REDDING - What a difference a week makes. The venue had changed from Foothill to Enterprise, yet the same seven teams were set to do battle although events were restricted to the top eight place finishers from last week's league championships. One huge difference was the weather, the EAL Championships were sunny and hot in Palo Cedro while the Division I Championships held on the Hornet track were anything but being mostly cloudy, initially wet and nearly 30 degrees cooler.

While the Pleasant Valley girls where certainly aided by a Shasta disqualification in the 4 x 100 relay (for an exchange made out of the zone) that turned a 10-8 advantage for the Wolves to a 10-0 point advantage for the Vikings, they still out performed their league rival in besting them 112-93. Chico took third (82), Foothill fourth (75), Enterprise fifith (72) with Red Bluff (37) and Paradise (22) a more distant sixth and seventh.

Pleasant Valley workhorse Courtney Kermen was again a triple winner, winning the 100m, 200m 400m but this time with a shorter turn around in between. She was also the anchor on the short relay team declared the winner after Shasta was DQ'ed. The Vikings had only one other individual winner with Lily Justine taking the high jump in 5-02 on the basis of fewer misses over Foothill freshman Jennifer Rhyne. However a 1-2 finish in the 100, 1-3 finish in the 200, 2-4 finish in the 800, solid points from the weight events combined with a runner-up finish by Justine in the long jump proved to be more than enough to overcome the uncontested 12 points scored by the Wolves in the pole vault.

Other standout meet performances included Foothill's Belle Moran double win in the 800 (2:24.23) and 1600 (5:17.80). Shasta's hurdler supreme Molly Ross, who after easily winning the short hurdles, was able to hold off a furious finish by Chico's Gabrielle Mace in the long hurdles after again in the runnerup position in the 400m. She had also led off the Wolves 4 x 100 relay team that was DQ'ed.

The Shasta boys needed nearly all of the free points they acquired from the pole vault to hold off a determined Viking squad that came up a scant four points short of victory, losing 113-110. Pleasant Valley effort was buoyed by Noah Thatcher win in the 100m, Dovovan Jackson wins in the 200m, 400m with both earlier combining in the win over Shasta in the 4 x 100 relay. All their field event points came out of the high jump (20 pts, Sethan Miller 1st, Ryan Keables 3rd and Grant Gassiot tie for 4th and Matthew Jenkins 6th) and the long jump (2nd-Ryan Keables)

The most dramatic moment of the meet came in the boys 1600m as Foothill sophomore Thurman Knowles' superior finish made Shasta's Andrew Skoy pay for allowing the pace to doddle after a crisp opening lap. Skoy's tactical decision was curious since he won the race at the league championships by keeping the pace honest on a hot day. On a day much more condusive for distance running, he decides to try something different. He goes tactical, thinking he could out kick Thurman, boy was he proven wrong. He did came back to beat Chico's Jack Emanuel in the 3200 by running the closing lap about ten seconds faster than Emamuel. As for Knowles, the Foothill sophomore and section's fastest basketball player, used his lethal kick to great effectiveness in winning a second race on the day, the 800m after the field allowed him to lead them through an opening lap significantly slower than the JV race.

The Wolves' effort was also aided by Wilson Presleigh wins in the long jump and triple jump. Shasta had only three individual winners (Skoy, Presleigh & Richmond) on the day but Wolves effort was made much easier by coming away with 22 points in the pole vault, an event that no Chico area school competes in.

BOYS

100: PV's Noah Thatcher wins (11.73) edging Shasta's Seth Park (11.76) and Paradise's Austin Garber (11.78).

200: PV's Donovan Jackson(23.34) pulls away to beat 100m champ Thatcher (23.57).

400: PV's Jackson (51.39) first win on the day, holding off Paradise's Jared Mackay (51.59) and Chico's Griffin Teague (51.79).

800: Foothill's Thurman Knowles (2:04.37), with Paradise's Becerril scratching, respectively.

1,600: Foothill sophomore Thurman Knowles(4:32.34) stuns Shasta' Andrew Skoy (4:32.54) passing the EAL champ in the race's closing meters.

3,200: A strong closing lap gives Shasta's Skoy (9:47.88) a ten second win over Chico's Jack Emanuel (9:57.11).

110 hurdles: Enterprise's Keaton Voorhees (15.86) and teammate Brock Fisher (16.63) go 1-2 as Fisher edges Red Bluff's Robert Baumgartner (16.66).

300 hurdles: Despite a sloppy finish Chico senior Griffin Teague (40.30) runs a section leading time in edging Enterprise freshman Leslie Cummings (40.71) .

4x100 relay: Pleasant Valley (45.18) beats Shasta (45.21) for the second year in the row.

4x400 relay: Paradise (3:25.64) runs away from the competition as Chico (3:33.20) finishes a distant second .

Shot put: Red Bluff's Jacob Samuelson (48-11.75) with Shasta's Kari Kutch (45-09.75) second.

Discus: Chico's Austin Barron, after finishing fifth in the shot, comes back to win the discus (139-04) over Kutch (134-09) and Samuelson (133-01).

High jump: PV's Sethan Miller (6-04) avoids an upset on a cool day.

Pole vault: Shasta's Max Richmond (13-00) wins the division title for the second year in the row over Foothill's Brandon McCann (12-06) and teammate Erik Valdez (12-00).

Long jump: Shasta's Wilson Presleigh (20-03) first, PV's Ryan Keables (20-01) second, the only two over 20 feet.

Triple jump: Shasta's Wilson Presleigh wins again (43-09.25), with less drama than in the long jump as runner-up David White of Enterprise (40-10) nearly 3 feet back.

GIRLS

100: PV's Courtney Kermen (13.35) wins over Shasta's Jessica Toombs (13.45) and fellow Viking junior Emily McLaughlin (13.47)

200: Kermen (27.23) sweeps the sprints for the second week in a row. Teammate McLaughlin (27.48) was second with 100m runner-up Toombs (28.19) third.

400: Pleasant Valley's Courtney Kermen (60.76), after anchoring her team to a win in the 4 x 100 relay, pulls away from Shasta workhorse Ross (62.38), for her first of three individual wins on the day.

800: Foothill's Belle Moran (2:24.23) wins again, using a strong closing lap to gap freshman Bianca Acheson (2:28.95) and Caroline Forseth (2:29.45).

1,600: Foothill's Moran reprises her win from the league meet, again pulling away on the final lap from Chico's Celeste Wilson.

3,200: Chico's Wilson pulls away over the final 800m to win (11:45.29). Red Bluff's Naomi Renfroe (11:52.50) closes well to beat early race leader Paradise's Talia Swangler (11:54.98).

100 hurdles: Shasta's Molly Ross (15.96) wins comfortably over Chico's Gabrielle Mace (17.11) and Enterprise's Alyssa Burke (17.28).

300 hurdles: Shasta's Ross (46.11), in another very close race of league rivals, prevails this week over Chico's Mace (46.16).

4x100 relay: A comfortable win goes for naught as Shasta is disqualified for running out of the zone during the 2-3 exchange, leaving runner-up Pleasant Valley (52.26) the winner.

4x400 relay: Not much of a rematch as Foothill (4:19.77) gets faster while Chico (4:24.16) doesn't, giving the Cougers the win this time.

Shot put: Shasta's Claire Walton (35-00.50) prevails overPV's Michelle Flint (33-02.75) and Chico's Sonia Damian(33-02).

Discus: The Wolves Walton (108-02) wins again, this time over Damian (107-02) and Enterprise's Serena Parker (100-10).

High jump: Pleasant Valley's Lily Justine (5-02) wins on the basis of fewer misses over Foothill freshman Jennifer Rhyne. Enterprise's Alyssa Burke took third in a complete resuffle from the previous week.

Pole vault: Foothill freshman Matteya Ruiz (9-06) upsets senior teammate (& EAL champion) Cassie Young (9-00) who nabs the runner-up position over Shasta's Noelani Del Rosario & Solee Meidus on the basis of fewer misses.

Long jump: Chico's Ariana Gonzales (16-00.25) prevails as the field struggles in the cool, damp conditions. Runner-up PV's Justine (15-10.50) in the only other competitor over 15 feet.

Triple jump: Enterprise's Burke (34-10.00) wins for the second year in the row in close competition with teammate Chantelle Borges (34-04.50).