Palo Cedro - It was a very good day for Courtney Kermen as the Pleasant Valley High senior won four events at the Northern Section Division I Track and Field Championships held Friday at Foothill High. However Friday was an even better day for the Chico High girls as the Panthers took the team title, overcoming the dominance of Kermen to edge Pleasant Valley 95 to 92. Between the late completion of the triple jump in which Hailey Fune took second and a third place finish in the last running event, the 1600 relay (in which PV placed fifth), enabled the Panthers to snatch the division title away from their crosstown rivals.

Kermen won the 100 meters in 12.97 seconds, the 200 in 26.67 and the 400 in 1:01.04. She also ran a leg of the Vikings' victorious 400 relay that included Mariah McCready, Emily McLaughlin and Jayla Singleton. But the Chico girls won out in the team competition in the meet that included EAL members Chico, Enterprise, Foothill, PV, Red Bluff and Shasta and WSL members Corning,Las Plumas, Oroville & Paradise. Pleasant Valley had only one other event winner in the meet, that being Michelle Flint in the discus with a toss of 102 feet, 9 inches, but was the top finisher in a 17 point effort as the Vikings placed 2nd, 4th & 5th in the shot.

Winners for the Panthers included Chico's Nahkia Clements took first in the 800 in 2:30.74 following a dissappointing race in the 1600 in which she placed fourth after winning the EAL title the week before. Chico workhorse freshman Hailey Fune turned in the top time in the 100 hurdles at 16.29, runs a leg on the third place 400 relay team , was runnerup in the high jump at 5-00 and triple jump.

Other performances of note Las Plumas' Chava Rivers, despite concentrating on softball most of the spring, manages to win the long jump at 17 feet. A surprise win and new PR for talented Foothill freshman Grace Dudley in a time of 5:18.87, Foothill's Kira Porzio ties the section best in winning the high jump with her 5'06 clearance. Red Bluff's Naomi Renfroe is the runnerup in both the 1600 & 3200, running a PR in the former. Hanna Hall, Shasta freshman, wins her first of probably many big school (Division I) titles in the 3200, running a very easy looking PR of 11:41.31.

While Enterprise won the team title for boys, beating the second place Vikings by 20 points (105 to 85 1/2). The Hornets did so by capitallizing on a sweep of the sprints (100, 200 & 400) by the Spellman twins, a sweep of the relays and Leslie Cummings impressive win in the 300 hurdles, to easily overcome the dearth of points from the distance and field events. Pleasant Valley was able to stay close thanks to Ryan Keables win in two events, taking the long jump in 21-5 1/2 and the triple jump in 45-4. PV's Jamarquez Abrams won the 110 hurdles in 15.33. A good showing in the high jump along with a steading trickle of points from the sprints and distance events.

Las Plumas' Brian Hastings won the 1,600 in 4:22.05 while Chico's Jack Emanuel, overcoming stomach issues that derailed his effort in the 1600m, come back to capture the 3,200 in 9:46.82. Corning senior Cole Parker placed first in the discus with a throw of 144-2. The winners of each event in each of four divisional meets Friday automatically advance to the Northern Section finals on May 26 at West Valley High in Cottonwood. The four next-best marks from each event then complete the field.

BOYS

100: Enterprise's Clinton Spellman (11.01) pulls away from Chico sophomore Jaden Castellanos (11.21) with Enterprise's Leslie Cummings third (11.51)

200: Enterprise's Clinton Spellman (22.08) wins again with Castellanos (22.40) edging Spellman's brother Calvin (22.41) for second.

400: Enterprise's Calvin Spellman (50.37) pulls away early and holds on late over a determined Riley Potthast (50.66) and Jared Mackay (51.08) from Paradise.

800: Foothill's Thurman Knowles (1:58.16) wins a very close race over Paradise's Gabe Price (1:58.69) second and Chico's Riley Farrell (1:59.89) third.

1,600: LP's Brian Hastings (4:22.05) holds off Knowles (4:23.55) after Chico Jack Emanual (4:28.39) fades with stomach issues.

3,200: A comfortable win for Emanuel (9:46.82) with Shasta's Andrew Skoy (9:56.08) content to outkick Chico's Charlie Giannini (10:00.87) for second.

110 hurdles: Despite rattling a few hurdles, PV's Jamarquez Abrams (15.33) pulls away for the win over Enterprise's Brock Fischer and Chico's Trevor Trento.

300 hurdles: Enterprise's Leslie Cummings (39.36) an easy winner over Chico's Trento and Enterprise's Fischer.

4x100 relay: Enterprise wins (43.19) in a time 2 seconds faster than last year over Pleasant Valley and Paradise as all three dip under 44 seconds.

4x400 relay: A thrilling end to the meet with Enterprise just holding off Paradise (3:26.14 to 3:26.25) as Potthast almost catches Cl Spellman.

Shot put: Shasta's Kari Kutch (52-09) is the only one over 50 feet while Red Bluff Kegan Richards edges Paradise's Brenden Coffey for second

Discus: Corning's Cole Parker, after finishing fourth in the shot, takes the discus (144-02) over Kutch (141-11) and Enterprise's Casey Norrington (136-00).

High jump: Foothill's Brandon Gentles (6-06) tops last year's section champ Sethan Miller and Paradise's Jacob Warren, (both 6-04).

Pole vault: Shasta's Max Richmond (14-00) wins the division title for the third straight year. This time over teammates Erik Valdez (13-06) & Mason Wright (12-06).

Long jump: PV's Ryan Keables (21-05 1/2) over teammate Jamarquez Abrams (21-03) and Red Bluff's Conner McKenzie (21-00).

Triple jump: PV's Keables stays hot to win (45-04) over last year's section champ from Shasta Wilson Presleigh who ended up third behind Chico's Christian Valles.

GIRLS

100: PV's Courtney Kermen (12.97) second win on the day, this time over Chico freshman Mary Blaugh (13.37) and Enterprise's Bailey-Takaia James (13.47)

200: Kermen (26.67) again tops Blaugh (27.72) and James (27.87) to complete the sprint sweep for the second year in a row at the division meet.

400: Pleasant Valley's Courtney Kermen (61.04), after anchoring her team to a win in the 4 x 100 relay, easily gaps Paradise's Kate Minderhoud (62.69) and Chico's Britta Bundy (63.46).

800: Chico freshman Nahkia Clements leads the field through a slow opening lap, then outkicks division rivals Payton Obourne and Caroline Forseth, to come away with the win after issues with a late lunch derailed her 1600 race.

1,600: Renfroe does most of the pace work, whittling the race down to two but is out kicked by Foothill freshman Grace Dudley (5:18.87) as both PR.

3,200: Shasta freshman Hanna Hall, breaks the race open after a couple pedestrian laps, to win easy (11:41.31). Red Bluff workhorse Naomi Renfroe finishes second with Chico Jessalyn Ayers third.

100 hurdles: Chico freshman Hailey Fune, ran a technically perfect race, to come away with a win (& a PR, 16.29) over Oroville's Selina Schillig and Foothill's Mariah Wittmer.

300 hurdles: Four of the top five finishers PR but nobody is close to upsetting Red Bluff's Megan Boone (47.19). The runnerup is Zoey Pitts of Enterprise while Schilling, doubling back takes third.

4x100 relay: After prevailing last year due to a DQ, this championship was earned by the Viking quartet (50.92) as they finished a half second clear of second place Shasta (51.42).

4x400 relay: A competitive race with five teams in contention with a lap to go. Shasta (4:14.83) wins by a razor thin margin over Foothill while an upstart group of freshman put Chico into third.

Shot put: Kaitlyn Jarrett (35-00 1/2) bests PV's Flint by over a foot, as the Viking senior will have to settle to being the runnerup for the second year in a row.

Discus: PV's Michelle Flint (102-09) tops Las Plumas' Jacklynn Rodriquez (101-01), the only two in the competition over 100 feet.

High jump: Foothill's Kira Porzio huge PR (5-06) leaves her the easy winner. Chico's Hailey Fune is the only other one in the field to clear 5-00 feet.

Pole vault: No upset this year as Foothill's Matteya Ruiz (10-00) wins her second division title in the event. LP's Rebecca Graham second and Shasta's Solee Meidus third, both clearing 9-06.

Long jump: LP's Chava Rivers, after scratching in the 200 & 400m races, is the only one in the long jump to pop a 17 foot jump topping Red Bluff's Megan Boone by nearly a foot and Enterprise's Alyssa Burke by even more.

Triple jump: Enterprise's Burke (35-00 1/2) dominates the division for the third straight year, this time around newcomer Chico's Hailey Fune (33-03) was the runnerup.