Prep track and field: Four Sonoma County competitors advance to state finals

Four local athletes and a relay team will have a chance at state titles this weekend after recording qualifying marks on the first day of the state track and field championships on a beautiful Friday afternoon at Buchanan High School in Clovis.

Montgomery sophomore Hanne Thomsen and senior Nathan Fifer, along with Maria Carrillo seniors Alexis Hunt and Lily Mulligan, extended their seasons with qualifying marks in prelims.

Thomsen will be competing in the finals of the girls’ 1,600 and 3,200-meter races, Fifer in the boys’ high jump, Hunt in the girls’ high jump and Mulligan in the girls’ pole vault. Montgomery’s 4x800 girls relay team will also be competing in Saturday’s finals.

In total, 11 athletes and Maria Carrillo’s 4x100 girls relay team competed in the preliminary round Friday. Here’s a closer look at how they fared.

Girls

In the 1,600, Thomsen came in the line in 4 minutes, 49.96 seconds, the fifth-fastest time in the 22-person field and her third-fastest time in the event this season.

“I felt pretty good,” said Thomsen, who will also look to defend her state title in the 3,200 on Saturday. “I think it’s definitely a confidence booster going into tomorrow. I would just say I did feel my foot a little bit because it’s been bothering me. So I’m just going to try and recover, ice it a lot and hopefully I’m feeling good for tomorrow because it’s a big day.”

Saturday’s final of the 1,600 will also feature the first head-to-head matchup between Thomsen and Ventura sophomore Sadie Engelhardt, widely considered the best sophomore distance runner in the country. Engelhardt is the defending state champion in the 1,600 and currently holds the fastest time in the nation in the event (4:34.50) this season.

“I don't even know if it’s even going to be a race, but it will definitely be fun and interesting because it’s been a while since I’ve had competition in the mile,” Thomsen said. “Yeah, I’m excited, and nervous.”

Sonoma Academy’s Athena Ryan, the other local qualifier in the event, did not compete.

After scratching her first jumps at 5-foot-5 and 5-foot-6, Carrillo’s Hunt rallied back and cleared her second attempt of each.

“I was really nervous going in, but I feel more confident now that I’ve qualified,” she said. “Hopefully tomorrow will be good. Jumping two days in a row, you don’t know how that’s going to work. So hopefully, tomorrow is good.”

Hunt came back from a torn right ACL last year to become the best girls high jumper in the area this spring. She’ll have a good chance to place on Saturday and will be continuing her athletic career next year at Oregon State.

Mulligan, the best girls pole vaulter to ever come out of Sonoma County, will have a chance to end her prep career with an elusive state placement. The San Diego State commit cleared 12-07 on her third and final attempt to punch her ticket to Saturday.

“I would love to medal because I’m seeded to medal and last year I was seeded to medal and last year didn't go so well,” she said. “So if I can medal I would be really happy, and it would be a great way to end my high school career.”

Teammate Elianah DeMange finished off her prep career with a personal record in the 400-meter race of 56.99, the seventh-fastest time in the event in North Coast history, according to records compiled by redwoodempirerunning.com. While historically great, she came up just short of moving onto the finals Saturday.

Analy senior Tatiana Avila finished 14th in the triple jump, two spots out of advancing, with a PR of 36-06.25, a five-inch improvement on her previous best, which is also a school record.

In the shot put, Rancho Cotate senior Siolo Lua also barely missed out on advancing. Her best mark of 38-06.25, three inches shy of her PR, was good for 15th place in the prelims.

“I feel like I could’ve done better, of course, there’s always a little more you can put in,” she said. “But I’m still proud of what I did to come here and what I did today.”

In the girls 4x100, Maria Carrillo finished in 48.96, their second-best time of the year, but missed out on advancing to the finals.

“We just came out here trying to do our best,” senior Kathryn O’Malley said. “Wasn’t the time that we hoped for, but we had fun and made it here. That’s what we were hoping for.”

Boys

It came down to the final jump, but Montgomery’s Fifer delivered when it mattered most. After scratching his first two attempts at 6-5, the Montgomery senior finally heeded the advice from his coach and cleared the mark to punch his ticket to the finals.

“My coach always tells me to run faster and I never do,” Fifer said. “So for my final attempt I was like, ‘OK, I have to run faster,’ and it worked. Felt a lot more confident.”

“I’m excited,” he added about Saturday’s final. “I just came here to have fun. I didn't have any expectations, so it’s really cool I’ll be able to go tomorrow, too.”

Cardinal Newman junior Santiago Adan recorded a throw of 156-03 in the discus, his second-best mark of the year, but he finished on the outside of the qualifying marks.

Adan, who placed second at MOC and was the area’s best thrower this season, finished 21st in the 25-person field.

“Definitely not mad about how I ended it,” Adan said. “I always have next year. I wanted to go out with a respectful mark, which I did. And hey, I made it out here, which is an achievement in itself. Happy, I got a whole other year of throwing.

“My goal was to get here this year, see how it goes, and next year win it all.”

In the 300-meter hurdles, Analy junior Owen Foley ran a PR of 39.18 while Maria Carrillo senior Alexander Ong turned in a 40.09, his second-best time of the year. While great personal marks, they were outside the qualifying times.

“My dad said, ‘Instead of fearing the hurdles, be excited for each new hurdle,’” Foley said. “That really helped me run a clean race.

“Super, super happy. I didn’t even know I’d be here or be doing hurdles. That’s why I’m happy.”

In the 110-meter hurdles earlier in the day, Rancho Cotate senior Sai Vadrawale came across the line in 15.37, good for 18th overall, just short of the qualifying marks.

“I feel like I came a long way,” he said. “I kind of got tripped in the early hurdles, I fixed it by the end, but it was too late.”

Vadrawale is off to Cal next year on a full-ride football scholarship.

Saturday’s finals

Thomsen, Mulligan, Hunt and Fifer will return to Buchanan High School for one final afternoon and evening of competition.

Thomsen is seeded fifth in the 1,600 final, which are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. She’ll have a few hours to rest up before the final of the 3,200 at 9:20 p.m.

Hunt will get the local contingent started off at 5 p.m. in the girls’ high jump final. Mulligan begins her quest for a placement in the girls’ pole vault at 7:15 p.m.

Fifer will follow in the boys high jump at 7:30 p.m.

Rounding out the local contingent is Montgomery’s 4x800 girls relay team, comprised of Seelah Kittlestrom, Hope Martin, Amrie Lacefield, Elizabeth Beiswanger, Jasmine Mansfield and Thomsen. Thomsen will likely not be running in this race, which starts at 8:50 p.m.

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