It was a decidedly golden moment for the San Diego Section at this year’s track and field state championship meet in Clovis with a combined 10 gold medals. Tack on one silver medal, four bronze medals and four copper medals (fourth place) and it was a veritable treasure trove of shiny hardware coming back south from the May 24-25 event.
Mt. Miguel sophomore Brandon Arrington helped the section’s contingent bask in its golden moment by winning state titles in both the boys 100- and 200-meter dashes. He captured the 100 sprint in a near record 10.33 and returned to the oval to capture the 200 meters in 20.55. Arrington entered the 200 final with the top time in the nation after winning the section title the preceding week in 20.40, a new section record.
Madison’s Kenan Christon had posted a 20.55 time in the 200 dash in 2019.
Earlier in the day, Arrington won the section title in the 100 sprint in 10.50 as part of a golden double to make a personal statement. Christon posted a 10.30 time in the event in 2019.
The Mt. Miguel transfer (from Helix Charter) began his quest for California double gold by placing first in the state prelims (May 24) in both the 100 dash (personal record 10.27) and 200 dash (20.55). He bettered Bakersfield sophomore Jalen Ford by 0.07 seconds in the 100 and Granada Hills senior Jordan Coleman by 0.28 seconds in the 200.
In the finals (May 25), Arrington set a PR in the 100 with his winning time by eclipsing Coleman (10.43) by 0.10 seconds and came back to beat Coleman (21.04) in the 200 by 0.09 seconds for the state title.
There were no other San Diego Section runners in either event.
Arrington had the history-making moment all to himself.
Sharing the spotlight
Carlsbad senior Cain Evans (800-meter run) and University City junior Kai Anderson (pole vault) each claimed gold medals in boys events.
Evans won the half-time in 1:50.21 while Anderson cleared 16-8 in the vertical vault. The 800 race was a blur with two seconds separating eight runners and just 0.05 separating first and second place. Long Beach Wilson sophomore Wyland Obando claimed the silver medal in 1:50.26.
Overall, nine section athletes competed in the boys pole vault prelims and four medaled. Torrey Pines senior Joey Weisman was fourth at 15-8, Fallbrook senior Aiden Bernier was sixth at 15-2, Westview senior Vincent Farenc was seventh also at 15-2.
Section girls seemed on fire by collecting a heavy load of six gold medals.
Madison senior Amirah Shaheed won the 200 dash in 23.53 while La Jolla senior Payton Smith won the 400 dash in 53.39. Poway senior Tessa Buswell clocked 2:06.51 to win the 800 run while Eastlake sophomore Jaelyn Williams made history with the winning time of 9:57.11 in the 3200 distance.
San Diego Lady Caver junior Anisa Bowen-Fontenot won the 100 low hurdles with a 13.59 PR (14th in the nation) and Carlsbad junior Morgan Herbst made it a section sweep in the event by winning the 300 low hurdles in a 41.26 PR (eighth in the nation).
Del Norte junior Paige Echsner placed runner-up in the pole vault at 13-5.
Herbst also was second in the 800 run (2:07.23) while Bowen-Fontenot was third in the 300 hurdles (42.76). Herbst had run the top qualifying time of 41.93 in the prelims.
Collecting bronze medals at the two-day meet were El Capitan senior Jonathan Tseko-Biffle in the boys 110-meter high hurdles (13.98), Cathedral Catholic senior Vincent Atilano in the boys 300-meter intermediate hurdles (37.62) and La Jolla sophomore Chiara Dailey in the girls 1600 meters (4:43.30)
Fourth-place medals went to Helix Charter senior Shon Martin in the 110 high hurdles (14.07), Weisman in the pole vault, Mission Bay senior Brandon Cheeks II in the boys long jump (23-5) and Westview junior Kaitlyn Arciaga in the girls 800 run (2:08.08).
Shaheed was fifth in the girls 100 dash in 11.54 while Dailey placed fifth in the 3200 in 10:15.85.
Eastern exposure
Both the 110 high hurdles and 300 intermediate hurdles featured East County medal-winners.
El Capitan’s Tseko-Biffle placed third in the high hurdles with a time of 13.98 while Helix’s Martin was right behind in fourth place in 14.07. The El Capitan hurdler had posted the fourth-best time (13.99) in prelim qualifying while Martin had the eighth-best time (14.20).
Tseko-Biffle posted the top qualifying time of 37.48 in the intermediate prelims while Martin was 12th in 38.70. The Vaquero hurdler made the cut to the finals while Martin did not.
Canyon junior Jordehn Gammage, who finished fourth in the prelims at 37.76, rebounded to top the field in the finals with a winning time of 37.35, a PR.
Tseko-Biffle settled for seventh place with a time of 38.37.
Atilano was the top San Diego Section finisher in the 300 finals to capture the bronze medal; Atilano had placed seventh in the prelims at 37.97.
Biffle placed in both hurdles events.
Martin also competed in the boys long jump, placing 24th in a field of 34 entrants with a jump of 21-10.5
Steele Canyon senior Lilian Cook turned in some strong times in the prelims— a 14.24 PR for sixth-best in the 100 LH and 43.96 for 12th best in the 300 LH. Steele Canyon senior Nicoletta Burkhardt posted the sixth-best time (55.45) in the girls 400-dash prelims behind eventual finals champion Smith (53.39). Steele Canyon sophomore Ily Barclay was 28th in the 200 prelims in 26.98, an event won by Madison’s Shaeed (23.53).
Mt. Miguel senior Vincent Jones just missed the boys 400 dash finals after running a 48.02 PR in the prelims to place 10th. Jones later joined teammates James Gross, Garrett Cloyd and Dason Hege in the boys 4×400 relay, placing 20th out of 28 teams in 3:28.56.
Steele Canyon (ninth, 47.00), Helix (13th, 47.97) and Otay Ranch (21st, 48.64) all represented San Diego in the girls 4×100 relay. Steele’s unit was comprised of Kailey Fuller, Barclay, Brionna Dickens and Burkhardt while Helix’s quartet included Aaliyah Payne, Asia Brouchard, Shaelynne Swift and Chanel Burton.
Otay Ranch was led on the track by Zamaria Mack, Arynn Sanders, Shilah Coco and Anaya Carter.
Going the distance
Eastlake’s Williams etched her golden moment by winning the girls 3200-run with a new personal and school record time of 9:57.11 after finishing fourth as a freshman the previous year. The time was a new section record, eclipsing the 10:11.38 posted by La Costa Canyon’s Kristin Fahy in 2019. Williams’ record time ranked fourth in the nation in 2024. Dipping under 10 minutes had been discussed throughout the spring season but her best to date on the track was 10:00.30 at the Jaguar Invitational on April 13. She ran 10:02.56 at the Arcadia Invitational on April 6. She coasted to the 3200 title at the Mesa League finals I 10:26.38 on May 2. But she was persistent in her goals.
Williams had also qualified to compete in the 1600 run, winning both distance events at the section finals (new section record of 4:40.29 in the 1600), but elected to drop that event at the state meet in favor of an extra day of rest as the 3200 was byed to the final day of the competition.
“I wanted to attempt going for a sub-10 time in the 3200 one last time in my school season since that was my main goal for this season and to get the best shot at meeting this goal I was going to need as much energy as possible,” she said.
She practiced calm before the storm.
“There are always nerves before a big race like that, but I was calmer than normal because I had confidence knowing that I had been able to demonstrate my ability to go under 10 through my workouts and other races.”
“I started out in first from the very start and I stayed first during the rest of the race, creating somewhat of a wide gap between the rest of the girls and me.”
San Diego Section Track & Field State Champions
BOYS RUNNING EVENTS
100 dash: Brandon Arrington (Mt. Miguel) 10.33
200 dash: Brandon Arrington (Mt. Miguel) 20.55
800 run: Cain Evans (Carlsbad) 1:50.21
BOYS FIELD EVENTS
Pole vault: Kai Anderson (University City) 16-8
GIRLS RUNNING EVENTS
200 dash: Amirah Shaheed (Madison) 23.53
400 dash: Payton Smith (La Jolla) 53.39
800 run: Tessa Buswell (Poway) 2:06.51
3200 run: Jaelyn Williams (Eastlake) 9:57.11
100 low hurdles: Anisa Bowen-Fontenot (San Diego) 13.59
300 low hurdles: Morgan Herbst (Carlsbad) 41.26
