Michelle Johnson, Domenic D’Acquisto reign at North Section meet

Wheatland freshman Jessica Carpenter runs down Las Plumas' Angelica Cahee, seen leading here with 50m to go. PV's Julia Dunbar, trailing on Carpenter's right, finished fourth (TC)

By Jeffrey Jen, Record Searchligh Sports Writer  - Friday, May 23, 2008 Photos by Greg Barnette/Record Searchlight (GB) & Tom Cushman (TC) COTTONWOOD -- Enterprise freshman Domenic D'Acquisto and West Valley junior Michelle Johnson are truly the reigning king and queen of north state distance running. After claiming section cross country titles in November, both D'Acquisto and Johnson added to their cache by sweeping the 1,600 and the 3,200-meter races at the Northern Section Masters track and field championships at West Valley High School on Friday. Johnson won the 3,200 section crown as a freshman, then the 1,600 as sophomore. She got both Friday en route to sharing Bob Russell Award for female athlete of the meet honors with Gridley senior Sarah Nichols. The double-win wasn't easy as Johnson needed a final kick in the last 100 meters to catch another Michelle Johnson, this one a Chico senior. But, she wouldn't be denied in winning in 11 minutes, 28.84 seconds. Chico's Johnson was second in 11:30.68. "When she passed me, I was like "Whoa, that's kind of cool,'" West Valley's Johnson said. "I just felt that I didn't want to run this whole race and wind up losing in the last 100. I don't think I've kicked like that in a long time." Coupled with her win in 5:12.30 in the 1,600 and running the first leg of West Valley's 1,600-relay team that finished fourth, Johnson had enough points to tie Nichols, who won the 300 hurdles and the long jump and due to an inopportune stumble took fourth in the 100 hurdles. Meanwhile, D'Acquisto completed a memorable freshman season that saw him plant the seeds to become the next dominant north state distance star. He faced only two other runners in the 1,600, yet still took the race out hard to win in a commanding 4:21.38, the fastest section-winning time in 21 years. There was stiffer competition in the 3,200 from the likes West Valley's Trevor Siperek and Chico's Henry Naas. But, D'Acquisto surged in front with two laps to go and won in a comfortable 9:44.65. "I wanted to make sure that I had a chance to win the two-mile," D'Acquisto said.

West Valley junior Michelle Johnson claims her second 1600m and 3200m section titles, but the first time as a double. (GB)   Hornet freshman phenom Anthony D'Acquisto was a double winner, taking both the 1600 (4:21.38) and 3200 (9:44.65). (GB)

Track Race Summaries Girls 400 relay: West Valley, 49.90 -- The Eagles quartet of senior Taylor Samuels, juniors Amanda Oliva and Savana Scroggins and sophomore Cassie DeBonis were too fast for Pleasant Valley (50.75) and Wheatland (50.96), the next best teams. Boys 400 relay: Foothill, 43.54 -- Cole and Kyle Johnston, along with senior Brady Gallagher and junior Logan Grimes, put the Cougars in control from the second leg on. Central Valley (44.12) edged West Valley (44.19) for second. Girls 1,600: Johnson, West Valley, 5:12.30 -- Johnson pulled away from freshman teammate Corissa Storms and Lassen freshman Tiffany Heflin at the start of the final lap. Storms outraced Heflin in the final 150 meters to cross in second in 5:17.54, while Heflin was third in 5:18.38. Boys 1,600: D'Acquisto, Enterprise, 4:21.38 -- An odd race as only Hayfork sophomore Scott Minor (4:39.57) and Winters sophomore Ruki Lucero (4:41.22) came out to challenge D'Acquisto. All the other qualifiers were willing to take their chances in the 3200 and no alternates showed up to replace them. Girls 100 hurdles: Cynthia Kinnamont, Las Plumas, 16.22 -- In the strangest race of the day, pre-race favorite Gridley's Nichols led through the first 40 meters, but clipped a hurdle and stumbled. She recovered to place fourth (17.16). Enterprise senior Alisha Thompson (16.28) moved into the lead but was caught by West Valley's Nichole Barry and Kinnamont late from the inside lanes. A final barrier clip undid Barry as a steady performance by Etna's Loogman allowed her to stay ahead of Nichols and pass Barry to claim third. Boys 100 hurdles: Eric Cary, Central Valley, 15.02 -- Despite being upset last week by West Valley's Joel Dumore and having a heavily bandaged lower right leg, Cary was focused on breaking a Falcons school record of 15.14. He charged out in front and won going away, well ahead of Dumore (15.68) and Corning's Jacob Brannon (15.86). Girls 400: Jessica Carpenter, Wheatland, 58.59 -- In a thrilling finish, the Pirates freshman passed Las Plumas junior Angelica Cahee (58.65) in the final ten meters for the section win. West Valley's DeBonis came in third in 1:00.28. Boys 400: Zach Stoner, Yreka, 49.36 -- The Miners senior was expected to rule this event and didn't disappoint, making up the stager on Pullen off the first turn. Paradise's Tim Pullen (50.29) was undetered and placed second, comfortably ahead of Las Plumas' Richie Storey who took third in 51.44. Girls 100: Amanda Oliva, West Valley, 12.80 -- Section leader Oliva needs to run a personal-best by a tenth of a second to hold off Las Plumas' Alyssa Dixon-Word (12.86) and Corning's Danielle Beardsley (12.88) for the win. Boys 100: Darius Ray, Sutter, 10.80 -- Ray repeats as section 100m champion by outleaning Foothill senior Cole Johnson (10.82). Both marks smashed the stadium record of 10.93 set by Las Plumas' Shannon Shird in 2005. Their marks also rank sixth and seventh in the all-time section record book. Girls 800: Erynn Rebol, Red Bluff, 2:17.05 -- Rebol finally won a section title as she opens up a big gap going around the third turn and, unlike the previous week, holds off hard-charging Oroville freshman Sarah Brandt (2:17.88) for the win and the 12th-fastest time in section history. Dalanne Bartlett, the section leader coming into the race, never recovered after Rebol's move and was caught just before the tape by Bishop Quinn Lauren Galligan. giving the Lions one last podium appearance in taking third (2:23.77). Boys 800: Dan Parker, Chico, 1:58.20 -- Parker, after tucking behind first lap pacesetter Zach Kaylor, opens up a big lead down the backstretch and is able to hold off strong closing West Valley junior Ben Bradshaw (1:59.79). Winters senior Terrence Johnson sneaks by Chico's Adam Roth in the final strides to take third in 2:00.91. Girls 300 hurdles: Nichols, Gridley, 46.51 -- After stumbling in the 100 hurdles, Nichols came back to outduel Red Bluff's Kelli Stanley (46.94). Kinnamont was third in 47.35, ahead of Barry (48.49). Boys 300 hurdles: Shane Wilson, Central Valley, 40.04 -- Wilson shattered another Falcons record with his winning time. Enterprise sophomore Anthony Williams came on late, but had to settle for second (40.23), while Tulelake's Zack Boyd (41.04) was third. Girls 200: Beardsley, Corning, 26.22 -- After taking third in the 100, Beardsley was the surprise winner out of lane 7. She outsraced Wheatland's Amanda Menschel (26.37) and Oroville's Anne Lundberg (26.53) to the line. Section leader Nichols did not run, next best Lindsey Witteman was never a factor in the race. Boys 200: Ray, Sutter, 22.24 -- Ray won his second race of the meet much more comfortably than the first. Second place Yreka's Stoner was disqualified for running outside of his lane, leaving Etna's Skylar Schneider a more distant second at 23.20 and Central Valley's Ben Dressel (23.28) into third. Girls 3,200: Johnson, West Valley, 11:28.84 -- The two Michelle Johnsons and Redding Adventist senior Lizzy Gruber pulled away in the later stages of the race. Johnson, from West Valley, surged to a good lead with a couple of laps to go. But, Chico's Johnson repassed Gruber then caught and passed the leader with 250 meters to go. Somehow, WV's Johnson found another gear over the last 100 meters to get the win. Gruber took third (11:43.93). Boys 3,200: D'Acquisto, Enterprise, 9:44.65 -- The Hornets freshman controlled the pace for the first five laps. By then, only Siperek and Naas could stay with him. He dropped Siperek with two laps to go and Naas fell away 150 meters later. Siperek did use a strong final lap to move into second in 9:51.61, ahead of Naas (10:01.12). Girls 1,600 relay: Oroville, 4:02.09 -- Oroville, anchored by senior Katie Brandt, win in a rout by posting the 13th-best time in section history. That left Las Plumas (4:05.83), Red Bluff (4:06.15) and West Valley (4:06.19) to battle for second. Boys 1,600 relay: Chico, 3:25.38 -- A fresh Panther team, needed a sub 50 second anchor leg by Matt Carter, to win a three-way battle with Red Bluff (3:25.85) and West Valley (3:26.08) and secure a ticket to the state meet.

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Gaul, Ostrom, Moynahan all vault to state meet

West Valley’s Ethan Ostrom soars over the pole vault bar Friday at the Northern Section Track and Field Finals at West Valley High School. Ostrom tied teammate Florian Gaul in the pole vault with a vault of 15' 2", although Gaul was awarded the win based on fewer misses. That height allowed both to qualify for next week’s state meet.

By John Ryan, Record Searchlight Sports Writer  - Friday, May 23, 2008 Photos by Tom Cushman COTTONWOOD -- West Valley High School's Florian Gaul and Ethan Ostrom are going into the record books together. And the state track and field finals, also. The Eagles set a Northern Section Masters track and field championship record and a West Valley stadium record in the pole vault Friday at the Pasture. Gaul, a foreign exchange student from Stuttgart, Germany, cleared 15 feet, 2 inches on his first attempt to win the gold medal. Ostrom went 15-2 on his third and final try. He fell to the mat pumping his fists when he saw he'd cleared it. "I saw when he was rocking back I knew that he made it," said Gaul, who earned the Bob Russell Award for male athlete of the meet. They bumped a pair of Eagles from the record books. West Valley's Dan Imlach (2003) and Jason Morcom (1992) held the meet record at 14-9. Fellow Eagle Tyler Gray set the stadium record at 15-0 in 1999. Gray still holds the all-time section mark at 15-6, but Gaul and Ostrom moved up the legends list to meet him. Their 15-2 vault stands as second best in section history. The two traded wins all season -- Gaul won most of the early meets, Ostrom came on in late April/early May. But fittingly, they both broke records with the same height. "We're good friends. I love hanging around with him and stuff and it's a lot of fun competing because we push each other," Ostrom said. "I think it's helped me a lot to compete with him every day in practice." Corning's Jacob Brannon took third going 13-6. Girls pole vault Kelsey Moynahan, Enterprise 9-6 -- The Hornets freshman tweaked her technique and improved her personal best by six inches. "My plant was a big part of it," Moynahan said. "I've been working on my plant the whole season and it's never been right, besides today." She said she usually carries her arm too far behind her down the runway, "You have to keep it in front of you and I did. And I had a lot better speed. That's two main keys of the vault." Speaking of keys, Moynahan's due a new set of wheels based on an agreement with her dad, longtime teacher Mike Moynahan -- former Enterprise athlete and coach, and the annual emcee for the Masters meet. "He said if I make it to state he'll buy me car," Kelsey said. "He said that a long time ago when we were joking around about it." Of course she'll need it to cart around her teammates Amber Hall and Nai Saelee. Hall took second at 9-0 and Saelee grabbed bronze at 8-6. "We never thought there'd be a day where we went all 1-2-3," Kelsey said. It also didn't hurt that the top two vaulters in the section picked the section meet to be the one where they were unable to clear any height.

Field Event Summaries Boys shot put Jon Pack, Las Plumas 54-4 -- Pack upset Shasta thrower Jason Wacker. The Wolves senior took second (53-10½) a week after breaking off a series of 60-foot throws to crush the field at the Division I finals. Las Plumas' Nathan Lambert took third (46-9½). Girls shot put Jazmin Porter, Shasta 39-11 -- The sophomore came close to cracking another 40-foot throw. She topped second-place finisher Cheryl Ridge of Oroville (36¼). Enterprise's Jamie Jin took third (34-10¾). Boys discus Pack, Las Plumas 157-9¼ -- Pack bettered his season best by more than a foot to win the disc and hold off Shasta's Wacker (second at 149-1½) and West Valley's Andy Miller (145-2½). Girls discus Porter, Shasta 124-2½ -- Porter's improved in the disc each of the past three weeks, taking over an event that had belonged to West Valley's Ashley Turner (second at 120½) and Foothill's Toni Bright (third at 117-10¾). The Wolves sophomore popped her winning throw on her second attempt and didn't deny she surprised even herself. "Actually I'm very surprised," Porter said. The difference came down to a pep-talk long-time Shasta throws coach Kirk Ramage gave her Thursday. "He just said to throw for me and not listen to anyone else around me," Porter said. "Just let loose and relax." He also told her to apply to the discus the same explosiveness she finishes a shot put with. "Usually I just kind of go through the motions," Porter said. "But this time I was muscling up and punching at the end of my throw." Boys high jump Eric Cary, Central Valley 6-4 -- Cary topped defending champ Skylar Schneider of Etna thanks to a tiebreaker that traced all the way back to their attempts at 6 feet. Schneider missed his first two tries at the height. "We both made 6-4 on our last try and we knew when we both missed at 6-6 that his misses at 6 feet were going to play in," Cary said after adding a win in the 110-meter hurdles. "I think the weather kind of played in. I was getting ready for the 106 degrees and this kind of threw me off. I went in hoping that it would be us at 6-6 (the state qualifying mark) and that we could both go to state." Foothill junior Eli Copsey took third at 6-2. Girls high jump Bre Mackie, Central Valley 5-2 -- Mackie was one of five freshmen to win an individual event. She topped West Valley's Nichole Barry and Shasta's Karle Fitzhugh who tied for second at 5-0. Boys long jump Gaul, West Valley 21-0 -- Gaul used the wind to his benefit to hold off Red Bluff's Colter Hedden (second at 20-8¾). Pierce's Michael Barber took third (20-6½). Girls long jump Sarah Nichols, Gridley 17-7½ -- Oroville's Katie Brandt took second (17-4½), Chico's Kasey Barnett took third (16-9¼). Boys triple jump Jovon Cunningham, Enterprise 45-6¼ -- Cunningham, one of three Hornets freshmen going to state, just keeps getting better. Enterprise threw him into the triple jump midway through the season to fill out his events and over the past four weeks he's improved at each meet. "I actually thought long jump was going to be my primary event," Cunningham said. Maybe in time, but Friday he came within a foot of the stadium record -- with a sore hamstring. He hurt it a week before the Eastern Athletic League championships and it's bothered him off and on ever since. He cut his approach in half because it was bothering him, but still won the EAL. Last week it felt fine, but Friday it flared up again. "I can't really feel it when I jump but when I'm running down the runway that's when I feel it the most," Cunningham said. "My coaches told me just to take it easy." So he did, passing up attempts after hitting the 45-footer on his second try. Teammate James Williams went 43-11½ for second place on his last jump. Pierce's Michael Barber took third (43-1). Girls triple jump Brandt, Oroville 35-3½ -- Chico's Barnett took second (34-4¾). West Valley's Taylor Samuels took third (34-4½).

Shasta’s Jazmin Porter was a double winner Friday, taking the girls shot put with a throw of 39-11. She won the discus with a toss of 124-02.5.   A congradulatory hug between state bound Hannah Dillard (3200) and Michelle Johnson (1600).

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Daniel Parker takes 800m title at Section Championships Chico Boys, Oroville girls 4 X 400 relay teams head for state

A game effort by Oroville freshman Sarah Brandt comes up short as Red Bluff's Erynn Rebol backstretch surge is her key to victory	By LELAND GORDON-Chico ER Sports Writer  - Friday, May 23, 2008 Photos by Tom Cushman COTTONWOOD — The Oroville High girls 1,600-meter relay team now has to make plans for its trip to Cerritos College and the CIF state championships in Norwalk. Aside from the running, it was hard for Katie Brandt, Sarah Brandt, Anne Lundberg and Jessy Souza to decide what to do on their trip. There's Disneyland, the beach, shopping and so much other stuff to try. Whatever they do, it will be a team outing. "The more the merrier. That was definitely the coolest — max cool," Katie Brandt said after winning the final girls event. "We're definitely doing a team celebration." There was plenty to celebrate for the Tiger girls, specifically Brandt, along with all other Northern Section track and field athletes who won at the NSCIF Finals and will be advancing to state. Locals girls fared well, with Gridley's Sarah Nichols, Katie Brandt and Las Plumas' Cynthia Kinnamont putting forth the most impressive performances. Nichols was named co-recipient of the Bob Russell Outstanding Athlete award afterward along with West Valley's Michelle Johnson. Nichols won the 300 hurdles and the long jump and if it weren't for clipping a hurdle in the 100 hurdles, she may have taken three titles home with her. There was a slight disappointment with her 100 hurdles snafu, which came on the fourth hurdle and caused her to finish fourth, but Nichols said the 300 hurdles win made up for it satisfactorily. "I was expecting to get first, but if you screw up once you mess up bad," the Gridley senior said. "I wasn't going to run the 300 hurdles because I kind of pulled a muscle in the long jump. Still, I'm happy with my output." Nichols' slip was to Kinnamont's benefit in the 100 hurdles, as the Las Plumas sprinter held off a furious charge from Enterprise's Alisha Thompson. In addition to Kinnamont's 100 hurdle win, she was third in the 300 hurdles and was part of the 1600 relay
team that came in second to Oroville. Her teammates in that effort were Alyssa Dixon-Word, Angelica Cahee and Erin Cahee. Corning's Danielle Beardsley was the 200-meter champion by 15 one-hundredths of a second and she earned third in the 100. Lundberg was third behind Beardsley in the 200. On the boys side, LP's Jon Pack was the top performer in terms of local schools. He's a two-time section champ thanks to his winning efforts in the discus and the shot put. His teammate Nathan Lambert was third in the shot put, and Lambert's talent is something that helped Pack get to where he ended up, he said, alluding to the state meet. "It was really good because we have competition at practice," Pack said. "State's going to be big. I'm gonna try and go as big as I can." Chico High's Dan Parker was the other local boys champ, winning the 800 in 1 minute, 58.2 seconds, and Henry Naas was third in the 3,200. Parker's pace never slowed, even as he came down the final stretch to the cheers of the crowd while he was comfortably ahead. "It's easier to go fast at the end than slow," said Parker, a sophomore. "State's definitely a plus. The field is gonna bring it. I'm just happy to go there, those guys are beasts." Beast-like was a good way to describe Katie Brandt's day. In addition to her relay triumph with her teammates, she won the triple jump and placed behind Nichols in the long jump. Teammate Cheryl Ridge was second in the shot put. Chico sophomore Kasey Barnett earned second in the triple jump and a third in the long jump. Angelica Cahee was a close second in the 400 for LP and Dixon-Word was the same in the 100. Freshman Sarah Brandt, Katie's sister, was second in the 800. Jacob Brannon was a bright spot in the boys competition for Corning, taking third in both the pole vault and 110 hurdles. Paradise's Tim Pullen was the lone top-three boy for Paradise, grabbing second in the 400, right ahead of LP's Richie Storey. Pleasant Valley's top finish on the overcast and sometimes sprinkly day was the girls 400 relay team, which came in second. Julia Dunbar, Camille Balasek, Marion Wolfe and Leah Pennick finished in 50.75 seconds, behind West Valley. And Chico's Michelle Johnson lost to a West Valley runner with the same name in the 3,200. The section champ automatically qualifies for state, at Cerritos College in Norwalk beginning Friday. While winning an event guarantees entry to the state meet, others can go if a qualifying standard is met at this meet. West Valley's Ethan Ostrom was the only athlete who did not win but met this standard by clearing 15' 2 in the pole vault.
Chico's Daniel Parker powers down the homestretch to claim his first section title.	The top finishers in the boys 800m pose for photographers