Reed's three wins lead Chico girls to another EAL track title

Kiara Reed cruises home in the 400m to claim her second of three victories on the day

By PATRICK KINMARTIN-ER Sports Writer  - Friday, May 11, 2007 Photos and JV coverage by Tom Cushman PARADISE - Kiara Reed had already brushed out of the way another win in the 400 meters, her specialty, in typical pull-away fashion at Friday's Eastern Athletic League track and field championships. Then, it was time to get down to business. Chico High's top sprint talent on the girls side, not to be denied in the 200 after two recent losses at EAL dual meets, also avenged last season's shortcoming to Northern Section champion Lindsay Witteman of Paradise by knocking off her Bobcat counterpart for the event win. That gave Reed three victories for the day at Wraith Field, the others came in the 400 relay and that 400, and the Panthers more ammunition en route to clinching their eighth consecutive league title. On the boys side, Oroville's Cameron Thompson led all individual performers by claiming three individual crowns in a competition that was otherwise handled easily by Enterprise. Like Thompson, Reed proved she belonged on a higher echelon than most of her opposition by working to win an event not considered to be her best. "To win (the 200), that makes me super happy," said the UC Davis-bound Reed, who fell just shy of reaching the finals in the 400 at last season's state championship meet and is gunning to get over the hump this year. "The 200 was the one that made me nervous. Lindsay had the inside position on me last year and went right past me. And I got beat by (Oroville's Anne Lundberg) two weeks ago, so I didn't know what was going to happen." Reed qualified No. 1 in the event and ended up with a first-place time of 26.32 seconds, four-tenths of a second ahead of a fatigued Witteman, who not long before stretched to win the 100 in 13.01. "I had already run the 400 and the 100, plus the prelims for all the races," Witteman said, "Maybe I just need to work harder with my conditioning."

Chico set the tone for its solid performance with a steady win in the 400 relay, the day's lead track event. The group of, in leg order, Geneva Azevedo, Reed, Brittney Sheffield and Kayla Naron had little trouble earning a safe victory in 51.19. The Panthers also received two wins from long distance phenom Hannah Dillard in the 1,600 (5:18.95) and 3,200 (11:18.58). Reed got her 400 victory in 58.27, Brittany O'Regan captured the 300 hurdles in 48.32, Kasey Barnett added a long jump triumph with a leap of 16 feet, 1/2 inches and Naron topped the triple at an even 32 feet. Cheryl Ridge, claimed Oroville girls lone victory, winning the shot put title on a throw of 35 feet even. Thompson shined for Oroville in the boys affair. All season, he has had little trouble making up for lost time after spending the spring semesters in 2006 living with his father in Texas. He continued a stellar 2007 campaign by taking the 110 hurdles in 15.40, the 300 hurdles in 40.08 and the 100 in 11.26 (after an 11.21 in the prelims). "They trained me in Texas to do the hurdles at 400, and that just continues to help me as I go further," said Thompson, who has already decided to attend Butte College next year. "I guess I'm trying to put Oroville on the map you know, get us as much exposure as I can." In the boys discus, Deven Martinez scored Paradise's lone victory with his toss of 162-4. The boys team title was won by Enterprise with 175 points. All told six Hornets took gold and 16 others finished second or third. Eric Malain was their only double winner, claiming the 1,600 meters in 4:26.81 seconds and the 3,200 meters in 9:52.95. Red Bluff finished second in the boys with 87 points, to edge Chico (86). Matt Carter picked up the Chico boys' lone individual championship by storming to win the 400 in 51.34. Later on, he ran the opening leg on the winning 1,600 relay (3:31.05) that also included Cody White, Joel Fricker and Rene Cuellar. Pleasant Valley was shut out in the victory column in the varsity meet, but Marion Wolfe was a double individual winner for the Vikings in the JV version of the meet by claiming titles in the 100m and 200m. She also was a member of the winning 4 X 100 relay team. PV Freshman Alex Murray won the girls high jump in 5 feet even, a height that would have also won the varsity high jump. Chico's JV contingent for the boys was led by Danial Parker who claimed their team's only victory in the 1600m (he also was a very close second in the 800m). Chico's JV girls lone multiple winner was Analy Nava (800m & 1600m) with other Panther victories claimed by Carolyn Kurnizki (100 hurdles), Stephanie Bower (300 low hurdles), Katie Woodmansee (discus) and Haley Carton (triple jump) and well as a team win in the 4 X 400 relay.
Henry Naas, matching strides with Chad Millard, early in the 1600m	Tom Walker uses the 1600m as a warmup for his 3rd place finish in the 3200m later in the day	Hannah Dillard leads the troops out in the 1600m, her first of three races at the league championships

Enterprise's Eric Malain sets the early pace in the 1600m, with Nate Rebol, Tanner Hickman, Zach Kaylor (partially hidden) and Henry Naas in tow

The Chico contingent (Michelle Johnson, Paige Henker, Hannah Dillard, left to right) out front early in the 1600m