Each could make the cut for June 4-5 state final
GILROY — Though smaller in comparison to recent years, Morgan Hill’s contingent for the upcoming Central Coast Section Track and Field Finals could produce several invites to the State Championship meet, not to mention a few individual titles.
Sobrato and Live Oak qualified five athletes combined Saturday at the CCS Semifinals in Garcia-Elder Sports Complex.
The Bulldogs advanced a trio of top-six finishers, including seniors Alan Rios (800 meters) and Ralph Jackson (300-meter hurdles), plus sophomore pole vaulter Austin Meldrum. Live Oak high jumpers Stephanie Armstrong and Jacob Daw made the cut as well with Armstrong cruising to the top height.
Those five finished in the top eight and will return to Gilroy High School on Friday for CCS Finals, hoping to place in the top three and qualify for the June 4-5 state meet in Clovis.
Armstrong and Meldrum have a favorable chance of doing so. Armstrong, a senior, has held the top mark — 5 feet, 7 inches — in CCS for most of the season, and Meldrum matched his personal-record height (13-6) Saturday to tie for second. The fourth-place finisher topped out at 12-8.
“Austin’s done 13-6 on quite a few occasions, and I think he’s ready to raise the bar, no pun intended,” Sobrato coach Fred Rios said Monday. “He’s been using a new pole, and it looks like he’s in his comfort zone with it.”
Rios and Jackson have had excellent seasons but will need to race as impressively as ever Friday to advance. Both won their heats Saturday with Jackson — No. 3 in the section — placing third overall in 40.37 seconds. Rios took sixth overall (1:57.76) but did not need his best stuff, especially since Palo Alto distance star Philip MacQuitty dropped out of the field.
“He and Alan were texting each other before the meet, and Philip said he never intended on doing the 800 at CCS. That definitely opens the door for Alan,” Fred Rios said. “I told Alan just to push the pace.”
The 800 is expected to be the most exciting final and could churn out several at-large state qualifiers. The automatic entry time is 1:55.02 — about six tenths of a second faster than Rios’ PR (1:55.64).
Should he finish outside the top three in the 300 hurdles, Jackson can advance by meeting the at-large mark of 38.34. His best time is 39.51.
“If Ralph runs a clean race with no mishaps on any of the hurdles, he has a real solid chance of going to state,” Fred Rios said.
Daw continued an impressive late-season surge in high jump by tying for seventh at 6 feet. The junior has an outside chance of making state; his closing mark was two inches shorter than the winning height.
Local athletes competing in their final prep meet Saturday included seniors Erika Rodriguez, Pauline Olsen and Nick Sosebee of Live Oak, and Joel Rueda of Sobrato. Rodriguez placed 14th in the 200 meters (26.52), Olsen took 10th in the open 400 (58.8), and Sosebee leaped 19-10 to finish 21st in long jump. Rodriguez and Olsen also placed 20th in the mile relay (4:12.40) with junior Catherine Sparling and freshman Annalise Disalvo. Rueda placed 28th in shot put (41-08).
Rios and Jackson ran with sophomore Obi Mbonu and freshman Thomas Yath in a 4×400-meter relay that clocked the eighth-fastest time (3:27.5) but missed the cut because the ninth-place foursome from St. Francis won its heat, earning an automatic finals spot.
Field events are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Friday, and running events will follow at 6.
