Sunshine brings out the best at MVL meet

Beautiful skies set the backdrop for the Mid-Valley League track and field meet Wednesday at Yuba College, hosted by Colusa High.

For some of the teams it was the first time all season the weather cooperated and the athletes responded with strong performances.

"This was our first actual nice day that we've had to run, and it was against good competition so that was fantastic," Hamilton High coach Dawn Dowdy said.

The Braves varsity girls team had a strong showing, led by senior Itzel Duran and Karina Corona. Duran won the 400 meters with a personal record (1:09.53) and claimed the 800-meter podium by nearly 10 seconds (2:53.60). Corona edged Colusa High's Kaytlin Lorenzini for first place by seven-hundredths of a second in the 100-meter hurdles (19.54).

Colusa senior Mickie Wilson won all four events she participated in. Wilson won the 100 meters (14.65), 200 meters (30.60), long jump (13-6) and was a part of the first-place 400-meter relay team (57.66). Lorenzini won the 300-meter hurdles race (1:18) for the RedHawks' other event win.

East Nicolaus junior Carlena Granados won the shot put (27-0) and the discus (95-1), beating out Williams High senior Julie Ramirez who finished second in both events (26-3 and 87-0). The Spartans' Isabella McNicol won the 1600 meters (6:53) ahead of Colusa's Stephanie Munguia (7:00).

The Colusa High boys showed speed, strength and numbers to pick up victories in six events.

"We have more boys than girls which is a first for us, so I'm pretty excited about how they're progressing," Colusa coach Matt Giffin said.

RedHawks sophomore Ryan Abele won the 100 meters (11.77) and the 200 meters (24.60) ahead of his teammate, senior Andrew Rodriguez (11.97 and 24.70) who took second place. Rodriguez has performed well in his first year on the track team, according to Giffin.

Colusa's 400-meter relay team beat out a strong field. The team of Luis Padilla, Christian Marzan, Eric Barrera and Rodriguez crossed the line in 47.49 seconds, ahead of Williams (48.02) and East Nicolaus (48.69).

Sophomore Felipe Granados placed first in the 1600 meters (5:16.43) and the 3200 meters (11:43) for Colusa, and Christian Montejano claimed the top spot in the shot put (37-5). The RedHawks took the first three positions in shot put, with Kevin Buenrostro (37-0) and Jose Iniguez (36-9) placing second and third.

Williams had fewer athletes than Colusa but picked up two varsity boys event victories. Ben Mayes won the 300-meter hurdles race by more than two seconds (50.27) and David Barajas out-distanced the competition in the discus (98-9). Mayes added a second-place finish in the 800 (1:31.35) and the triple jump (35-6).

Hamilton junior Cristian Ortiz had a big day, winning the 100-meter hurdles (20.33), placing second in the 300-meter hurdles (52.60) and third in the triple jump (31-7).

Biggs High's Michael Torres won three events. Torres took home the top spot in the long jump (18-6.5) and triple jump (39-7) outright, and tied with East Nicolaus' Daniel Torrecampo and Nate Navarro for the lead in the high jump (5-10).

Torrecampo won the 400 meters (58.16) and Portola junior Patrick Steffanic won the 800 meters (2:31.9).

Varsity boys

100 meters — Ryan Abele, C, 11.77 (1st) and Andrew Rodriguez, C, 11.97 (2nd).

200 meters — Abele, C, 24.60 (1st); Rodriguez, C, 24.70 (2nd) and Diego Navarro, W, 25.30 (3rd).

400 meters — Diego Rivera, W, 1:00.83 (3rd).

800 meters — Ben Mayes, W, 2:31.35 (2nd).

1600 meters — Felipe Granados, C, 5:16.43 (1st).

3200 meters — Granados, C, 11:43 (1st) and Eric Kraft, C, 12:33 (3rd).

100-meter hurdles — Brandon Vaca, C, 20.83 (3rd) and Eric Barrera, C, 20.83 (4th).

300-meter hurdles — Mayes, W, 50.27 (1st) and Antonio Pina, W, 55.27 (3rd).

4x100 relay — Padilla/Marzan/Barrera/Rodriguez, C, 47.49 (1st) and Garcia/Rodriguez/Navarro/Duarte, W, 48.02 (2nd).

Shot put — Christian Montejano, C, 37-5 (1st); Kevin Buenrostro, C, 37-0 (2nd) and Jose Iniguez, C, 36-9 (3rd).

Discus — David Barajas, W, 98-9 (1st); Iniguez, C, 95-2 (2nd) and J.J. Davalos, W, 93-8 (3rd).

Long jump — Rodriguez, C, 17-10 (1st) and Dakota Knight, C, 16-5 (2nd).

Triple jump — Mayes, W, 35-6 (2nd).

Varsity girls

100 meters — Mickie Wilson, C, 14.65 (1st).

200 meters — Wilson, C, 30.60 (1st) and Angela West, C, 31.97 (3rd).

1600 meters — Stephanie Munguia, C, 7:00 (2nd).

100-meter hurdles — Kaytlin Lorenzini, C, 19.61 (2nd).

300-meter hurdles — Lorenzini, C, 1:18 (1st).

4x100 relay — Wilson/Lunsford/Lorenzini/West, C, 57.66 (1st).

Shot put — Julie Ramirez, W, 26-3 (2nd) and Mariana Martinez, C, 24-0 (3rd).

Discus — Ramirez, W, 87-0 (2nd) and Alexia Vargas, C, 59-3 (3rd).

High jump — Morgan Bowerman, C, 3-6 (3rd).

Long jump — Wilson, C, 13-6 (1st); Munguia, C, 12-10 (2nd) and Bowerman, C, 11-9 (3rd).

CONTACT Kirk Barron at 458-2121 or kbarron@tcnpress.com.