West Valley, Enterprise split D-I boys title Wacker cracks 60 feet in shot put three times

Hornet freshman Domenic D'Acquisto, shown here midway through the 3200m, appeared to have little problem with the conditions in winning both distance races by wide margins.(TC)

By John Ryan, Record Searchligh Sports Writer  - Friday, May 16, 2008 Photos by Tom Cushman (TC) COTTONWOOD -- West Valley and Enterprise added to their impressive track and field histories while Shasta High School thrower Jason Wacker simply became part of history. Wacker became the sixth person in Northern Section history Friday at Enterprise to crack 60 feet in the shot put. His winning throw of 61 feet, 2 inches ties fellow Wolves legend Josh Robb for fifth-best all time. It also broke Enterprise standout David Nichols' 2003 section Division I meet record of 59-5. Nichols also went 62-0 that year for third all-time. Lassen's Steve Montgomery set the record at 68-51/2 in 1976. Corning's Jeff Stover went 65-2 1/4 the same year. Shasta's Greg Husten went 61-5 in 1999 -- the year he and Robb chased each other for the lone state berth from the Northern Section. As far as team scores go, West Valley carted off one and a half Northern Section Division I Track and Field championships on Friday. The Eagles won the girls, almost three times over, scoring 132.5 points next to 56 points each to second-place finishers Enterprise and Oroville. West Valley tied Enterprise in the boys division with 84 points, albeit with some controversy. The Hornets enjoyed some big performances from their talented stable of freshmen and sophomores to stay close to the Eagles all day. Going into the 3,200 meters Enterprise expected to score well with event-favorite Domenic D'Acquisto and teammate Zach Kaylor looking for a pair of top five finishes. But, Kaylor was disqualified at the starting line for wearing a bracelet -- meet officials had been cracking down on jewelry all day (TC note: not exactly, to my knowledge the only other athlete DQ'ed was Chico's Leah Arreguin in the girls 3200 for wearing half a post earring. Both were disqualified by former Shasta High coach Bruce Makinson). D'Acquisto went on to win and the Hornets' 1,600-meter relay team scored well enough in the last event of the day to catch West Valley. Almost immediately after the meet a buzz circulated that some meet officials had an issue with Eagles relay runner Ethan Ostrom's team-issued shorts. They didn't have the uniform stripe down the side like everyone else's. The rule is relay teams need to wear identical uniforms. Word got back to Enterprise, which took a staff vote and protested. Head official Bruce Makinson disqualified the Eagles team for about 20 minutes before Enterprise changed its mind and dropped the appeal. After further examination of the Northern Section track and field rules, West Valley coach Scott Fairley said it also turns out that minor variations in shorts length, stripes, piping or logos are acceptable -- driving the point further moot.

Red Bluff's Erynn Rebol sets the pace for Enterprise's Dalanne Bartlett, Oroville's Sarah Brandt and West Valley's Katie Jungwirth, to pass the halfway point in 66 sec. (TC)   Tiger freshman Brandt slips past Rebol in the final 50 meters of the varsity girls 800. Bartlett closes on the Spartan junior to finish a close third. (TC)   Attempting to duplicate his win at the EAL Championships, Red Bluff's Mat Collins runs a fast opening circuit (~55 sec) to gap his closest competitors. (TC)   Daniel Parker, catches early pacesetter Collins with 200m to go, then powers away from the field coming down the homestretch(TC)

Event Summaries Girls 100 meters Amanda Oliva, West Valley 12.92 -- Oliva edged Paradise's Lindsay Witteman (second in 12.94) at the tape. Corning's Danielle Beardsley took third (13.12). Boys 100 meters Cole Johnston, Foothill 11.01 -- Johnston improved on last week's EAL title time pushed by Anderson's Victor Timmons (second in 11.36). Central Valley's Colton Silveria took third (11.54). Girls 200 meters Witteman, Paradise 26.88 -- Oroville's Anne Lundberg was second (26.96). West Valley's Oliva took third (27.11). Boys 200 meters Zach Stoner, Yreka 22.57 -- Stoner pulled away from Foothill's Kyle Johnston. Johnston (22.94) improved over last week's second-place time. Shasta's Peter Roman took third (23.25). Girls 400 meters Cassie DeBonis, West Valley 1:01.01 -- DeBonis topped Pleasant Valley's Julia Dunbar (second in 1:02.48) and Foothill's Kayla James (third in 1:04.08). Boys 400 meters Stoner, Yreka 48.87 -- Stoner beat Paradise's Tim Pullen (second in 50.70). Red Bluff's Matt Sloggy took third (52.25). Girls 800 meters Sarah Brandt, Oroville 2:19.79 -- Brandt knocked five seconds off her second-place time at last week's EAL finals to win the loaded 800 field. EAL champ Erynn Rebol of Red Bluff improved, too (she trimmed one second to finish second in 2:20.46). Enterprise's Dalanne Bartlett improved by eight seconds over last week to take third (2:20.78). Boys 800 meters Dan Parker, Chico 1:57.23 -- EAL Champ RB's Mat Collins leads by a wide margin halfway through. However the pace proves unsustainable and he is caught and quickly passed with 200m to go by an energized Parker. Parker, accelerating down the home stretch, improves by four seconds over last week's EAL split, to easily gap second-place finisher Ben Bradshaw of West Valley (2:00.58). Enterprise's Kaylor (2:01.36) took third. Girls 100-meter hurdles Alisha Thompson, Enterprise 16.47 -- Thompson improved on last week's time by two steps and held off West Valley's Nichole Barry (second in 16.99). Pleasant Valley's Samantha Courtain took third (17.63) was third. Boys 110-meter hurdles Joel Dumore, West Valley 15.16 -- Dumore upset Central Valley's Eric Cary (second in 15.19) at the tape. Corning's Jacob Brannon took third (15.93). Girls 1,600 meters Michelle Johnson, West Valley 5:15.87 -- Even with temperatures in the 100s, Johnson stayed untouchable. Lassen's Tiffany Hefflin (5:19.29) outkicks West Valley's Corissa Storms (5:20.86) for second. Boys 1,600 meters D'Acquisto, Enterprise 4:20.55 -- D'Acquisto, appearing unaffected by the heat, broke the meet record set in 1995 by Aaron Gillen. He finished almost 16 seconds ahead of Chico's Henry Naas (second in 4:36.07). West Valley's Trevor Siperek took third (4:40.24). Girls 300-meter hurdles Kelli Stanley, Red Bluff 46.21 -- Stanley racked up another impressive hurdles win to go along with her blowout in last week's EAL meet. West Valley's Barry took second (49.13) and Pleasant Valley's Courtain took third (50.43). Boys 300-meter hurdles Shane Wilson, Central Valley 40.61 -- Wilson outran Enterprise's Anthony Williams (second in 41.78). Teammate James Williams took third (42.27). Girls 3,200 meters Johnson, West Valley 12:01.27 -- A late surge in a tactical race gives Johnson another victory as the excessive heat is not condusive to anyone forging out on their own. Eagles teammate Storms took second (12:08.18) while Foothill's metranome Julia Walker takes third (12:09.13). Boys 3,200 meters D'Acquisto, Enterprise 9:40.06 -- D'Acquisto runs alone most of the race and is the only one under ten minutes. Chico's Naas (second in 10:17.4), running a strong second half of the race, is the best of the rest. Paradise's Grant Reed (10:20.87), after shadowing D'Acquisto for three laps, settles for third. Girls 400-meter relay West Valley 50.61 -- Pleasant Valley was second (51.45), Chico third (52.60). Boys 400-meter relay Foothill 43.09 -- Central Valley finished second (43.96). West Valley took third (44.09). Girls 1,600-meter relay Oroville, 4:04.62 -- The Brandt sisters are key to the Tiger's victory. Red Bluff took second (4:06.32), West Valley was third (4:08.69). Boys 1,600-meter relay Yreka 3:26.77 -- A strong anchor by Stoner advances Yreka from fifth to first. Red Bluff took second (3:26.93) and Chico took third (3:27.70). The top five teams all broke 3:30. Girls high jump Bre Mackie, Central Valley 5-0 -- Fewer misses gave Mackie the win over West Valley's Barry (second) and Shasta's Karle Fitzhugh (third) as all cleared 5-0 in the high jump. Boys high jump Cary, Central Valley 6-7 -- Chico's Russel Rabut took second (6-4). Foothill's Eli Copsey took third (6-4). Girls pole vault Gina Davis, Yreka 9-6 -- Davis topped Enterprise's Kelsey Moynahan, who finished second and improved four inches over last-week's vault. Fellow Hornets Amber Hall and Nai Saelee tied for third (8-6). Boys pole vault Florian Gaul, West Valley 14-0 -- Gaul nailed his second attempt at 14 feet. Teammate Ostrom went 13-6 for second place. Corning's Brannon took third (13-0). Girls long jump Brandt, Oroville 16-9½ -- Brandt added to her EAL title, pushed by Red Bluff's Stanley (second at 16-7) and Chico's Kasey Barnett (third at 16-3). Boys long jump Anthony Halbersma, Shasta 21-01½ -- Halbersma upset West Valley's Gaul (second at 21-0). Red Bluff's Colter Hedden took third (20-6). Girls triple jump Barnett, Chico 35-2¾ -- Barnett hit her winning jump on the second attempt. Yreka's Carrie Turner took second (34-9). Oroville's Brandt took third (34-7¾). Boys triple jump Jovon Cunningham, Enterprise 44-8¼ -- The freshman recovered from last week's hamstring injury to add two feet over his seeding mark. He did it on his final attempt. Teammate James Williams took second (42-3). Yreka's Kyson Culp took third (42-0). Girls discus Jazmine Porter, Shasta 118-8 -- Porter struck gold on her second throw, turning the competitive girls throwing events on their ear. Foothill's Toni Bright, last week's EAL champ, threw 111-8 for second place and season-long event leader, West Valley's Ashley Turner took third (108-2). Boys discus Derek Nichols, Anderson 146-10 -- Nichols added a new twist to the boys throws with his win. The discus belonged to Shasta's Jason Wacker (second at 146-1) through most of the season, he came in as the top seed although recently West Valley's Andy Miller (third at 142-1) was carrying the event. Girls shot put Porter, Shasta 37-10 -- Porter had the event won on her first throw. Oroville's Cheryl Ridge took second (36-7) and Enterprise's Jamie Jin improved last week's throw by two feet to finished third (36-5). Boys shot put Wacker, Shasta 61-2 -- Wacker cracked his 61-footer on his first attempt of the finals. His second and third attempts of the finals fell in for 60-8 and 60-2½, respectively. Enterprise's Shane Zink took second (48-0½). Red Bluff's Justin Hassel took third (47-7½).

West Valley junior Michelle Johnson leads teammate Corissa Storms and Lassen's Tiffany Heflin midway through the 1600. Johnson was a double winner on the day with victories in the 1600 & 3200. (TC)   D'Acquisto powers down the homestretch to win the California mile over his EAL & NAL competitors. (TC)   Chico senior Henry Naas pulls away the rest of the field to claim the silver and move on to compete in the following week's NSCIF Finals. (GB)   Tom Walker final 3200 concludes with little fanfare as injury, illness and excessive heat makes for a tough senior campaign. (TC)