OROVILLE - Thirty-four teams and hundreds of athletes entered Oroville's Harrison Stadium on Friday to compete in the annual West Valley track and field Invitational. With a supreme sprint and relay team, led by arguebly the meet's best four athletes, one of whom was named the meet's most outstanding male athlete, Clinton Spellman, the Enterprise boys track and field team claimed the overall team title in commanding fashion, 79-60 over runner-up Chico.

Max Crow's win in the late finishing pole vault "vaulted" Bishop Manogue from fourth to a close third while host West Valley used runnerup points in the same event from Deven Hernandez to edge Pleasant Valley by a point and grab fourth.

Spellman won the 100 (11.02) and 200 (22.28), setting seasonal bests in both, while aiding in the effort in improving the marks for the section leading 4X100 and 4x400 relay teams. The 43.03 result in the short relay was more than a second clear of Bishop Manogue & Paradise close 2-3 finish and their SB 3:28.21 topped Paradise, which was down two members of its starting quartet, by five seconds. But more battles remain for the Hornets and Bobcats, still ranked one-two in the section in both.

"They (Clinton and Calvin Spellman) have been out of training (recent transfers from Laguna Creek), they're just getting back and into the swing of things," Enterprise's Leslie Cummings said. "They have a lot of potential." Cummings won the 300 hurdles in a PR 40.25, finished fourth in the 100 and helped the 1,600 relay capture the win to close out the night. "My ideal goal in the (300 hurdles) would be 38 or sub 38," said Cummings, just a sophomore. "I want to place top 10 this year (at) state.

The premier individual performance among a stacked field of athletes came in the girls 800 meters, as Brenna Wapstra-Scott of Tahoe-Truckee ran the seventh fastest time in West Valley Invitational history. The Wolverine senior seasonal best of 2:16.13 moved her past Laurynne Chetelat (Davis), who ran 2:16.17 back in 2007 as she pulled away from Bishop Manogue Hannah Covington. West Valley's Bailey Jones closed with a personal best 2:26.75 to take third place. Jones was a solid third throughout the two laps, beating the No. 2 ranked 800 runner in the section, Trinity's Lauren Harper (2:27.3) who was running the race on short rest after winning the invitational 400 (58.90).

The breakout performance of the meet had to be Jack Emanuel of Chico. The Panther senior's win in the invitational 1600m with a time (4:22.02) that was a thirteen second improvement over his previous best. It also marked a second foray in a week of etching his name on the Chico High all time list. A week ago it was a 9:33 3200m performance at the Davis Invitational. Friday he doubled back in the 3200m, setting the pace for the race that was ultimately won with a late charge by his sophomore teammate, Charlie Giannini. It proved to be one of the closest boys race on the day with the margin usually reserved for the sprint races (.08 seconds) as Giannini grabbed top honors with his second straight sub 9:50 performance in 9:42.90.

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It might be easy to lose yourself against some of the most heralded competitors from the state of Nevada and Northern California, so Las Plumas High distance runner Kaitlyn Morgado says fortitude is the key when approaching races like the one in her hometown. "I don't really pay attention to the (others), my main goal is to PR for myself," the junior Morgado said.

Morgado solid performance in the girls 3,200 invitational, finishing a Northern Section-best fourth place in a personal record of 12 minutes, 18.27 seconds, to help pace the Thunderbirds to third overall in the final team standings. "I have certain goals that I want to reach by the end of the year," said Morgado, whose previous season-best was 12:20.81. "I know how fast (others) are, so I try to push myself not to show off but to prove it to myself."

Morgado was the best in the section in the eight lap race on this day, beating the second ranked two-miler, Chico senior Jessalyn Ayers who struggled after a solid opening mile. Ayars' SB coming in was 11:59.52. While the two more than likely see each other again this season, Morgado said she'll keep the same mindset next time she hits the track against her section competitors. "My mindset lately has not been to train harder or 'I'm going to push,', it's just that I'm going to do it, period," she said.

Tahoe-Truckee won girl's invitational title with 72 points, besting Nevada power Bishop Manogue (66), LP (54) and host West Valley (53). Beside Wapstra-Scott's 800-1600 double win, the Tahoe-Truckee depth in the distance races and relays proved overwhelming.

Morgado's junior teammate, Chava Rivers placed in the top 5 in the 200 and 400 meters - the former in a seasonal best 26.71 - and finished second with another seasonal best in the long jump to Bishop Manogue's Amber Elkins. Elkins was named the Most Outstanding Female Athlete on Friday night with individual wins in the 100, 200 in addition to the long jump and also ran a leg on the winning 4 X 400 relay.

Pleasant Valley senior Courtney Kermen was another one to performed well on the day setting a seasonal best in the 100 (12.86) and a PR in the 200 (26.19) in finishing a close second to Elkins in both to help the Vikings finish sixth overall and first among Eastern Athletic League schools.