Weather turns cool again, but competition stays hot at Chico Invitational
Yuba City's Perry, a triple winner, anchors a fourth yet PV wins both team titles

Saturday April 6, 2024
By Tom Cushman

CHICO - Twenty-five teams from across Northern California (and three sections, Northern, San Joaquin & North Coast) came to the Mel Jones Track at Chico High School to compete in the fifty-seventh running of the Chico Invitational. Conditions were dry with a mix of sun and clouds, but temperatures were relatively cool which combined with a prevailing but not particularly strong south wind probably put a damper on sprint/hurdle performances.

Pleasant Valley won both varsity boys and girls competitions by comfortable margins (33 points ahead of runner-up Chico in the boys and 63 points over second place Davis in the girls). Few teams were at full strength due to injury, participation in a second meet the same weekend, or resting athletes for upcoming meets. PV's distance star, Jackson Hein, was not here but instead travelled to SoCal to compete in the Arcadia Invitational in the 800m. 17 teams scored at least a point in the boy's competition while 21 teams did that in the girls competition.

Last year, Yuba City's Jewel Perry won the 200m, ran a leg on the winning 4 x 100 relay and came in a close third in the 400m. This year she was unbeatable, winning the 100m, 200m and 400m while anchoring the winning 4 x 100m relay team. Although her times were unremarkable (by her standards), temperatures mostly in the 50s and a head wind in the home stretch certainly did not help.

The only other meet's triple winner was Pleasant Valley senior Kayla Johnson. Unfortunately for her this performance was not apparent to most of those filling the stands and she topped the fields in the jumps (high - 5' 3, long - 17' 8 and triple - 35' 0) all with marks among the section's best. On the boys side, Viking sophomore Shamur Riley won twice on his own after anchoring the Viking to a short relay win. Next he pulled away from the field late in winning the 100m and then held off a fast closing Jayden Newkirt from Las Plumas to take the 200m.

Other double winners were Chico's Charlie Brennan, who out-dueled PV's Austin Hein and Providence Christian's Kyle Cleek to win the 1600m and doubled back to win the 3200m more easily over Hein and three of his Viking teammates (Nolan McLaughlin, Mark Doud and Justin Plummer) who placed third, fourth and fifth respectively. Lincoln's Autumn LaMontagne won both hurdle races by wide margins, repeating her double win performance from a year ago.

Yreka's Mattie Whipple, a week after her very impressive double at the Stanford Invitational where she reset and set school records in the 1600m and 800m, respectively, made her high school debut in the 3200m. It proved to be another school record for her, but unlike her times in the shorter distance races, not a top ten all-time section mark.

While falling a few inches short of winning the shot put, Viking Chloe White nevertheless improved upon her section leading mark with a toss of 38' 6. Pleasant Valley teammate Trinity Gomez improved by nearly a foot in the discus, her second meet in row with a mark over 100 feet, in placing sixth overall. Number three in the state, Davis junior Sol Bitners won the discus competition with a hefty throw of 144' 1 ½. Bitners also won the shot, coming through with a mark 4 ¼ inches further than White's.

Chico's Magnus Niesen won the shot with a toss of 50' 8. He was the only one in the field with a mark over 50 feet. He couldn't back it up with a win in the discus, placing third behind Davis' Daniel Herman and Panther teammate Tropher Bramon who used personal best efforts to place first and second, respectively.

The NorCal Small Schools Invitational will be held next Friday (April 12) at Chico High School. Pleasant Valley and Chico have a few more invitationals before contending for the EAL League Championships that will be held May 3 at Foothill High School in Pale Cedro. The same six schools will battle a week later at the CIF Northern Section Division I Championships that will be held May 10 at Pleasant Valley's Asguard Field. The high school season will end for most section athletes at the CIF NSCIF Finals on May 17 at West Valley High School as only the winners will qualify to go to state.