OROVILLE - It was wet. It was cold. But the miserable conditions didn't dampen the performance the Chico High boys track and field team turned in Friday at the West Valley Invitational.
Efren Trevino and Michael Reynolds both posted two individual titles and also put the opening and finishing touches on the 400 relay, leading the Panthers to 80.50 points, besting Enterprise's second-place total of 66.5 at Harrison Stadium.
"They combined for 40 points," Chico coach Rich Kemp said of his remarkable duo from their four firsts moments after he picked up the team trophy that was capped by several performances from others that had the Panthers so far ahead of every other team they didn't need to field in a team in the final event, the 1,600 relay.
Trevino took the 100 meters in 11.30 seconds and the 200 in 22.85. Reynolds won the 110 hurdles in 15.36 and then posted a season-best time of 39.47 in the 300 hurdles, a rare strong result Friday on Harrison's all-weather track that was tested by the rain that finally started to fall about 3:45 p.m. and persisted for the rest of the meet although intensity of the precipitation relented with the start of the invitational portion of the meet.
Reynolds got a good start out of the blocks and never was really challenged, except perhaps by Mother Nature, as the Chico senior credited good form for Friday's time.
"At this point, every meet I want to shave it down," Reynolds said. "If I start going into the meets just going to win then I'm never going to get closer to 38 (seconds). I think that some people, you know, the weather is bad and they just come in to it wanting to get by with just winning. But I want to get by and PR and get closer to shaving my time down for later meets."
Reynolds ran the first leg of the 400 relay before handing off to Kody Hassett, who then gave the baton to Stephen Dean before Trevino anchored the Northern Section's best time this season in 43.99 and easily topping Red Bluff, which was second Friday in 45.34.
The lone other area school to finish among the overall top 10 was Corning in 10th with 17 points. But at the top was Chico, which took down section contenders Enterprise and West Valley, which was third with 44.6.
"This gives me a lot of confidence," Kemp said of the Panthers' victory among the 24 scoring teams that included several from out of the area including Sac-Joaquin Section schools, the North Coast Section programs and teams from Nevada.
Las Plumas' A.J. Cahee won the boys' triple jump in 40 feet, 7 inches, beating K.J. Hinkston by 6 inches and the rest of the deep field by even more.
"My muscles felt so tight because it was cold. I had to warm up for a half-hour more. My knees felt shaky when I hit the board," said Cahee, who found a way through the elements. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be."
Indeed, the winning mark, even if it was off his 43-8 personal best, has him ready to do even more.
"It makes me want to try harder, not just for my best, but to go for the school record," he said.
Chico's Myki Abrams gave the girls' team a victory in the long jump. The 17-0 mark was a full foot ahead of everyone else despite the junior dealing with shin splints.
"I kind of ignore it," Abrams said of her injury, "You just have to block it out." Which was good advice for the weather as well. She did take a pass on running in the invitational 100m just to a safe, an event won by
Orland's Yanette Munoz in 13:05, edging River Valley's Daya Wilson by .04.
The West Valley girls won the team title with 70 points. Tahoe-Truckee was second with 60. Chico was sixth with 32.
Other winners included Corning's Ivan Alvarado in the long jump in 20-6, and Hamilton's Christopher Jaeger in the high jump at 6-2. Jaeger is the defending section champion in the event.
The Athlete of the Meet awards went to Tahoe-Truckee's Quinn Parker and Nevada Union distance runner Garrett Migliozzi. Parker won the girls' 200 in 26.36, was second in the 400 in 58.88 and helped the 400 relay team take third and anchored the 1,600 relay win in 4:06.97. Migliozzi pulled the tough triple-duty, opening with a win in the 1,600 (4:23.17) and closing out his day with a victory in the 3,200 (9:42.19). Sandwiched in between he took a close second to Arcata's Jose Lopez in the 800 (1:58.06).
Other quality performances on a less than ideal day include Tahoe-Truckee tandem of Gabrielle Rinne and Skyler Flora, who finished 1-2 in the girls invitational 1600m with times of 4:58.12 and 4:59.17 respectively. West Valley's Jenna Hinkle, after placing third in the 1600m with a PR of 5:05.46, wins the invitational 800m in 2:20.83. West Valley's other Jenna, Jenna Storms (11:26.43) pulls away late to win a closely contested 3200m over
Arcata's Chloe Pigg, Trinity's Karly Gutermuth and Nevada Union's Nora Pizzella in which the top four were separated by less than 3 seconds.
Longtime Chico coach Chuck Sheley was the honorary meet referee for this year's meet. Sheley has been coaching for 52 years.
