CLOVIS, CA -- One year ago, then-sophomore Jackson Hein of Pleasant Valley placed fifth at the CIF state track and field meet in the 800-meter race.
The 104th CIF State Track and Field Championship was held Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High School in Clovis, and Hein repeated his success.
Hein, now a junior, placed fifth once again at the CIF state meet in the 800, but this time finishing in a personal best time of 1 minute, 51.61 seconds (1.4 seconds behind the winner).
The day before Hein ran 1:53.13 in placing third in the prelims, by passing four competitors in the final 200 meters to secure a spot in the final. In the final, Hein again made his move towards the end of the race. He was buried in eighth place coming off the race's final turn, before accelerating by three runners to finish fifth. His time of 1:51.61 was the fastest in Northern Section history, breaking the longest standing section record set by Chico's Doug Parker in winning state way back in 1962.
Hein's time this year is 2.1 second improvement over his fifth-place finish as a sophomore, and he will look to improve that once more his senior season.
In the discus, PV's Van Chambers threw a personal best of 173 feet (the ninth farthest in Northern Section history and a Pleasant Valley school record) to advance to the finals. The next day, his only fair throw of 164-05 was not far enough to gain extra attempts in the finals, leaving him 11th overall. Chambers, a senior, has signed with University of Colorado Mesa to compete in track and field after graduation in June.
There were 95 teams who placed in the girls division and 99 teams who placed in the boys division. Hein's fifth place finish gave the Vikings a tie for 57th place with four points in the boys division. Pleasant Valley was the only team to score points from the Northern Section.
In the girls competition no Northern Section teams placed.
Yreka's Mattie Whipple, a three time winner at the section meet, elected to compete in all three events 800m, 1600m & 3200m. She starts off running a non-qualifying personal best 4:58.59 in the 1600m, two hours later comes back with a 2:14.59 effort in the 800m in which she was in contention for advancing with 200m to go. She completed her state meet by running a second personal best in the 3200m (11:03.12).
Other local athletes did not fare as well. In the boys competition, Corning's Jordan Morrow despite running a personal best in the 100-meter race, came up .04 seconds short of qualifying for the finals. Morrow ran another personal best in the 200 meters but again did not qualify for the finals. Chico's Charles Brennan competed in the 3,200. Pleasant Valley's team of Titus Andrus, Gavin Myers, Keegan McGregor, Sharmar Riley competed in the 400 relay, but did not qualify for finals. PV's team of Austin Hein, Mark Marinello, Riley, and Jackson Hein competed in the 1,600 relay, but did not qualify for finals. Orland's Schykerynec competed in the shot put, but did not qualify for finals. Orland's Logan Meredith competed in the pole vault but failed to clear the stout opening height of 15' 0.
In the girls competition Pleasant Valley's Kayla Johnson competed in the triple jump, but did not qualify for the finals after prelims. PV's Chloe White competed in the shot put but did not qualify for the finals. PV's team of Holly Alchin, Katelynn Enos, Kylie Atteberry and Ali Lugo competed in the 1,600 relay did not qualify for the finals.
PV's team of Sophia Guichard, Atteberry, Amarianna Sims and Allie Devine came close to a seasonal best in prelims, but were still well short of advancing. Orland's Addison Bernstein competed in the pole vault, but like her teammate failed to clear the opening height that was set higher than her personal best. Gridley's AnaGloria Estrella Luevano ran the 300-meter hurdles race, but failed to advance.
