Prep track and field: Maria Carrillo sweeps to team titles at NBL championships

An exciting day of competition at the North Bay League track and field championships Thursday ended in heartbreak for one team.

The boys team title was decided by the final race of the meet, the 4x400 relay. Cardinal Newman’s Liam Currie made up 40 meters on the final leg to cross the finish line first in thrilling fashion, appearing to help the Cardinals boys win the league meet title for the first time since 2011.

But minutes after Currie crossed the finish line, a different team was named as the boys meet champion.

The reason? In celebration, Currie threw the baton to the ground in front of him after he crossed the finish line, which is an automatic disqualification according to the official rule book of the National Federation of State High School Associations. With Newman’s 4x400 team disqualified from the event, Maria Carrillo was named the winner and took the team title.

“When the rules got read, it’s pretty clear,” Cardinal Newman head coach Jonathon Clark said. “It says what the violation is and it says what the penalty is. It’s just the emotional part of it, that’s what hurt.

“Liam is a senior, Adrian (Estrada) is a senior. Just the advancement to next week is all I really care about, and them getting to show their stuff next week. That’s the disappointment, for the kids — which, all of the coaches are about the kids, too, but when the rule was read, there’s no grey area.”

Estrada and Currie did qualify for next week’s North Coast Section Redwood Empire Area Meet at Santa Rosa Junior College in other events held Thursday.

Others could also make it as at-large bids — but the team title would not be going home with the Cardinals.

They ended up finishing third in the team competition behind second-place Analy (94) and champion Maria Carrillo (100). Santa Rosa, the regular-season dual meet NBL-Oak champion, finished with 90 points.

Meanwhile, on the girls side, Maria Carrillo dominated the field with 193 points, 100 better than second-place Montgomery (92).

It’s the first boys title for the Pumas boys since 2019 and the third in a row for the girls, which also doubled up with the dual regular-season title for the third straight year.

Full results from Thursday’s meet can be found at redwoodempirerunning.com.

Here’s a closer look at the winners.

Boys

Rancho Cotate’s Jacob Pruitt won his third straight league title in the 100-meter dash, battling a headwind and some stiff competition next to him to come across the line in 11.11 seconds. Windsor’s August Kingwell took second in 11.24 and Cardinal Newman freshman Zion Cargill took third in 11.31.

Pruitt came back later in the meet to win his second straight league title in the 200, holding off Analy sophomore Evan Foley for a win in 22.26. Foley was hot on Pruitt’s heels and finished in 22.35.

“I played volleyball this spring, fun idea, but my body is definitely feeling it,” Pruitt said. “But still, came in with the goal to qualify, because if I had any specific time goals, I would have just stressed myself out. So, when in doubt, just try to qualify and move on, and have fun.”

Before the heartbreak in the 4x400, Currie had an outstanding day across multiple events. He defended his league title in the 400, placed second in the 800 and helped the Cardinals to a first-place finish in the 4x100.

In the 400, he caught Analy’s Owen Foley in the final 100 meters. Foley went out fast and hit the 200-meter mark in just over 21 seconds, but Currie saved his energy for a final kick and crossed the line in 48.92. Foley finished in 49.83.

“Super happy with the 400, got a 48, my first time ever doing that,” Currie said. “The 800, had a little tired legs and would have liked to do a bit better in that but got it done and moving on. That’s really all that matters.”

Maria Carrillo freshman Cameron Jones came out victorious in what was a hard-fought 800. Jones passed Analy’s Cormac Gaylord in the final lap and then held off Currie down the stretch for the win. Jones finished in 2:00.90, Currie in 2:01.12 and Gaylord in 2:03.26.

“Today wasn’t a day where I was trying to PR, I just wanted to get through it as smooth as possible and come out first,” Jones said.

In the boys 1,600, Gaylord came away with the win as he took the lead with 300 meters to go and pulled away down the stretch for a finish in 4:29.15. Santa Rosa’s Johnny Ando, who finished fourth, had set the early pace before Gaylord’s late push. Analy’s Owen Dawson finished second (4:30.75) with a gutsy late kick.

Santa Rosa junior Adam Joseph ran a PR en route to winning the 3,200 in 9:49.19. He separated from the lead pack with a lap to go and never relinquished his lead. Maria Carrillo’s Austin Petrik took second in 9:53.62 and Santa Rosa’s Isaac Feleay finished third in 9:55.13.

“I have been waiting for this moment for the past year,” Joseph said of his win in the 3,200. “I had a really disappointing end to my senior cross country season and ever since then I have just worked for this moment. It’s just the confidence that with 800 meters to go, you want it more than anyone, and I knew when we all came around at about the same time with 800 to go, I knew there was nobody on that track that wanted it more than me.”

In the 110-meter hurdles, heavy favorite Xander Newman of Montgomery coasted to a big win of 15.61, over a second ahead of second place.

Following his second-place finish in the 400, Owen Foley put forth a gutsy effort to battle for a win in the 300 hurdles. Newman had the edge by a few steps in the final 100 meters but Foley closed the gap and won in 40.08. Newman finished in 40.33.

“Very unconventional race, but I just did what I had to do based on how I was feeling today,” Foley said about his win in the 300 hurdles. “That last oomph was a risky maneuver based on how I was feeling, so if I was going to do something risky I did it at the end so it wouldn’t make me face-plant early on.”

Foley has set three school records this season in the 400, 300 hurdles and with the 4x800 relay team, and should have a good shot to make a deep postseason run.

Cardinal Newman’s dominance in the throwing events continued Thursday as senior Jake Joerger and sophomore Devon Bertoli took one-two in the shot put. Joerger threw 54 feet, 10.75 inches and Bertoli 52-07.75.

Cardinal Newman’s Santiago Adan also added his stellar senior campaign by defending his league title in the discus. His winning toss of 171-02 was nearly 18 feet better than second place and is in the top 15 all-time in Redwood Empire history. Adan, who threw the fifth-best discus mark in area history earlier this season, will have a great chance at making a deep run in the postseason.

Joerger also took second in the discus (153-10).

Maria Carrillo equaled Newman’s dominance in the throw in the jumps.

Pumas senior Nehemiah Holiday held off several strong contenders to win the long jump with a winning mark of 20-06.75. Analy’s Caden Quinn took second with a mark of 20-04.75. Holiday also won the triple jump with a mark of 44-00.25.

Malachi Cole continued the Pumas’ success in the jumps as he won the high jump with a top mark 6-0.

Patrick Logue, a senior from Windsor, broke up the Pumas’ party in the jumps with a winning mark of 6-02 to edge out Cole (6-0) in the high jump.

And on Tuesday, prelims for most events but finals for a handful, Maria Carrillo edged Santa Rosa by a step in the 4x800. The Pumas finished in 8:16.67, the Panthers in 8:16.90.

And, as expected, Santa Rosa junior Gavin Moore won the pole vault title Tuesday with a winning jump of 12-02.

Girls

Rancho Cotate got two of the top three finishers in the 100, led by event winner Sophie Vella (13.32). Keyonna Jackson took third in 13.48 and Sydney Moore of Maria Carrillo finished second (13.36).

Montgomery junior Sadie Sanders brought home two wins for the Vikings in the 200 and 400. She won the former in 25.46 and the latter in 58.03. She was the only runner in the 400 to break a minute and was followed by Maria Carrillo’s Emma Moore (1:00.25) and Windsor’s Arielle McMurray (1:01.26)

Moore also finished second in the 200 (25.778) and sister Sydney Moore took third in 26.38.

“Feeling really good about my 200 and I could have gone a little bit harder in the 400, around the 200 mark, but other than that, very good race,” said Sanders.

Maria Carrillo freshman Ashlin Mallon unseated defending 800 champion Amrie Lacefield, winning the event in 2:20.36. Lacefield took second in 2:21.48.

Montgomery went 1-2-3 in the 1,600, led by junior star Hanne Thomsen, who led start to finish en route to a winning time of 4:56.04. Lacefield (5:00.85) and Seelah Kittelstrom (5:01.75) took second and third, while Mallon took fourth in 5:09.89.

Later, Thomsen won her third straight 3,200 title with a time of 10:42.31, followed by Kittelstrom (10:51.66).

Thomsen hasn’t run much this season due mainly to illness but said she’s starting to regain her strength.

“Today I was just kind of using as a stepping stone,” Thomsen said. “The goal is state and then nationals. I’m definitely not where I want to be right now but I think today I was just trying to put decent efforts out. … For me, I’m just trying to get better every week and get back to where I was. I think I’m getting there and I think today was really good.”

Montgomery’s Ariana Rogina was pushed by Maria Carrillo’s Beatrice Belt but came out on top in the 100 hurdles. Rogina, a junior, won the race in 17.13 with Belt a few paces behind in 17.58.

Three runners all broke 49 seconds in the 300 hurdles, led by winner Janelle Wanless of Santa Rosa, who finished in 48.21. Montgomery’s Rogina finished second in 48.40 and Maria Carrillo’s Belt took third in 48.67.

Maria Carrillo coasted to a win in the 4x100 to take the league championship title for the third straight year. The Pumas’ winning time of 49.75 was over two seconds faster than runner-up Windsor (52.08).

The Pumas closed out the meet on the track with a victory in the 4x400 with a winning time of 4:11.99.

Maria Carrillo’s Carlyana Kwong set the first of two PRs on Thursday with a winning mark of 17-02.25 in the long jump. She then finished second in the triple jump with a new personal-best mark of 35-06.

Analy senior Karris Morasch won the triple jump title for the second straight season with a PR of 36-0.

Rancho Cotate junior Nina Bobitt set a new PR of 34-07.5 in a win in the shot put on the last of her six throws in the finals.

Ukiah junior Savannah Nelsen tossed a PR of 112-00 to win the discus, topping second-place Kaylin Suacci of Cardinal Newman (104-10), who also PR’d. Piner’s Mackenzie Linsenmeyer (102-03) and Analy’s Savanna Conwell (100-04), who finished third and fourth, also PR’d.

Santa Rosa junior Dacey-Faye Howe also set a PR as she won the pole vault with a high mark of 10-02.

On Tuesday, Maria Carrillo coasted to a win in the 4x800 relay, winning in 10:04.66, nearly 40 seconds ahead of second place.

Maria Carrillo senior Allison Tito leapt to a win in the high jump with a mark of 5-02, four inches better than the runner-up.

You can reach Staff Writer Gus Morris at 707-304-9372 or gus.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @JustGusPD.