CIF Prep Track and Field: Cole all smiles after winning triple jump crown; Titans, Nighthawks capture team titles
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By Michael BowerCaitlin Cole could not stop smiling. Not only had the Del Norte High junior just qualified for her first state meet, she won the overall section title in the girls’ triple jump.
Cole leapt a personal-best 38-feet, 1.75-inches to capture the CIF San Diego Section crown, and Rancho Bernardo’s Alex Grigoriev joined her as the only other local individual champion by winning the 800-meter title Saturday at Mt. Carmel High School.
“I was a little surprised that I won,” said Cole, who also stars on the volleyball and basketball courts at Del Norte. “I came into this just hoping to qualify for state and didn’t expect at all to win it.”
The top three finishers in each event at the section championships qualified for Friday and Saturday’s CIF State Track and Field Championships at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis. Nine locals advanced as well as the Titans’ 4x400 boys relay team.
Poway’s boys team won the Division I team title with 74 points -- three more than Mt. Carmel. The Nighthawks’ boys captured the Division II crown – their first boys team championship in school history.
Grigoriev showed off his powerful kick in the final 110-meters to blow by the field in the 800 and finish in 1-minute, 52.88-seconds, earning his first trip to state. The senior hung back early and started his drive to the finish line later than usual.
“I usually start my kick with 200 meters to go, but I noticed the race went out really fast and this is CIF so I wanted to make sure I won it,” said Grigoriev, whose personal-best in the 800 is 1:52.35. “So I hung back to make sure I had enough left at the end instead of going for a (personal-record). At state, I will go for it.”
Poway’s Brandon Lucas and Charlie Bush along with Del Norte’s Tyler Nelson all advanced in two events. Lucas ran the 100 in a personal-best 10.86 and the 200 in a personal-best 21.55 to finish in second place in both.
Bush, a junior, took third in the pole vault with a personal-best 15-4 and was tied for second in the high jump (6-5). Bush could have kept jumping, but 6-5 was the auto-qualifying mark for state and that was good enough for him.
“I have come a long way in the high jump,” said Bush, who as a freshman had a personal-best of just 5-3. “I owe a lot to my coach Steve Roberts. He started working with me at the beginning of my sophomore season and I could not have done it without him.”
Nelson, who competed in four events Saturday, was exhausted after qualifying in the 110 hurdles with a second-place finish (14.78) and in the 300 hurdles with a third-place finish (38.61). Both times were career bests.
“It’s extremely exciting to qualify for state,” Nelson said. “My goal all year was to win CIF and qualify for state. I didn’t win, but I had two new personal records so it was a great day.”
The Titans’ 4x400-relay team (Chris French, Lucas, Derek Babiash, Sam Ozenbaugh) won the section championship in a season-best 3:18.90 in the final event of the day. It was a gratifying victory for French, who competed in four events and was also part of the 4x100-relay team, which was disqualified for an exchange out of the zone.
Ozenbaugh also qualified for state with a second-place finish in the 400 (50.03). Rancho Bernardo’s Katie Sammer took second in the girls 800 (2:14.85) to qualify and the Broncos’ Brandi Walker is headed to state after a third-place overall finish in the shot put. She broke the school record with a throw of 41-6.
Senior Ivy Adair also will compete at the state meet. The star running back for the Broncos’ football team this past season, Adair took third place in the long jump with a personal-best mark of 22-7 on his final attempt.
“I was a little nervous because I was one inch from the auto-qualifying mark and there was still one guy that could pass me up for third,” Adair said. “But unfortunately for that guy he didn’t pass me up so I am super glad I get the chance to go to state.”