Empire notes: Locals put on strong performances at Stanford track meet

In addition to Healdsburg senior Gabby Peterson's double win at the Stanford Invitational track and field meet last weekend, loads of locals also had strong performances.

Vintage High's Mary Deeik finished ninth in the 3,200 meters in 11:11. The Maria Carrillo girls team took ninth in the distance medley.

In boys action, Sonoma Academy senior and last fall's Division 5 state cross country champ, Andre Williams, finished fifth in the 3,200 meters in 9:30, one position ahead of Vintage senior Emmanuel Guzman, who finished in 9:32.

The Maria Carrillo boys finished sixth in the distance medley, while Casa Grande's team finished eighth - breaking a nine-year-old school record.

Cardinal Newman junior Samuel Davison finished third in the discus with a toss of 163 feet, 4 inches. St. Helena's Ryan Searl finished sixth in the 100-meter dash in 11.11.

Maria Carrillo's senior tandem of Severin Ramirez and Tyler Van Arden finished eighth and 10th in the 400-meter dash in 49.93 and 50.31, respectively.

Santa Rosa's Brayden Glascock edged Montgomery's Brent Oru-Craig in the 300-meter hurdles, finishing eighth in 57.59. Oru-Craig got ninth in 58.33.

That battle is likely to be replayed Wednesday at Santa Rosa High as the two hurdlers are scheduled meet again in a tri-school meet with Santa Rosa, Maria Carrillo and Montgomery battling for North Bay League-Oak Division supremacy.

Among athletes who are no longer high schoolers but are still locals, Montgomery grad (and two-time Olympian) Kim Conley finished ninth in the 10,000-meter women's invitational race. She finished in 32:20.

Emily Sisson won the race in 30:49. Fellow Viking and current Santa Rosa Junior College freshman Waisea Jikoiono finished fourth in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 3.25 inches. His best on the season is 6 feet, 7.5 inches, which is tops in the state.

Kirby to suit up for Prune Packers

Devin Kirby, a 2017 Ukiah High graduate, is the latest addition to the Healdsburg Prune Packers' roster for summer college baseball. Kirby, a right-handed pitcher, has been hot for the Bear Cubs this season. He's recorded 46 strikeouts in 30 innings while allowing a meager three walks. The Bear Cubs were 22-6 overall and 11-4 in the Big 8 heading into Tuesday's away game at Cosumnes River. The Bear Cubs host the Hawks (19-8 overall; 7-5 Big 8) at 2:30 p.m. Thursday. The Prune Packers open the season at home at 6 p.m. June 1 at Recreation Park.

Local athletes crowding NCS discus bests

Local athletes are well represented in the best of the best among discus throwers in the North Coast Section. Santa Rosa High senior Caitlin Grace launched herself into second place in the section after throwing the discus 125 feet, 2 inches at the Stanford Invitational last weekend. Right behind her in third place in the section is Middletown senior Taelor Roderick, who has a season best of 119 feet, 6 inches that she posted at the Eddie Hart Invitational on March 16. In fifth place in the section is Kassidy Sani, a junior from El Molino whose best this season is 117 feet even, which she tossed March 9 at the North Coast Track Extravaganza. It should be noted that Grace's best toss of the season is still not her personal record. She reached that last season as a junior, when she registered a heave of 125 feet, 11 inches - good enough for 12th all-time in the Redwood Empire.

Methum to run for Mustangs

Rincon Valley Christian senior Isaac Methum will continue his running career at The Master's University in Santa Clarita. Early in the track season, Methum was ranked 24th in the North Coast Section for both the 1,600 meters (4:30) and the 3,200 meters (9:46). He helped RVC run to a fourth-place team finish in Division 5 at the CIF state cross country championships last fall. Methum's brother, Wesley, is a sophomore on the track team at The Master's. Wesley Methum was named to the All-Golden State Athletic Conference team as a freshman.

Locals riding to the front

El Molino's Blake Macheras is the points leader in the sophomore division of the NorCal Mountain Bike League after winning his race at Central Coast Challenge at Ford Ord, the third race of the season Sunday. Sophomore Riley Mullen, who rides for the Annadel Composite team, won the JV boys race and sits atop the JV boys division, while fellow sophomore A-Teamer Travis Tucker finished in fifth place Sunday. In the freshman boys race, A-Team rider Ian Lopez De San Roman took fourth and teammate Zander Crawford finished fifth. Casa Grande sophomore Jessica Moser finished fifth in the JV girls race. El Molino senior Neva Titus finished seventh in the varsity girls race. Next up in league racing is the Six Sigma Slinger in Lower Lake on April 27.

Baseball races tight

Cardinal Newman sits atop the North Bay League-Oak baseball standings after putting together an 8-2 overall record and 5-1 league tally heading into their Tuesday game with the 3-7 and 2-2 Rancho Cotate Cougars. The Cardinals' only league loss has been to Maria Carrillo - a team that hopes to avenge its only league loss, a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Ukiah, when they host the Wildcats at 4 p.m. Wednesday. In the NBL-Redwood, Piner, Windsor and Santa Rosa were in a tangle at the top of the leaderboard with all three teams coming into Tuesday's contests with 3-1 records. In Vine Valley Athletic League action, the Petaluma Trojans and the Sonoma Valley Dragons are leaders, both with 3-0 league records heading into Wednesday's contests. Petaluma is scheduled to host the 2-1 American Canyon Wolves on Wednesday, setting up a showdown with the Trojans in Petaluma on Friday.

Locals lead list of all-tourney picks

Northgate High School from Walnut Creek won the 25th annual A.L. Rabinovitz Memorial Baseball Tournament with a 2-1 over Ukiah. Maria Carrillo finished in third in a tournament that had to undergo some scheduling reconfigurations because of rain.

The Pumas' Connor Charpiot was named outstanding hitter of the tournament, while Northgate's Max Michels earned outstanding pitcher honors. The all-tournament team included: Ethan Silverstrich of Analy, Carson Ramocinski of Windsor, A.J. Westerguard of Montgomery, Kian Mirkia and Ben Singler of Sequoia, Angel Ponce of Piner, Bryce Cannon and Chris Latorre of Maria Carrillo, Duncan Kindopp and Koiya Martinez of Ukiah, and Luke Sanders and Jonathan Gazdar of Northgate.

Trojans looking for new hoops coach

Petaluma High is looking for a boys basketball coach. The school parted ways with Scott Behrs after going 6-19 overall and 3-9 in the inaugural season of the Vine Valley Athletic League. In four seasons as head coach, Behrs accumulated a record of 53-56. The job posting is online at edjoin.org.

You can reach staff columnist Kerry Benefield at 707-526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com.