CHICO - Over fifty years of Big School Championships have come and gone, but this year's meet now known as Division One Championships saw Chico senior Mario Giannini take down long standing meet records in the boys 1600m and 3200m. Giannini, led wire to wire in both races, to take the shorter race in 4:12.18 and the longer one in 9:14.73. The four-lap race saw Pleasant Valley teammates Renton McGregor and Tryon Jardin holding on well to also dip under the 4:20 mark, with McGregor improving upon his own school record. This likely makes this year's 1600m race the first time that three section runners have ran this fast at the Division Championships (or any other meet for that matter). And this was a higher quality repeat of what the three accomplished at the EAL championships held a week ago.

This meet saw the same six teams compete for the Division One Championships as the previous week. The only differences were a change of venue (Chico instead of Foothill), a significant reduction in the number of competitors and slightly warmer conditions. Unlimited entries were allowed at the EAL Championships for both varsity and frosh/soph competitions. However to gain entry into the Division Championships, competitors needed to finish in the top eight in each event.

Weather played little part in the team competition as the Pleasant Valley boys easily claimed the big school title topping the six team field with 177 points to runner-up Enterprise's 119 points. The girls competition was a much closer affair with only twelve points separating first from fourth. Chico, fourth at the EAL championships, was two points behind Pleasant Valley and four points ahead of Shasta with one event, the 4x400 relay to go. Pleasant Valley had won the long relay the week before at the league championships but by less than a second over Foothill and Chico. Of course, the race came down to the final leg with the same three teams in contention. The Vikings saw their hopes fade over the final 200m as their anchor lost contact with Foothill's Makenze Knowles and Chico's Melia Bainbridge. Knowles had a stride advantage entering the homestretch but couldn't hold off the final surge by Bainbridge allowing the Panthers to edge the Cougars by a mere tenth of a second. This result vaulted Chico to the division title with 112 points over the Vikings 110 points. Shasta ended up third with 102 points and Foothill fourth with 100 points in one of the closest finishes in division history.

Viking boys were powered by sweeping the 100m with Parker Williams winning while Evan Enserro was second and Joey Stuart third. The same three also placed in the 200m taking second, third and fifth respectively and were also members of the winning 4 x100m relay team. Pleasant Valley went 1-2 in the high jump (Connor Warren, Noah Thomas) also garnered firsts in the 800m (Renton McGregor) and discus (Tristan McPherren., while Noah Thomas won both the long jump and triple jump. In fact only the Vikings and Enterprise scored in every event (not counting the pole vault which no Chico team are allowed to compete). Chico had no other winning boys other than Giannini, although Avery Munson Clark qualified for sections with a second place in the 800 and fourth place in the 1600m. The only other double winner in the meet was Enterprise's Jahari Johnson, who topped the field in both the 200m and 400m races.

The Chico girls were led by Iresh Molina's distance double in which she had to repel a late surge by Shasta freshman Elizabeth Merill in the 1600m before coming back with a much more comfortable win in the 3200m. Chico's Emery Doornbos won the 300m hurdles maintaining her focus following section leader Creedence Shaver's mid race crash. As noted previously, the Panther girls won a very competitive 1600 relay.

Highlighting Pleasant Valley's runner-up finish was senior Mariah Letcher close win in the 400m, a victorious 4x100m relay team and Brisa Reyes win in the triple jump. Shasta freshman Faith Ferguson was the only other meet double winner, prevailing in both the discus and the shot.

The top two in each D-I event automatically qualify for the section championships held on May 20 at West Valley High in Cottonwood as do the top two from the D-2 meet and the winners of the D-3 & D-4 meet. The rest of the field filled by the next best marks from all division championships.

BOYS

100m: A Pleasant Valley sweep with junior Parker Williams (11.15) leading the way with Evan Enserro second, Joey Stuart third.

200m: Enterprise's Jahari Johnson (22.41) tops Parker Williams (22,88) after losing a close one to him at the EAL championships. Evan Enserro took third.

400m: Jahari Johnson (50.37) comfortable win over Foothill's Logan Borg and PV freshman Jackson Hein.

800m: PV's Renton McGregor leads wire to wire to win with a section leading time (1:57.07). Chico's Avery Munson Clark is a second behind in second with Foothill's Camren Barnes in third.

1600m: The first of two impressive victories for Chico's Mario Giannini as he backs up an opening lap in 60 seconds with three consecutive laps of 64 to win in a meet record time of 4:12.13. McGregor 2nd and teammate Tryon Jardin third both PR while also dipping under 4:20.

3200m: Another wire-to-wire win and section meet record for Mario Giannini. Jardin was a distant second with Enterprise's Elijah Magrini further back in third.

110 high hurdles: Not a year for quality hurdling in the section. Not surprisingly only two in the field break 17 seconds with Foothill junior Caden Rowe edging Enterprise sophomore Tristan Young (16.76 to 16.91).

300 hurdles: In a relatively slow but very competitive hurdle race, Enterprise's Zachary Crane emerges victorious as the top five finishers are separated by less three-quarters of a second.

4 x 100m: Pleasant Valley outduels Enterprise (43.97 to 44.05) again although the gap's significantly closer than the previous week.

4 x 400m: Enterprise, reverses its fortune from the league championships, topping the field instead coming home last thanks to improving by over 12 seconds (3:28,91). Pleasant Valley second and Foothill third.

Shot Put: Enterprise's Aaron Markson PRs (43-00) to win by a foot over PV's Thatcher Damon and Shasta's Trent Kingston who tie for second.

Discus: PV's Tristan McPherren is an easy winner as his closest rivals from the previous week have miserable days.

High Jump: PV's Conner Warren only needs to clear 6-00 to win.

Pole Vault: Only three vaulters complete.all from Foothill. Ben Noble tops 9-06 to win.

Long Jump: PV's Noah Thomas, runner up in the high jump, is the winner here reaching 21-00 feet. Chris Hall from Foothill finishes second, the only other competitor over 20 feet.

Triple Jump: Thomas wins again, topping Enterprise's Jacob Wagner with a mark of 41-04 1/2 or 5 inches better than the Hornet's best.

GIRLS

100m: Shasta's Abigail Moore turns a tight race into easy win over the closing 50m. Chico freshman Sienna Jones was second and PV sophomore Allie Devine third.

200m: Foothill freshman Kyra Jones, who failed to qualify in the 100m, closes the best to win. Devine and Jones switch positions from the 100m.

400m: An aggressive start by Shasta freshman Talyn Hanly nearly works as PV's Mariah Letcher needs 395m to catch & pass her division rival.

800m: A late inside move gives Foothill's Makenze Knowles the lead, then she is able to hold off Red Bluff's Aralynn Winstead-Stroing and Shasta's Elizabeth Merill to claim the victory in a very competitive race.

1600m: A late race surge almost turns ho-hum win into a defeat as Merill transforms a 15m deficit into a half stride lead before Iresh Molina regroups to edge ahead of the Shasta freshman. Five seconds back PV's Alchin is third.

3200m: No drama this go around for Molina as she leads every step of this race. Behind her, teammate Una Griffiths, easy gaps PV's Chloe Alchin in third place, while running a nice PR (11:41.08), her sixth consecutive foray under 12 minutes

100HH: No style points in this race as Red Bluff's Creedence Shaver pulls away from PV's Grace Montgomery and Foothill's Katie McCollum.

300h: Disaster strikes as RB's Shaver falls midway through the turn after clobbering a hurdle, opening the door for Chico's Emery Doornbos to waltz into the win. Shaver returns to her feet and manages to finish but her third place finish leaves the section leader chances to run at next week's state qualifier in serious doubt.

4 x 100m: Pleasant Valley holds off a spirited efforts by the Panthers and the section leading Wolves to win with a seasonal best time.

4 x 400m: A six second improvement over the previous week gives Chico the hard earned victory over Foothill and Pleasant Valley as Melia Bainbridge edges Foothill's Knowles at the line.

Shot Put: Shasta freshman Faith Ferguson wins by half a foot over PV's Angelique Trueblood and Foothill's Kalli Smith.

Discus: Ferguson garners an easier second win, topping runner up Evie Turner by a little over 14 feet. Trueblood was third.

High Jump: In a year where few reach 5 feet, Shasta's Jaiden Lynn tops Shaver and Hanly by clearing 4-10.

Pole Vault: Only two competitors clear a height with Shasta's Elise Ankeny the winner.

Long Jump: Foothill's Kasey Williams is only one to jump over 16 feet. Chico's Bainbridge is second.

Triple Jump: While the winner of the frosh/soph competition outperforms the varsity , the top three all manage to leap over 32 feet with PV's Brisa Reyes personal best performance topping the field.

Frosh/Soph highlights

PV's Keegan McGregor double winner (100/200) plus anchored the winning 4x100m and 4x400 relays. Chico freshman Carter Murphy was victorious in both the 800m and 1600m. Chico sophomore Charlie Brennan won the 3200 after taking second in the 1600m.

For the girls, PV sophomores traded wins and runner-up finishes in the 100m and 200m races. Oghogho Odiase won the former and Ava Devine the latter. Both were also members of the winning 4x100 relay. PV freshman Holly Alchin won twice, taking both the 400m and 800m races. Ava-Marie Csutoras, Chico freshman, won the 1600m but passed on the 800m despite winning the event the week before at the league championships. She was also a member of the winning 4x400 relay team. PV's Chloe White was another double winner on the day, taking both the shot and the discus by comfortable margins. Kayla Johnson was the Vikings third double winner on the day, claiming both the long and triple jumps, the latter with a mark that not only was a PR by nearly a foot and half but would have also won the varsity competition.