Chico girls, Shasta boys shine on gray day at EAL Track & Field Championships
PV's Cunningham, Chico's Graber among the double winners at Paradise

Friday May 15, 2015
By Jeff Larson/Paradise Post
(photos by Tom Cushman)

PARADISE - Coming into Friday's Eastern Athletic- Sacramento River League track and field championships, Kevon Cunningham said he never faced Foothill High standout sprinter Chris Rosero. (editors note: not quite true, they both ran the invitational 200m at West Valley Invite in Oroville. Rosero won that time, Cunningham was fifth.) " That was my first time," Cunningham said. It was an eventful first impression that Cunningham delivered to Rosero, the top- ranked 100and 200- meter sprinter in the Northern Section, as the Pleasant Valley High junior won the 100 and 200 over Rosero in 11.27 and 22.8, while finishing second to the junior Rosero in the long jump by 1/2 inch and helping the Vikings grab third in the seven team EAL championships co-hosted by Chico and Paradise on the ridge. " It's no surprise to me because I know what I'm capable of," Cunningham said. " If you put in hard work it's what you get."

Shasta boys (116) won the team title by persevering over a determined and nearly as deep Foothill squad (113). They were followed by PV (88.5), Enterprise (82.5), Chico (49), Paradise (27) and Red Bluff (16). The disqualification of Paradise's 4x100 relay, which came into the meet tops in the section, opened the door for Shasta to win the short relay in 43.88. But the biggest reason for the Wolves victory was their huge advantage over Foothill in the weight events (and the inability of Foothill to score many points in the hurdle events when Shasta was completely shut out. (Editors note: ER/RS reported the score as Shasta (119), while Foothill ( 112.5), PV (92), Enterprise (79), Chico (47), Paradise (26.5) and Red Bluff (16). Next week the venue switches to Redding's Enterprise for the Northern Section Division I meet.

Other area notable finishes came from across town, as Chico senior distance runner Jacob Graber won the 1,600 in 4 minutes, 30.73 seconds, the 800 in 2:00.87 and helped guide the 1,600 relay team to a runner-up finish in the event finale. Of course, everyone was playing for second in the 1,600 relay as the co-hosts dominated the field essentially from the get- go, with Paradise's Brett Hunter, Mason Jensen, Ben Warren and Jeremy Benjamin notching another personal record and victory in 3:32.45 - four seconds faster than the Panther quartet. Paradise coach Seth Roberts said his relay team can go faster this season, as long as everything remains fundamentally sound. " Whenever you're dealing with a baton it's a gamble because you got to hang on to that thing," he said. " I think they can go a little bit quicker." Roberts said he believes 3:27 or 3:28 is doable, which would put the team within 10 seconds of the 10th-fastest 1,600 relay team in the state, according to www. athletic.net. " We'll see," Roberts said. " They ran well today."

Girls With an all-round effort, beginning with sprints and followed by a gutsy 1,600 finish, the Chico girls team gained a split for the team title with Shasta. The Panthers and Wolves finished atop the standings with 120 points apiece, while Enterprise (93.5), PV (51), Paradise (24.5) and Red Bluff (11) rounded out the field. Chico junior Sharlotte Sheffield led the sprint team with wins in the 400 (59.41) and 200 (26.44) and a close runnerup to Shasta's hurdling phenom Molly Ross in the 100 hurdles. In the 200m she edge out crosstown rival Courtney Kerman by 26 - hundredths of a second, while teammates Arin Jenkins, Nashaia Nixon, Gabriela Mace and Celeste Wilson delivered perhaps a performance of the ages in the 1,600. Trailing Paradise's Keeley Wolfe entering the final straightaway, the sophomore Nixon, showed great patience in battling from behind to slip by Wolfe and win it for Chico over the top-ranked team in the section in 4:15.08.

As a two-time defending Northern Section cross country champion, Enterprise High's Natalie Ulloa is very well known for her distance exploits. The sophomore's talent transitioned well into the two-mile on Friday in Paradise, coming back to win the girls 3,200 final at the Eastern Athletic League championships in 11 minutes, 50.33 seconds, after finishing a disappointing fifth in the 1600m. This time around Ulloa bested Redding rivals and second and third-place finishers Hannah Davis (Shasta), who won the 1600m over Ulloa and Belle Moran (Foothill) who prevailed in the 800m. Ulloa, whose personal record in the two-mile is 11:09.86, said Friday's outcome is a good first step. "I did what I had to do," she said. "I wasn't hoping for a PR, I just wanted to run and win."

Ulloa was content to let others lead as the field stayed close through the opening 800m as the race was lead by Paradise junior Talia Swangler. Ulloa then took over and slowly ratcheted down the pace, even stretching her lead to about 30 meters at one point over Davis, to go on to win the race and league title. "Fifth, sixth (lap) are my sweet spot," Ulloa said. "That's where I attack everyone. That's like the point in the race where everyone falls asleep."

Ulloa and the Hornet girls finished third with 91 1/2 points even though the were the only team to score in all 16 events of the meet. Chico edged Shasta for the league team title with 120 points to 119 1/4 points over 10 track & 6 field events. The rest of the seven-team field was Foothill (73 1/4), PV (55), Paradise (24.5) and Red Bluff (12). (Editor note: The original article said the score was Chico, Shasta (both 120), Enterprise (93 1/2), Foothill (n/a), PV (51), Paradise ( 24 1/2) & Red Bluff (11)). As as been the case the entire season, Shasta's Molly Ross was the hurdling star of the girl's side of the meet, even setting a meet record in the 300 low hurdles with a mark of 46.06 - toppling the original time of 46.8 even though she was not seriously pressed by the opposition. Ross, Shasta's point guard in basketball, took the 100 hurdles title in 15.60 edging out Chico's Sharlotte Sheffield (15.94).

Earlier in the meet, Shasta senior Hannah Davis' bold move midway through the varisty girls 1600 had many coaching staff's a buzz as she pulled off a stunning upset in prevailing over the league (& section's) top ranked 1600m runners (No. 1 Belle Moran 2nd, No. 2 ranked Natalie Ulloa 5th) . Foothill's Belle Moran, was the only one of the three to undertake the distance triple, and was rewarded for her effort with a comfortable win in the 800. She also managed a third place finish in the 3200.