Chico girls, Enterprise boys dominate at EAL track championships
Barnett, Atkins power the Panther victory, Parker a double winner for the boys

Friday May 14, 2010
By NICK WILSON-Sports Writer, Chico Enterprise Record
story edited and supplimented by Tom Cushman, photos by Tom Cushman

REDDING - It's often said that an athlete is defined not just by his or her accomplishments, but by the level of adversity overcome while achieving them. That said, no one overcame more than Chico High's Kasey Barnett, who battled through a case of mononucleosis to make a clean sweep in her four events - 100-meter dash, long jump, triple jump and a leg of the 400 relay - to help the Panthers capture the 2010 title at the Eastern Athletic League track and field championships at Enterprise High on Friday. "Kasey found out at midnight last night that she had mono, but she was like, 'No way, I'm going to slug my way through it,'" said Chico coach Kristi Stanley. "I just told her to take one event at a time and we'll see what happens. She wasn't at her best (in her field events), but she PRed in the 100 and got her best time in the 4-by-100."

Pleasant Valley, although finishing well back in the team competition, received a stellar individual showing from sophomore sensation Gabrielle Finley. Finley, who finished a fraction of a second behind Barnett in the 100 (13.02) won the 200 (27.07) and started her day being a part of the third-place 400 relay team. "Our focus this week is going to be on her start this week," said PV coach Pam Jackson. "She lost the 100 by .01 of a second. A start will make the difference between winning and losing. For 200, we're going to work on her sprinting through the finish line so that we're making sure that we're not taking one or two fewer steps and not necessarily having the power we need in races that are so close."

Elsewhere, Chico's Kody Atkins cleaned up in the 400 and 800 where she took first place in both before anchoring the winning 1,600 relay team. The team, which also included Jonelle Ahiligwo, Whitney Cinquini and Heather Waldorf, improved upon their section's leading time. "I wanted to focus in the 800 because there was a girl (Shasta's Lora James) that was faster than me," Atkins said. "At the last 200 I just kicked it and passed her at the 100 to win."

The 1,600 featured a trio of locals in the top three, with PV's Jessica Canchola taking first with a time of 5:21.38, while Oroville's Sarah Brandt and Paradise's Annie Stratton took second and third, respectively. "She told me in the beginning of the season that she never wants to be beat," said PV distance coach Erinn Gulbrandsen of Canchola. "She's just such a competitor that it really doesn't matter how she feels, if something's sore, if it's hot outside, she just digs deep."

Later, Chico's Azure Grant won the 3,200 in 12:32.68, with teammate Lorena Reed coming in second and PV's Alex Blee in third. Lindsay Quigley of Paradise won the 100 hurdles in 16.63, with Chico's Carolyn Kurnizki (16.72) in second and her teammate Anna Bartel (17.24) in third. Chico's Heather Waldorf won the 300 hurdles in 49.91 with Kurnizki (52.41) in second. Kurnizki went on to help teammates Katie Buck, Tiffany Chu and Barnett win the 400 relay (51.34). In that same event, PV finished in 51.82 with a crew that included Katherine Porter, Michelle Guilbalt, Brooke Whitburn and Finley. Chico's Meagan Cochran earned a third-place finish in the high jump with a height of 4 feet, 10 inches. Barnett's winning triple jump distance was 34-6.5, while her winning long jump was 16-5. PV's Whitburn took second in the long jump with 15-9, and Chico's Buck finished third with 15-2.5. Alyssa Hanmore took third in the shot put with 32-8 and Oroville's Alyssa Belser finished third in the discus with 96-10.

On the boys side, Chico was a distance second in the team title to Enterprise, which amassed more points than second and third combined. The highlight of Chico's performance came from the distance runners, where Dan Parker won both the 800 (1:58.75) and 1,600 (4:20.72). The 1600 saw Parker outkick Enterprise's distance duo of Zack Kaylor and Domenic D'Acquisto while in the 800 he rebuffed surges by Oroville's Jordan Wright and later by Kaylor to claim the victory. Parker also pulled teammate Chas Burton to a PR (1:59.43) and a second place finish in the 800. Burton felt strong, despite the 80-degree plus weather. "I felt pretty good," Burton said. "The heat didn't really get to me. I just drank some water before the race and felt pretty good."

Chico also received a surprising win from Tom Dowdin, who came through in the 3200 when the favorite could not. Section leader Domenic D'Acquisto of Enterprise, after fading halfway through, appeared to recover before inexplicably dropping out late in the race. Dowdin, meanwhile, finished in 9:56.07 and was thoroughly pleased with the outcome. "I just hope I can maintain," Dowdin said. "I'm just going to try to get some rest."

Teammate Nick Sloggy took second in the 100 with 11.52, third in the long jump with 21-1.25 and was a member of the third-place 400 relay team, which included Christian Dobbins, C.J. Hanna and Eli Penick. PV came in second in the 400 relay, crossing the finish line in 43.85, with Sean Wolcott, Logan Valencia, Jerrick Wallace and Gary Hemmingsen. Pleasant Valley may have trouble repeating this performance next week as Wallace failed to finish in the 200 final, due to an apparent hamstring pull. This capped a tough day for the Viking senior who was disqualified in the 100 after appearing to be edged at the line by Foothill's Marcial Lawson.

The 300 hurdles proved more exciting than necessary for Chico fans as Corrie Emmons, after leading the race early, was sent spralling to the track midday through the turn on a mistimed leap over a hurdle. Quickly regrouping, but still way behind the leaders, he closes well enough to finish 4th and move on to the Big School Championships next week. PV's Derrick Booth, second in 40.76, and Chico's Jason Weinrich, third in 41.10, capitalized on Emmons fall to also move on.

Oroville's Kevin Jenkins took second in the discus with 145-3 and Chico's Tyler Lamott (144-8) took third. Chico took a close second in the final event of the day, the 1,600 relay, with Corrie Emmons, Parker, Sloggy and Joshue Cherrington. A tight race between Enterprise and the Panthers, came down to a scintillating last lap in which Parker (49 sec split) battled Hornet senior Anthony Williams all the way around the track with neither able to open much of a gap on the other. In the end, Chico came up 0.28 seconds short of the win claimed by Enterprise in 3:28.00.

Additional Meet Photos