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Prep Track and Field: Broncos’ Akins breaks 30-year-old meet record

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Nobody was within 50 meters of Nia Akins for the majority of the girls 800 Palomar League final on a windy Saturday morning at Canyon Crest Academy.

But the lack of a competitive race and a strong headwind did not keep the Rancho Bernardo High junior from breaking the 30-year-old meet record.

Akins powered through the wind and ran strong the entire way to finish in a personal-best 2-minutes, 11.11-seconds. The time eclipses Kristina Hand’s 800 record of 2:12.14 at the Palomar League finals set in 1985.

“I really wanted that meet record,” said Akins, whose time is No. 1 in the San Diego Section and eighth in the state. It also is a new Rancho Bernardo High School record. “It was difficult without anybody pushing me, especially in the last 200 because that is where I work the hardest.”

It showed. Akins pushed around the final turn and saw the clock counting up. With first place wrapped up, she still gave it her all and collapsed at the finish line with a record that might last another 30 years.

“It is indescribable,” she said of the record. “There are really no words that can explain what the feeling is right now.”

Akins’ 800 was the highlight of the meet, especially with the sprinters and hurdlers coming in with inflated times due to the minus-2.8 to 3.0 winds. That kept a handful of talented runners from qualifying to the San Diego Section preliminaries next week.

The top finishers in each heat advance to the section prelims as do any other athletes that hit the section-qualifying mark in their respective events. That was tough to do given the conditions at Canyon Crest Academy.

The Broncos’ Jackie Patterson saw her times affected by the wind, but she still blazed to the girls 100 and 200 titles. It is the second straight year the junior has swept the sprints. She is currently ranked No. 2 in the section in both events.

“I am a lot more comfortable this year than in the past years,” said Patterson, who ran the 100 in 12.37 with a minus-2.3 wind and the 200 in 25.37 in a minus-2.1 wind. “I know what I can and cannot do now. My times are not what I expected, but with the wind you can’t expect too much.”

Another double-winner was Poway boys thrower Colton Clark. The defending league shot put champion repeated in that event and added the discus title to his collection. He threw 154-feet, 3-inches in the discus and 52-6.5 in the shot.

“It feels good to know that my hard work is paying off,” said Clark, who is coming off a hamstring injury suffered just a few weeks ago. “I really want to make it state. My goal is to throw 160 in the discus and 55 in the shot.”

Poway’s Maddie Murray repeated in the girls 300 hurdles. The senior, who is ranked No. 5 in the section, finished in 45.64. She was thrilled about the back-to-back titles, but also knows she needs to improve in order to reach state.

“This is a sweet win because it is my senior year and I am never going to get to do that again,” Murray said.

“The hurdle event is stacked in the section this year so I know it is going to be tough,” she added. “The goal is to get to state, but if I just run a personal-best and hang with the other girls then I would be OK with that.”

Rancho Bernardo’s Nick Langston rebounded from a tough second-place finish in the 110 boys hurdles to win the 300 hurdles. He finished the 110 in 16.19 - they had to go to the thousandths place to break the tie with winner Nathan Soriano of Mt. Carmel - and because of the minus-3.0 headwind did not hit the 15.87 section qualifying time.

“I haven’t run a time in the 110 that slow since my first meet of the season,” said Langston, who won the 300 hurdles in 41.28. “Losing that race motivated me for the 300.”

Broncos’ standout football and basketball player Devin Goodloe won the boys 100 title. He finished in 11.54, while running into a minus-2.7 headwind.

Rancho Bernardo’s Zoe Elliot won the girls 100 hurdles in 16.53. The Broncos’ Yaniv Rokach won the boys high jump (6-5), Rancho Bernardo’s Skyler Ng won the boys pole vault (14-0), Poway’s Arianna Soriano won the girls pole vault (10-5) and Poway’s Maggie Cornwall won the girls high jump (4-11).

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