PV ends streak, Chico girls fall for first time since 1993

Chico's Henry Naas leads eventual winner teammate Dan Parker in the 1600m with PV's Tanner Hickman lurking

By PATRICK KINMARTIN-ER Sports Writer  - Wednesday, April 9, 2008 CHICO — Marion Wolfe was barely old enough to walk in 1993, the last time the Pleasant Valley High girls track team had beaten powerhouse rival Chico entering this season. It was a Vikings slump that might have outgrown Wolfe if not for the way she and her teammates performed in the two teams' dual meet Wednesday. By muscling past Chico in field and sprint events on the way to the 77-49 Eastern Athletic League victory, Pleasant Valley was finally able to bring down the host Panthers, who remained stubborn with their long-distance success. Chico's boys, meanwhile, were able to maintain their dominance with an 81-41 win. The final tally on the girls side doesn't accurately illustrate how tough the matchup was. The Vikings won eight events, Chico took seven. An exuberant Wolfe said afterward it truly took a total team effort to prevail, but the fact that Pleasant Valley swept the three sprint-based events, collecting 23 more points than the Panthers in the process, was crucial. "Our sprinters definitely came up big throughout," said Wolfe, who spearheaded that performance with a win in the 200 meters, a second-place finish in the 100 and a hand in the Vikings' 400 relay win. Wolfe combined with Leah Penick, Alex Murray and Camille Balasek to wrap up that relay triumph in 53.1 seconds. It showed how solid the Vikings' sprint relay can be this season — and next. Wolfe, Penick and Balasek are all juniors who are in the third year of running the sprint relay together and Murray is just a sophomore. It was Penick who finished second in the 200, Wolfe's specialty that she won Wednesday in 26.9, after beating Wolfe in the 100 in 13.1. "They have some speed," Chico girls coach Dale Edson said about the Vikings. Edson, like Pleasant Valley coach Chris Gulbrandsen, also identified the Vikings' three wins among the five field events as being critical.

Viking senior Shawna Christensen topped twin sister Sammie in the shot put with a toss of 33 feet, 6 inches. Sammie Christensen bounced back to win the discus with a toss of 85-1 and Pleasant Valley swept the top three spots in the high jump. Pleasant Valley also got wins in the 400 from Julia Dunbar and 1,600 relay team led by Wolfe and Dunbar to help seal the landmark win on the Chico High campus, though Gulbrandsen preferred to keep it in perspective. "The neat thing was that we had girls ending up fifth and sixth coming up and telling me with utmost enthusiasm they had personal records," he said. "The fact that (the Chico-PV rivalry) is that big of a deal to them, it was cool." Chico, which like Pleasant Valley is trying to overcome minimal experience with only a handful of seniors on its roster, picked up a few notable wins. Michelle Johnson was victorious in the 1,600 and 3,200 — events former Chico standout Hannah Dillard, who was in attendance Wednesday, dominated at the EAL championships last year. The Panthers also got a nice distance win in the 800 from Jocelyn Courtney, who held off EAL title contender Mariah Atkin of Pleasant Valley by one second to cross first in 2:30.1. Stephanie Bower won the 100 hurdles for the Panthers and Anna Kurninski followed up by beating the field in the 300 for the hurdle sweep. The Chico boys cruised to their overall victory with wins in 11 events. Matt Carter, the Northern Section's defending champion in the 400, played a part in three, winning his specialty along with the first-place finishes by the 400 and 1,600 relay teams he was on. Carter's individual victory in the 400 came in 51.3, a season best. "That's a tenth of a second lower than my PR last year (of 51.2) and it's still early in the season," he said. "But my split in the 1,600 relay wasn't good at all. That was the last event, so I'm definitely not in track shape. I've been trying to balance track and lacrosse this year. You have to do more track workouts to prepare for meets, lacrosse isn't going to help you." Chico's other individual winners were Dan Parker in the 1,600 and 3,200, Paul Murphy in the long jump, Kayhan Karatekeli in the 110 and 300 hurdles, Phil Graber in the 800, Cody Schumacher in the discus and Russell Rabut in the high jump. Pleasant Valley received victories from Jerrick Wallace in the 100 amd 200, Max Weber in the shot put and Anthony Carter, the triple jump standout who won with a distance of 41-1 1/2
Jerrick Wallace, the Viking sophomore, was a double winner on the day taking both the 100 & 200.	Chico's Michelle Johnson was victorious in the girls 1600 & 3200.	This could be you!

Matt Carter and Kayhan Karatekeli smooth handoff was one of the keys to victory over the crosstown rivals in the boy 4 X 100 relay.

Marion Wolfe, a PV junior, was the easy winner in the girls 200m