CLOVIS, CA -- The highlight of the 2023 CIF State Track & Field Championips for those athletes competing from the Northern Section had to be the performance of Pleasant Valley sophomore Jackson Hein, who placed fifth in a field of twelve that made up the 800 meter final.
Just getting to the final is always an adventure for any section athlete as most don't get out of the prelims. Hein, based on his winning section time, was seeded 24th out of the 27 runners who qualified. California, unlike most states, has only one state championship in track and field for all state's high schools regardless of size or division. Oregion, a much smaller state, has six division track championships. To whittle down the field, each section gets a set amount of qualifiers (based on size) for each event plus wild card entrants are added if they meet a stiff qualifing standard. The Northern Section only one athlete per event qualifies/advances to the state meet.
A slow opening lap of Hein's preliminary race opened the door for the Viking athlete to show off his sprinting skills. Something he had done very effectively in winning races in the Northern Section but here at state he was something of an unknown quantity. Not any more as a punishing closing 200m got his competitor's attension as Hein won the meet's opening 800m heat with a time of 1 minute and 54.17 seconds. This not only advanced Hein to the final but also broke the school record for the distance. As it was his heat was the slowest of three, with only the top three finishers moving on to the Saturday evening final. The 800m final was a more honest affair with the race leader going through 400m in 56 seconds (as opposed to the more pedestrian 58 of his qualifying heat). Not surprisingly Hein found himself at the back of a tight pack for the first 700 meters. Once again he found a gear to propell him by seven runners in the closing meters of the race to finish in fifth place in 1:53.71 and garner a place on the podium.
The time further lowers the school record for Pleasant Valley and is also the sixth fastest time ever run by a Northern Section athlete.
Elsewhere of note by local athletes, the Pleasant Valley girls 3,200 relay team consisting of Holly Alchin, Ava Devine, Chloe Alchin and Ali Lugo broke the PV school record finishing with a time of 9:55.59. This was first year that the 4x800 relay was contested at the state meet. Prior to this year, this longer relay was only run early in the season, mostly at designated relay meets. The PV 1,600 relay team consisting of Abbigail Guichard, Ava Devine, Holly Alchin and Katelynn Enos finished with the second fastest time in program history in 4:04.09, in not qualifying for the 4x400 relay final. Beside running legs on two of the three relays the Viking girls qualified for, sophomore Holly Alchin ran a personal best time of 2:18.32 in 800m. But despite this four second improvement in her 800m time Alchin did not advance to the final.
Chico High junior Charles Brennan ran the 3,200 meter final where he improved his section leading (& personal best) time down to 9:26.09. Durham's Matt Larsen, threw a personal best of 158-02 but still missed qualifying for the discus final by 15 feet. University Prep's Emma Gaddy ran a personal best of 58.42 seconds but also did not advance to the 400m final.
