To say that the CCS girls 800 meter field is stacked would be an
understatement. In Friday
’s Central Coast Section Track and Field finals, five of the
eight competitors, including Live Oak’s Cobbie Jones, qualified for
the state meet, which begins next Friday at Sacramento City
College. Those five are not only the best in CCS, but the best in
the entire state. Jones shaved four secon
ds off her CCS semifinal qualifying time and ran a personal best
time of 2:09.84, which is now the fifth best time in the state.
However, that time only got her fourth place in the CCS Finals.
Stacked is definitely an understatement.
To say that the CCS girls 800 meter field is stacked would be an understatement. In Friday’s Central Coast Section Track and Field finals, five of the eight competitors, including Live Oak’s Cobbie Jones, qualified for the state meet, which begins next Friday at Sacramento City College.
Those five are not only the best in CCS, but the best in the entire state.
Jones shaved four seconds off her CCS semifinal qualifying time and ran a personal best time of 2:09.84, which is now the fifth best time in the state.
However, that time only got her fourth place in the CCS Finals. Stacked is definitely an understatement.
Capturing first in the race was Saratoga’s Alicia Follmar (2:07.99). Menlo’s Libby Jenke (2:08.70), who owns this year’s top time in the 800, and Archbishop Mitty’s Christine Whalen (2:09.59) rounded out the top three.
“Wow, I can’t believe it!” said an elated Jones after her race. Her previous PR was 2:11 and the goal all season has been to break 2:10. “I can’t wait for state next week.”
Jones believes she can improve even more on her time at state. She said she made “a series of mistakes” throughout the course of the race. At the beginning of the second lap, she swung too wide trying to make a pass. Then, around the last turn, she stuttered a bit and lost stride.
“I had to recover mentally,” Jones said. “When you’re going so fast, you don’t have time for mistakes. The goal is to run smarter (at state).”
Senior Billy Wong, running in his first CCS finals, closed out his Live Oak track career with an 11th-place 2:35.97 performance in the 1,600. Unfortunately, Wong’s goal of breaking Chris Anjou’s nine-year-old school record went unfulfilled.
“I was disappointed,” Wong said. “I thought I would do a little better.”
Raymond said he was hoping Wong would make it to the state track meet after having just missed the state cross country meet two years in a row.
“I guess it just wasn’t meant to be,” Raymond said.
Evan Anderson of Menlo Atherton won the race with a time of 4:16.76.
