Trending

Advertisement

Prep Track and Field: Local stars looking to shine at section final

Share

Just two years ago, Nia Akins was a freshman in awe of all the talented runners in the San Diego Section. Now the Rancho Bernardo High junior is the one everyone else marvels.

“It’s really cool,” said Akins, whose 2-minute, 11.11-second time in the girls 800 meter at the Palomar League Championships is tops in the section. “I am extremely fortunate to be where I am. But at the same time it is a lot of pressure. I always feel like I have to perform.”

Akins is looking to put on her best performance of the year at Saturday’s CIF San Diego Section Track and Field Finals. Field events start at 10 a.m. and track events start at 12:30 p.m. at Mt. Carmel High School.

The top three in each event advance to the state meet, which is slated for June 5 and 6 at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High School in Clovis.

“I want a really good time,” said Akins, who captured the section’s 800 title last year. “I am hoping to run 2:10 or better. I am focusing on that and hopefully it is good enough to win it.”

Akins won it in 2:12.23 in 2014, when she also competed in the 400 and 1,600 relays. This year Akins, who ran an easy 2:13.72 in the preliminaries last week to qualify for the finals, will only be doing the 800 and the 1,600 relay.

“I love doing the (400 relay) and I love the team, but I have very ambitious goals for the 800 and I really want that 2:10,” she said. “That is my goal and I knew that I would have to give some things up to get it.”

Rancho Bernardo’s Bryanna Fuller could be going the other way. The Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo-bound senior qualified for the finals in both the 1,600 and 3,200. As of press time, she was undecided on whether to do the grueling double on Saturday.

“I haven’t decided yet if I will do both,” Fuller said. “It is my senior year and part of my thinking is why should I cut myself short and not attempt to make it to state in both and get more points for the team? I know I am going to give it all I got no matter what I do. I am not going to hold anything back on Saturday.”

Fuller had the fourth-best time in the prelims of the 1,600 (5:02.99) and the third-best time in the 3,200 (11:10.34). There are no other runners that reached the finals in both.

“Everyone else is going fresh in one or the other,” she said.

Broncos sprinter Jackie Patterson is looking to make a return trip to state in both the girls 100 and 200. The junior has consistently been right behind Mission Hills’ Suzie Acolatse in the section in both events.

Patterson ran 11.90 in the 100 and 24.46 in the 200 at the prelims. Acolatse ran 11.53 in the 100 and 23.69 in the 200. The two against each other in the finals should make for an exciting race.

Del Norte thrower Michelle Altice is looking to lock up her first trip to state. The junior, who finished fifth in the section in the shot put and 12th in the discus last season, has thrown 134-feet, 11-inches in the discus and 42-feet in the shot put. Both are second in the section behind Mt. Miguel’s Laulauga Tausaga.

Boys

Devin Lecakes-Jones knows the top three spots in the shot put is going to be decided by the smallest of margins. Charles Lenford of Oceanside figures to win the title, but there are four or five guys that can take the next two spots.

“I think anything can happen,” said Lecakes-Jones, who threw a personal-best 53-2.25 in the prelims. “It is going to be a tight race. It is a great group of throwers we have and I am honored to be with them.”

Torrey Pines’ Joey DeMarco and Poway’s Colton Clark also figure to be battling it out for a top-three spot. Clark threw 52.-9.75 and DeMarco 52-10.25 in the prelims. Jones hopes everyone has their best day.

“We are a real tight-knit group even though we are from different schools,” he said. “We don’t want anyone to throw bad. We want everyone to do their best.”

Lecakes-Jones and Clark will also throw in the discus finals, but both have the best chance to qualify for state in the shot put. That doesn’t mean Jones will put any less effort toward the discus, though.

“I will give equal participation in both,” he said. “I want to do the best I can in both events.”

Elsewhere, Poway sophomore Jarett Chinn should challenge for the 800 title. He qualified with the second-best time (1:55.70) and has run the fourth-best time in the section this season.

Del Norte’s D’Angelo Gunter will be in the 400 final. The sophomore’s 50.29 in the prelims was the sixth fastest. He has run 49.64 in the event this year, which is good enough for the fifth fastest time in the section.

The Nighthawks’ Evan Jameson should battle for a top-three finish in the 3,200. He ran 9:24.59 in the prelims, which was the seventh-fastest time. He captured the Division III cross country championship in the fall, the first in Del Norte’s history.

Poway’s Alex Hain and Rancho Bernardo’s Yaniv Rokach are among the best high jumpers in the section. Hain went 6-4 in the prelims, while Rokach went 6-2.

Finally, the pole vault is another area where local boys succeed. The Broncos’ Skyler Ng and Colin Reynolds both cleared 15-feet in the prelims. Del Norte’s Youngwoo Son cleared 14 feet.

Advertisement