OROVILLE - It was tough to beat the heat Friday at Harrison Stadium. The results by several athletes came close at the Northern Section Division I Track and Field Championships. Stadium records fell Friday as those pushing for section titles and state berths burned up an already hot race track. Chico High hurdler Michael Reynolds took two down himself - and played a part in a third. The senior won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.95 seconds, beating a 15.03 time West Valley's Nick Putman had last year. Enterprise's Dom Stewart was second Friday in 15.22. He then lowered his 300 hurdles time to 38.77, easily besting his own stadium mark of 39.83 that he set earlier this season. Awesome," Chico coach Rich Kemp said of Reynolds' 300. West Valley's Austin Clark was second at 39.57, but he couldn't reach Reynolds. " I wanted to get out and make that turn as smooth as possible," Reynolds said. " When I crossed the finish line and then looked up, I wasn't expecting that time."

Reynolds' other first came in the 400 relay along with Kody Hassett, Stephen Dean and Efren Trevino as the foursome's crisp handoffs led to a time of 43.31 seconds, easily besting Red Bluff's second- place 44.16 Friday while bettering the 43.81 the Panthers' relay team put up during the 2013 season. " Today was hot, but successful," said Reynolds, who quipped that his times came from an " aerodynamic," closely, cropped haircut after finding other reasons why. " I think the heat played a big role because the cold really gets me. When it's windy, I can't get my steps right. Staying loose is better."

Both Chico and Red Bluff relay teams advance to the section finals set for 4 p. m. next Friday at West Valley High in Cottonwood. The top two in each Division I event automatically qualify for the section finals, as do the top two in the Division II meet that was Friday at Orland High. Both winners of the D-III and D-IV also advance as do two at- large qualifiers culled together from the next- best marks from the four meets. Reynolds won't have to worry about that in his individual events. Neither does Chico junior Myki Abrams. She won the 100 in 12.92 and the long jump in 16 feet, 2.25 inches while anchoring the girls' winning 400 relay team of Francesca DiSano, Ariana Gonzales and Libby Hidahl in 50.27. That time also bested the Harrison mark of 50.66 by Red Bluff last year.

The overall team titles went to the Enterprise boys and West Valley girls. The Hornets won the final race of the meet, the boys' 1,600 relay, propelling Enterprise to 122 points and past West Valley's 117.33 as the Eagles almost pulled a double win despite losing Nick Putman, who quit after the SRL championships. Chico took third with 92.33. Paradise was fifth in the 10-team meet at 24. Chico placed second among the girls' teams with 96 points with West Valley winning the title at 125. Red Bluff was third at 91. PV, in seventh with 18, was the other highest area team. " It was good," Kemp said of Chico's day. " The kids stepped up a little bit better."

Chico had even more victories thanks to Trevino in the 100 in 11.08, and Jacob Graber in the 1,600 in 4:31.91. The two also advanced to sections in other events. Trevino was second in the 200 in 22.80. Graber was second in the 800 at 2: 00.44. Paradise's Justin McGlone won the 3,200 in 10: 04.80 as the Bobcats' senior pulled away from the pack halfway through the race. West Valley's Marley Broeks surpassed the stadium record of 6- 4 in the boys' high jump by clearing 6- 6. Another Eagle, Kristina Freitas, won the 100 hurdles in 16.27 for a Harrison- best time as well. Other section final automatic qualifiers by placing second Friday included Las Plumas' A. J. Cahee in the boys' triple jump in 434.25 and long jump in 19-10; Pleasant Valley's Lily Justine in the girls' high jump at 5- 0; PV's Makenzie Barnes in the girls' discus in 110-7; and Chico's DiSano in the girls' hurdles in 16.49.





ORLAND - The track at Orland High featured some sweltering temperatures Friday afternoon, as well as some sizzling performances from some of the best athletes in the area. Several area track and field ath­letes qualified in 16 different events at the Northern Section Division II Championships on Friday. Varsity athletes who placed in the top two in their respective events will move on to the section finals to compete with athletes from other divisions. Yreka took first place as a team on the boys' side with 125 points. Sutter was second with 67 points, and Corning was third with 59.

Corning coach Bob Hall said the team was more focused on reach­ing new personal bests rather than the team competition, but the Car­dinals still had some stellar perfor­mances. Ivan Alvarado won the 200 me­ters with a time of 22.77 seconds, then proceeded to take second in the 100 at 11.30. Thomas Lowe also won the shot put with a throw of 50 feet, 6 inches. " We did a good job, and our young kids did really well," Hall said. " We did a great job of performing, and we have a great future to build on."

The host Trojans took fourth place for the boys, and third place for the girls behind second- place Gridley and first- place Yreka. Kavi Ram led the way for the Orland boys, winning the long jump with a mark of 218.25. He was also on a pair of medal-winning relay teams; the 400 relay team of Ram, Arthur Flynn, Trevor Zimmerman and Jesse Gonzalez ran a 44.97 for first, and the same four took second in a thrilling 1,600 relay race. The Orland squad had the lead after the first two legs, but Yreka drew even and eventually went ahead in the third lap. Ram had a tremendous burst of speed to regain the lead, but the Yreka anchor was too much for the Trojans as they took second in 3:42.35.

Orland's Zimmerman played some serious catchup in the 400 to win in the final few feet with a time of 52.74. One of the day's big standout performances, however, came in the 1,600. Freshman Manny Valdivia ran most of the race from a solid third place position. Beginning in the third lap, he began to reel in the second- place runner. Finally, Valdivia had a great kick in the final half- lap to take over second place and deliver a personal- best time of 4:37.06. " He did great work in both the 800 and 1,600," said Orland assistant coach Sean Crosswhite. " It was pretty impressive for a kid that young to do so well at varsity." Valdivia embraced family after the race to celebrate the personal best. He said that the accomplishment was a great feeling and the result of a season of hard work paying off, but most of all it was a lot of fun.

For the Orland girls, Yaneth Munoz had a trio of strong performances. She took second to Winter's Sofia Evanoff in both the 100 and 200 with times of 12.77 and 26.45, respectively. Munoz also helped the 400 relay team that included Becky Ramirez, Gelsey Quiroz and Mireya Lopez to a first-place finish, almost two seconds ahead of second- place Anderson.

Taylor Muskin was the only Gridley athlete on the boys' side to move on, but he did so in grand fashion. The Bulldog broke up a surging blur of Yreka red to take second place in the 300 hurdles at a mark of 43.13. Gridley's boys took ninth with 21 points, but the girls squad made up for it with a strong showing. Marisela Cardenas won the shot put for the Bulldogs, recording a throw of 36- 9.5. Teammate Marin Spears took second with a toss of 32- 3.5 to move on as well. Gridley's Brennah Payne took second in the 800, and fellow Bulldog Lauren Solis picked up two more secondplace marks. Solis placed in the long jump at 16- 2.25, and also took second in the triple jump with a mark of 34- 11.5. Two at- large qualifiers per event with the next- best marks among non-automatic qualifiers among the four division meets also advance to the section finals, which are May 30 at West Valley High in Cottonwood. Field events start at 4 pm., with running events beginning at 6 pm.