Atkins, Parker big winners at Division 1 Championships Chico falls short in displacing Enterprise boys, West Valley girls in team competition

Kody Atkins approaches the home stretch in the varsity girl's 400 already well ahead of second place, West Valley's Cassie DeBonis

By PATRICK KINMARTIN-ER Sports Writer  - Friday, May 22, 2009 Photos and some editing by Tom Cushman REDDING — At last week's Eastern Athletic League track and field championships, the Paradise High boys and Chico girls flowed to victories in the 1,600-meter relay. But neither time on both sides could beat West Valley's top-ranked Northern Section Division I figures. On Friday, it was evident why. The Bobcat boys and Panther girls were worn out trying to catch those strong Eagles teams in the Division I title meet's final race at Enterprise High and unexpectedly missed automatic qualifying spots for next week's section masters event. "I thought our effort was terrific ... the pace was just quicker and you could feel it stepping onto the track," Chico's Whitney Cinquini said. "West Valley really had it going. We're a fast, fast team and we weren't the fastest out there." It was a theme throughout the evening. Northern Athletic League powers West Valley and Central Valley continued their traditional habit for changing the atmosphere completely at the division meet from the EAL finals seven days prior. Chico's girls dropped to second place, falling 46 points behind West Valley a week after their league title romp. The Panther boys held their place with another second-place finish behind Enterprise after holding off strong Central Valley by just 20 points for runner-up honors.

The Panthers and Falcons were equal with six top-three finishes. That fact illustrates how Chico's overall depth was crucial in addition to the stellar work put in by Dan Parker, who finished with wins in the 800 and 1,600, and high jump champion Russell Rabut. Kody Atkins, the top performer all season for the Chico girls as just a freshman, admitted there was some disappointment with their second-place showing since the Panthers are accustomed to dominance. Cinquini's surge on the second leg of that 1,600 relay had brought the Panthers from sixth to fourth. Atkins on the anchor leg was unable to keep Chico in the No. 3 qualifying spot when she was passed by Yreka's Christina Korcek right at the finish line. "I tried to stick with her," Atkins said. "I'm pretty bummed about that." None the less, chances remain good that Chico will get to race at Section because their time is likely to qualify them for one of the open berths. It was a very minor flaw in an outing where there were very few for Atkins. She improved upon her personal best in the 400 by one-tenth of a second with a 57.54 finish. Later on in her second race of the day, the 800, Atkins gained the redemption she had waited a week for. She was distant second at the EAL final when Red Bluff rival, senior Erynn Rebol won by using the tactic of a strong opening lap. Atkins vowed right after that she would be a more valiant competitor this week and proceeded to do so Friday. Once again, Rebol fired out to a large advantage and Atkins was far back in fourth place halfway through. True to Atkins' style, however, the race changed drastically during the final 300 meters. "I (drifted) a little further back than I expected," she said. "(Rebol) was pretty far up there when I started to chase her." Atkins moved up to third halfway down the back stretch, passing West Valley's workhorse distance star, Michelle Johnson. Her long strides then took her by Oroville's Sarah Brandt, who had led much of the first lap, early in the third turn. Atkins surged into the lead coming down the homestretch as Rebol's pace visibly slowed over last 75 meters. In hindsight, both Atkins' laps mirrored each other time-wise to display how powerful simple consistency can turn out to be. Teammate jumper Kasey Barnett, another premier Panther to contend at next week's Section Championships, will be competing in both the long and triple jump competitions. She kept her triple jump record unblemished within the section with 35 feet, 10 1/4 inches leap that improved by a couple inches upon her section leading mark. Carrie Turner of Yreka, who prevailed earlier over Barnett in the long jump competition, along with Gridley's Teryn Mathews are Barnett's closest rivals this season and should provide the stiffest challenge at next week's section meet. "I'm real excited about that," Barnett said. "If it's too easy, I tend to get complacent and just walk off with whatever (distance) wins." Parker's performances were brightest for the Chico boys, mainly because of the fashion in which he won the 1,600. He didn't just win, he blew the race wide open. He had expressed disappointment last week after not running a personal best during his EAL finals win. This time he was able to with a fine 4:21.03 clocking that was achieved when a strong third lap was capped with an even faster final circuit. Like Atkins, Parker employed a late kick to surge by Yreka's Kevin Jorgensen to win his second race of the day, the 800. Paradise's Tim Pullen couldn't duplicate his personal record effort during last week's emphatic 400 victory, but he still managed to beat the field coming home in 50.22. Nor could Paradise's 4 X 400 relay team, the EAL champions anchored by Pullen, pull off the win at the Division I meet. Pullen's anchor leg only got them close to third, the final automatically advancing place. Still the Bobcats should get a wild card berth by finishing fourth, which is a credit to a great third-leg run put in by Casey McCarten after Paradise had been seventh. "Yeah, that was great work from Casey McCarten," Paradise coach Seth Roberts said. Another bright spot for the Panthers was senior Anna Kurnizki, who took second in both hurdle events including a personal best effort in the 300 hurdles. Other automatic Chico qualifiers for next week's Section meet were Meaghan Cochran, who tied her PB (5'0) in placing third in the high jump, the girl 4 X 100 relay was also third on Friday. Moving on for the boys, in addition to Russel Rabut, who cleared 6' 6 for only the second time of the year in winning the boy's high jump, will be Jordan McDaniel by virtue of his 3rd place finish in the triple jump, Taylor Lamott's with his 3rd place in the discus, as will Corrie Emmons whose PR effert netted him 3rd in the 300 hurdles. The Panther boys 4 X 100 relay (also 3rd) will also get to suit up next week.   Vikings moving on to the section meet will be distance runner Dustin Gibbs (2nd, 3200), Gabrielle Finley (2nd-100, 3rd-200), girls 4 X 100 relay team.

Chico's Dan Parker leads a tight pack halfway through the varsity 800 at the Division I Championships held on the Enterprise High School track.

Enterprise's Zach Kaylor sets the early pace in the varsity boys 3200. Close behind are PV's Dustin Gibbs, Paradise's Grant Reed & PV's Payton Laurie.

There's no match to West Valley senior Michelle Johnson's kick in the girls 1600m.	PV junior Dustin Gibbs runs a solid race to take 2nd in the boys 3200, qualifying for the Section Championship	Chico's Dan Parker was a double winner on the day, shown here about to cross the tape in the boys 1600m.

Raising the bar Enterprise boys, West Valley girls dominate

By Leland Gordon-RS Sports Writer  - Friday, May 22, 2009 Some editing by Tom Cushman

The final leg of the girls 1,600-meter relay was nearing the finish line with West Valley's Cassie DeBonis in danger of losing the top spot to Red Bluff's Erynn Rebol. The crowd, in its anticipatory excitement, certainly wanted to see a tight finish, maybe even a Red Bluff comeback. Taylor Lambert, DeBonis' relay teammate, wasn't sweating it. She knew her compadre would get the job done. That's the kind of confidence the West Valley girls have, and they used it well Friday at Moynahan Field to dust the competition and win the Northern Section Division I track and field championships. The relay finish was close. The team scores weren't, as WV scored 141 points compared to Chico's 96. "She knows what level she needs to rise to," Lambert said. "I never have any doubt in her ever." The Eagles didn't leave much doubt as to which team is the best, and the Enterprise boys put on a victorious demonstration as well. With the help of three titles, the Hornets posted 104 points to easily finish ahead of second-place Chico, which had 74. Lambert turned in one of West Valley's better performances with individual wins in the 100 hurdles (16.63) and 300 hurdles (47.4) to go with her quarter of the victorious 1,600 relay effort. The win in the 100 hurdles was looking iffy for Lambert but her push at the end, coupled with Chico's Carolyn Kurnizki stumbling on the penultimate hurdle, earned the triumph. West Valley swept both relays with a time of 50.13 in the 400 and a 4:10.08 in the 1,600. Michelle Johnson did her usual routine, winning the 1,600 (5:09.07) and 3,200 (11:43.35), plus she qualified for next week in the 800 with a third-place time of 2:24.63. Amanda Oliva led the whole way to set a meet record in the 100 (12.67) and took the 200 title before crumbling to her knees (26.25), though she was fine after a short rest. For the Hornet boys, James Williams (45-4.5) and Jovon Cunningham (44-5) finished 1-2 in the triple jump to post big points for the host school. Zack Kaylor defended his section-best mark in the 3,200 by finishing in 9:54.34. Garrett Moore (13 feet) took home a pole vault win by 6 inches over Yreka's David Bigelow. Moore wanted 14 feet, though. "It's kind of a bummer. I was over it, I just nicked the standards," said Moore, whose high last year was 12 feet. "It takes a lot of work and time to get to that 14 mark. I'm a little upset that I didn't get a (personal record) but I still think today was a step forward." For Foothill, Marcial Lawson (11.03) topped Central Valley's Colton Silveria by .08 seconds to take the 100 title. Silveria had come in with the section's top mark in the event. Silveria won the 200 in 22.49 to beat Shasta's Peter Roman, Central Valley's boys overcame Chico, a higher seed, to take the 400-relay title comfortably in 43.45 seconds. The real drama was between Chico and Shasta for second place, and after diligent work on the video replays, the Wolves were awarded the second-place finish .01 seconds ahead of the Panthers. Also for CV, Dallas Wilson won the shot put (51-4). The West Valley boys had winning efforts just like the girls, and they too pulled out a close 1,600 relay win. They just didn't win as many events as the girls. Joel Dumore erased his memories from last year's divisional catastrophe by winning the 300 high hurdles, despite kicking metal on his last two leaps. He also took the 110 hurdles in 14.93 seconds without clipping any of the hurdles. Last year's stumble was on his mind, Dumore said. "I just didn't want to repeat (last year) today. I feel fantastic," said Dumore, whose 300 hurdles time was 39.83. "In the 300, I played it a little slower. I just wanted to get to sections." He almost got burned on the last leg of the 1,600 relay, the event Enterprise coach Jim Deaver pumped up as the meet's most exciting during the week leading up to the event. Red Bluff's Colter Hedden blistered around the track at a sensational speed to devour Dumore's advantage and nearly caught him, but in the end fell short by .52 seconds. "Next time I'll get him," Hedden said. Hedden, in addition to running the anchor leg in the long relay, won the long jump (21-5) and took second in the 400, coming in .37 seconds behind Paradise's Tim Pullen after staying close the whole way. Girls shot put Shasta's Jazmin Porter suffered a broken right foot Thursday and it hampered her throws in the shot put and discus. Still, she won both competitions even though she has to wear a boot when she's not competing. Porter threw 36 feet in the shot and 126-01 in the discus. Boys discus Anderson's Derek Nichols launched his best toss 167 feet, 7 inches and bettered his season-best effort by inches. Nichols is now ranked 14th in the state, according to Athletic.net. Girls pole vault Kelsey Moynahan cleared 10 feet to tie the school record, which was the good news. But she did it on her second try, one more than Yreka's Kelsey Robberson needed. "The biggest key is speed and I've been working on that," said Moynahan, a CIF State Championships qualifier last year. "If I don't have the speed I just won't go very high." Girls high jump CV's Bre Mackie (5-2) bettered DeBonis by two inches to win her second Division title and is still the section's best in the event. Other events: Chico freshman sensation Kody Atkins set a meet record in the 400 (57.54) and took the 800 title (2:18.68). Chico's Dan Parker was another double winner, taking the 1,600 (4:21.03) and 800 (1:59.86). In field events, Yreka's Carrie Turner pulled out a long jump win with a 16-6 leap, giving Kasey Barnett her first section loss of the season. Barnett regrouped to win the triple jump in 35-10.25. Chico's Russell Rabut is the high jump champ, clearing 6-6 for the first time since the season opening meet.