Prep Track and Field: Athletes ready to take it up a notch at league championships

By Michael Bower

For a good portion of the track and field season, the objective is simply not to get hurt. But the closer it gets to the San Diego Section championships, the more it becomes about lowering times on the track and upping marks in the field.

Rancho Bernardo High senior Katie Sammer will be among those starting their kick toward a strong finish to the high school season at Monday’s Palomar League finals, which begin with the field events at 3:15 p.m. and track events at 4:15 p.m. at Poway. (The prelims scheduled for Tuesday were cancelled due to the Bernardo Fire and will not be competed at all.)

Sammer, who finished second in the section and 12th in the state in the 800-meter last year, is looking to get her times closer to what they were in May and June of 2013.

She set the school record last year in the 800, posting a time of 2-minutes, 12.28 seconds. She ran 2:13.80 in the state final. Sammer’s best time this year in the 800 is 2:16.70, but it came in the last race of the regular season and could be a sign of things to come.

“We are hoping to see her times start dropping in the 800,” Broncos coach Don Jones said. “She got in to Columbia University so I think that takes some of the pressure off and she is set to go.”

Sammer also competes in the 400 and is a member of the 4x400-relay team, which enters the league championships ranked No. 1. Jones said Sammer might not run the 400 at the championships, but will be racing in the 800 and the relay for sure.

Broncos sprinter Jackie Patterson is also looking to turn it up a notch. The sophomore has a personal-best of 12.04 in the 100 and 24.96 in the 200. Those times put her right in the middle of the pack in the section for both events.

“She should win league in the 100 and 200 and go to the state meet in both,” Jones said. “She has had a tremendous year and her goal is to get under 12 in the 100.”

It should be another year with a strong showing from the Poway boys team at the league final. The Titans boast the league’s top four sprinters in Lance Mudd, Brandon Lucas, Tyjon Lindsey and Ryan Morgan. Seniors Mudd and Lucas should provide an entertaining race in the 100 and 200.

Senior Charlie Bush is the favorite to win the pole vault and the high jump. The senior has posted a section-leading mark of 15-feet, 8-inches in the pole vault and is No. 2 in the high jump (6-7).

Rancho Bernardo’s Devin Lecakes-Jones and Jonathan Stoffel highlight the local throwers. Lecakes-Jones, a sophomore, has the top mark in the Palomar League in the shot put at 50-9.5. Stoffel has the top mark in the discus at 146-4.

Valley League:

Del Norte will compete in the Valley League finals Thursday at 3:15 p.m. at Valley Center. The Nighthawks boys and girls teams captured the regular-season league titles.

Senior Tyler Nelson, who has been battling a hamstring injury, is the heavy favorite in the 110-meter hurdles and the 300 hurdles. Nelson competed at the state meet in both events last year, qualifying with a second-place finish in the 110 and third-place finish in the 300 at the section meet.

Defending section triple jump champion Caitlin Cole highlights the Del Norte girls. The senior, who will graduate with a whopping 12 varsity letters between track, volleyball and basketball, is the favorite in the long and triple jump events.

Others to watch for Del Norte on the boys side are: Cameron Hepworth (high jump), Jack Durall (400, 800) and Garrett Grant (800, 1,600). On the girls side: Sydney Best (400, 800), Annelise Perry (800, 1,600, 3,200), Ruby Mandell (100 hurdles, 300 hurdles) and Michelle Altice (shot put, discus).