14.

Frost added a second-place finish in the 100 in 11.61 and a third-place effort in 23.76, with Herron taking fifth in the 400 in 54.80 to set the stage for the dramatic 4x400 performance for the Cavaliers. Freshman Maya Rush, who also contributed to Serra’s Division 1 state basketball title in March, teamed with Frost, Okoh and Herron to run 3:44.37, trailing only Bonita’s Amari Prude, Alisha Wilson, Sierra Julian and Sami Riggs, who captured their program’s first girls title in any event in 3:42.62 after placing ninth last year.

The Denner sisters put the pressure on Serra by taking the top two spots in the 3,200, following first- and fourth-place efforts in the 1,600.

Maddy Denner repeated in the 1,600 in 4:42.77, with Elena Denner clocking 4:45.49 to finish fourth. Elena returned to win her first individual title in the 3,200 in 10:10.32, followed by Maddy in 10:11.56. Freshmen Jacqueline Duarte of Chino Hills (4:44.87), Audrey Suarez of Mayfield (4:48.04) and Mia Barnett of Village Christian (4:48.64) finished third, fifth and sixth, respectively, marking the first time in a decade that a ninth-grader made the state 1,600 podium.

Senior Olivia O’Keeffe of Davis Senior secured her third straight top-three finish in the 1,600 by placing runner-up in 4:43.69, then captured third in her first 3,200 final in 10:12.56.

Teammate Sondre Guttormsen helped the Davis Senior boys place fourth with 25 points, eclipsing the 2008 meet record by clearing 17-10 in the pole vault – just shy of his all-time state mark of 18-2.75 – along with taking second in the 110 hurdles in 14.02. Vista del Lago’s Jaden Ellis won the 110 hurdles title in a wind-legal 13.97.

Calabasas also remained in contention in the girls team race behind De’Anna Nowling and Kyla Robinson-Hubbard, who helped the Coyotes take second to Serra in the 4x100 in 45.91. Nowling won the program’s first state title in the 100-meter dash in a wind-legal 11.47 and placed fourth in the 200 in 24.02, with Robinson-Hubbard finishing second in the 300 hurdles in 42.07.

Riverside Poly senior Abigail Burke repeated as girls high jump champion with a 5-10 clearance, sharing the title with Long Beach Wilson sophomore Rachel Glenn after two officials ruled there would not be a jumpoff to decide the title. Burke was the first female athlete with consecutive titles since 2002-03.

Trabuco Hills senior Sean Lee captured back-to-back boys high jump championships with a 7-2 clearance, before missing an opportunity to break the oldest meet record following three unsuccessful attempts at 7-3.50. Lee was the first repeat winner since 2013-14.

Bishop O’Dowd senior Tierra Robinson-Jones became only the fourth female athlete in meet history to win the 200 and 400 in the same year, joining Granada Hills Kennedy’s Denean Howard in 1982, Long Beach Wilson’s Kinshasa Davis in 1987 and Morse’s Monique Henderson in 2000.

Robinson-Jones clocked 52.37 in the 400 and 23.66 in the 200 to edge defending-champion Ariyonna Augustine in 23.70. Augustine placed third in the 100 in 11.65.

Del Oro senior Cathilyn McIntosh ran the second-fastest time in 800 state finals history by clocking 2:05.22 to win her first title.

Westmont senior Jason Gomez produced the fastest boys winning time in the 800 since 2011 by clocking 1:50.21, edging last year’s winner Jett Charvet of Heritage (1:50.79).

Redwood Larkspur junior Liam Anderson prevailed in the boys 1,600 in 4:09.31, but his bid to become the first to achieve the distance double since 2013 came up short with a fifth-place finish in the 3,200 final in 9:00.60.

Jesuit sophomore Matt Strangio won the 3,200 in 8:56.18, edging Division 1 state cross country champion Justin Hazell of El Camino Real in 8:57.90 and Southern Section Division 1 winner Xavier Court of Mira Costa in 8:59.56.

The Inland Empire achieved a sweep of all four hurdles titles, with Upland senior Jada Hicks winning the girls 100 hurdles in 13.35 and junior teammate Caleb Roberson capturing the boys 300 hurdles in 36.61. Roosevelt senior Breanna Bernard-Joseph won her first 300 hurdles championship in 41.76, with Ellis earning the 110 hurdles crown.

Tulare Union senior Kazmier Allen edged Yucaipa senior Asani Hampton by a 10.44 to 10.45 margin in the boys 100 final. Hampton also took second to Shakir-Ricks in 21.13 in the 200.

Marin Catholic senior Max Glasser won the boys 400 in 46.97, with Cameron Reynolds – anchoring Clayton Valley’s runner-up 4x400 to a 3:12.31 effort – placing second in 47.27.

Arianna Fisher and Jazlynn Shearer helped Silver Creek place sixth in the girls team competition with 20 points, highlighted by Fisher’s victory in the triple jump in 41-7. Shearer accounted for the other 10 points, placing fourth in the 100 hurdles in 13.76, fifth in the triple jump with a leap of 40-1.75 and eighth in the long jump with an 18-3 effort.

Coronado junior Alysah Hickey won the girls long jump championship with a leap of 19-9.75, along with placing fourth in the high jump with a 5-8 clearance.

Fowler junior Jocelynn Budwig prevailed in the shot put with a mark of 46-11 and took third in the discus with a throw of 161-0.

Wheatland senior Erica Grotegeer became the first Northern Section winner of the girls discus since Gridley’s Leslie Deniz in 1980 by throwing 174-9 in the fifth round.

Santa Catalina junior Laurel Wong followed her pole vault victory at the Winter Outdoor Championships by capturing the state title with a 12-6 clearance.

Bakersfield Liberty junior Daniel Viveros needed to rally in the final two rounds to secure the boys shot put title and complete an unbeaten season in 16 competitions with a 62-5.50 effort.

St. Mary’s Berkeley sophomore Malcolm Clemens had six marks of at least 24 feet in the long jump, capping his series with a wind-aided 25-1 to win the championship.

Despite fouling on his final three throws, Mission Viejo senior Christian Lavalle won the boys discus title with a 182-7 effort.