PALO CEDRO - The opening round of the championship season unfolded Friday afternoon on the Foothill High School track with the Eastern Athletic League Track & Field Championships. Varsity powerhouses Pleasant Valley, Foothill and Shasta (girls only) were present to contend for the team titles. Conditions were warm for early May and were trending to go into the lower to middle 90s until a thickening high cloud high cover moderated temperatures a bit the latter half of the meet.

The varsity boys team title proved to not to be much of a contest with Pleasant Valley running away with it by scoring 180 ½ points to runner-up Cougars 112 points. Chico ended up a distant third with 74 points. The varsity girls competition proved to be a tighter affair with the Vikings still prevailing, topping the field with 158 ¾ points to Shasta's 109 ½ and Foothill's 101 ¾ points. Chico girls were left in fourth with 68 points as most of their scoring came from distance runners. Teams from Enterprise, Red Bluff also competed at the meet but were never in contention for the meet title.

Winners of multiple events included PV's Jackson Hein who won the 800m, 1600m as well as anchoring the winning 4x400 relay team. Enterprise's Tristan Young took both hurdle races, Viking sophomore Sharmar Riley won the 200m and ran legs on the winning 4x100 & 4x400 relays. Chico's Magnus Nelsen and PV's Van Chambers traded win & runner-up finishes in the weight events (Nielsen claiming the shot and Chambers taking the discus).

In the varsity girls competition, PV's Holly Alchin outkicked Panther sophomore Ava-Marie Csutoras in winning the 800m and 1600m races. Viking senior Kayla Johnson won the triple jump outright, claimed the high jump on the basis of fewer misses over Shasta's Jaiden Lynn after starting her day in the runner-up position to Lynn in the long jump. Lynn completed her day by anchoring the winning 400 relay and finishing victorious in the 100m. Enterprise's Aliyah Choi was the only one under 60 seconds in winning the 400m and was a very close second to teammate Kajya Mello in the 200m.

In the JV competition, Pleasant Valley boys prevailed with 144 ½ points over Foothill's 108 ¼ points to Chico's 92 ¾ points while the JV girls were topped by Chico, whose 144 points edged the Vikings 136 points with Red Bluff a more distant third with 84 points.

Standouts among the JV's include Chico's Joren Solece, a triple winner by taking the 200m and both hurdle races and also placed third in the high jump. PV's Lucas Jimenez was a double winner claiming the 800m & 1600m. Among the JV girls, Red Bluff's Kayla Troberg topped the field in both the 100m and 200m. Chico freshman Ally Sasaki won the 100m hurdles, high jump, took second in the long jump and also anchored the runner-up short relay.

Varsity boys event summaries:

100m: Foothill's McNally (11.06) pulls away from Shasta's Wilkes (3rd - 11.31) and a host of PV sprinters, led by Shamar Riley's second place finish (11.18) to show that he is the league's top sprinter.

200m: Sophomore Riley (22.59) much better at the longer distance, edges past Wilkes (22.66). Chico's Southern (23.12) was a more distant third. A horrible race from Foothill's perspective as Mason Calvert coming off the turn collapses to the track victim of an apparent hamstring injury while 100m champ McNally finishes a non-qualifying 12th

400m: Foothill's Logan Borg (49.56) aggressive start is rewarded with comfortable win, finishing under 50 seconds for the third consecutive time. Prior to injury in the 200m, Mason Calvert (50.68) looks good in finishing second over PV's Mark Marinello (51.69).

800m: A long-anticipated clash between last year's section champ Jackson Hein and this year's leader in the event Logan Borg. Borg, matched Hein's PB set last year at the Meet of Champions by running the fastest time at the meet out of the afternoon open session. It didn't disappoint, as Borg again takes the race out hard with only Hein staying close tucked behind the Foothill senior off his outside shoulder as they circuit the opening lap in a brisk 57 seconds. A closing lap nearly as fast keeps the Foothill senior (1:55.38) in the lead as two come off the final turn in a virtual tie. Hein (1:54.97) opens up a small gap 20m later that he expands to a couple stride lengths by the end of the race. Chico's Carter Murphy (2:01.76) comes in a distant third.

1600m: Not sure the point of Red Bluff's Adrian Flores-Solis (15th - 5:21.55) opening lap gambit where he's leading by 30m one lap into the race only to lose the lead a lap later (and quickly dropping from contention thereafter). Nobody else went with him but it did make for a very pedestrian opening half by the major contenders as they passed the 800m mark in around 2:22. A much faster closing half came down to closing kick best executed by Jackson Hein (4:31.45) as his closest rival Charlie Brennan (3rd - 4:33.37) faded down the homestretch and was caught by Jackson's brother Austin (2nd - 4:31.89).

3200m: The Red Bluff knucklehead tries his early leading stunt again in the 3200m but doesn't have the legs to hold the lead for a lap. Once the early leader is caught, Chico's Brennan (9:42.26) is content to let members of the Viking distance corps take their turn up front before pushing the pace the last couple of laps to come away with an easy win. PV duo Nolan McLaughlin (9:58.03) and Quentin Clarke (10:05.27) finish 2-3.

110HH: An easy win by Enterprise's Tristan Young (15.54) with PV's Piper (17.06) a distant second while fellow Hornet Dallas Carter (17.98) ends up a more distant third.

300h: A closer contest but Young (41.13) is still the winner. This time over Shasta's Newsome (41.99) and teammate Carter (42.76)

4x100 relay: What earlier in the season promised to be a tight battle ended up being not the case as Pleasant Valley (42.76) had no problem dispatching Foothill (43.59). Enterprise (44.63) was a more distant third . The mid season loss of Alonzo Borchert due to injury certainly didn't help.

4x400 relay: A team composed of three top ten section runners in the 400 and one top five runner in the 200 makes for a formidable 4x400m relay team. As such, Pleasant Valley (3:29.52) did not mess around and the Vikings were rewarded with a comfortable win even though none of their runners were remotely fresh. Enterprise (3:36.46) and Chico (3:37.80) finished second and third.

Shot: Chico's Nielsen and PV's Chambers were the class of the field and the only ones with tosses over 50 feet. Nielsen bests Chambers by almost 2 feet with Panther Bramon in third nearly 8 feet back.

Discus: Places were reversed with Chambers a comfortable winner over Nielsen. Much further back was PV's Arnovick was third.

High jump: Tre Coleman's seasonal (& personal) best of 6' 2 allows him to gap the field. On the basis of fewer misses Chico's Thompson takes second, Shasta's Iwvalla third while PV's Martin is left in fourth. All three cleared 5' 10.

Pole Vault: An all Foothill competition as the Chico school district does not allow athletes nor has the facilities to contest the event. The other schools have no varsity pole vaulters. Pretty mediocre results with Marsh and Messenger tie for first place at 9' 6 and Tackett third at 8' 6.

Long jump: A good competition with seven athletes over 20 feet. Red Bluff's Kaden Leaf, one of two better than 21 feet, wins with a leap of 21' 6 ½. Enterprise's Kash Joseph second with a 21' 1 ½ jump with last year's section champ Chris Hal finishing third in 20' 8 ½.

Triple jump: Doubling back, Chris Hall prevails in the hop, skip and jump by soaring 39' 5. Shasta's Joe McGowan second and PV's Brodie Martin third.

Varsity girls event summaries

100m: Section leader in the event, Shasta's Jaiden Lynn (12.72) pulls away for the win. PV's Atteberry (12.90) takes second while Enterprise's Mello (13.13) places third.

200m: A tight competition between Hornet teammates comes down to a late race lead as Kajya Mello (26.22) just holds a faster closing Aliyah Choi (26.24), the winner of the 400m about an hour earlier. Atteberry, coming back after little rest from winning the 300 hurdles, is a bit further back in third (26.46).

400m: Enterprise's Choi (59.44) dethrones last year's EAL & Division I champion Talyn Hanly (61.65) decisively. PV sophomore Katelynn Enos (61.81) is a close third.

800m: Determined not to take the lead this go around, Chico's Ava-Marie Csutoras settles beside Alchin as the top two runners in the event resume their battle. Unfortunately, nobody else wants the lead either so the pace doddles. A clump of runners comes through in 78 seconds only to see the pace suddenly turn blistering as they go around the race's penultimate turn. Csustoras and Alchin battle down the backstretch and it remains very close around the final turn. Alchin (2:25.14) opens some daylight sprinting down the homestretch with the lead no more than half a stride until Csustoras (2:25.81) concedes about ten meters short of the line. RB's Winstead-Stroing (2:29.73) takes third.

1600m: Shasta's Merrill DQ'ed for some apparent wiggle on the starting line by an overzealous official. It changed the whole dynamic of the race as she would likely have taken the lead during the opening lap. Instead after a pedestrian opening 200m Chico's Csutoras felt compelled to take the lead to make the pace more honest. This strung out the field gapping all but crosstown rival Holly Alchin and teammate Taylor Wellersdick by the halfway point. Wellersdick noticeably fades in lap three and is completely out of contention going into the final lap. Up front the pace stays hot and very close as Alchin covers every move Csutoras (5:15.58) attempts. A strong final backstretch opens up the Panther's biggest lead but Alchin (5:15:51) recovers rounding the final turn and eeks out a tiny advantage around 50m to go and maintains it through the end. Twenty seconds later Wellersdick (5:35.88) finishes third.

3200m: Putting her early meet disappointment aside, Elle Merrill (11:41.11) sets a pace no one is willingly to match and cruises to an easy victory. Behind a Chico trio trade pacing duties, resulting in a personal best for Reese Alvistur (12:23.16) and season bests for Lilly Jeffords (12:19.70) and Claire Edwards (12:22.71) as they finish fourth, second and third respectively.

110HH: Shasta's Bria Tate (17.73), running her best race of the season so far, wins by a sizeable margin over her closest section rival Foothill's Sydney Jones (18.44). Jones, having some issues with her form, is still able hold off the rest of the field despite running a time well off her best. Wolves sophomore Issabella Iraheta (18.57) takes third.

300h: Surprise entry Kylie Atteberry, PV transfer from Las Plumas, wins the long hurdles (49.85) in racing the event only the second time this year. Sophomore teammate Katelynn Enos (50.58) takes second while Jones (51.49) out battles Tate for third.

4x100 relay: Viking team (50.54), after needing a then section leading time to edge the Wolves at the West Valley Invitational, falls victim to the same but very motivated group this go-around even though they ran faster as Shasta (50.25) comes away with the section lead this go-around. Foothill (51.87) places a more distant third.

4x400 relay: Pleasant Valley (4:14.44), running a time ten seconds off their section leading mark, cruise to the win over Foothill (4:20.08) and Chico (4:33.53). The other three schools did not put together a team for this meet concluding event.

Shot: Shasta's Faith Ferguson (35' 8 1/4), a week away from setting her seasonal best, upsets section leader PV's Chloe White (35' 4 1/2). Trinity Gomez (34' 4) placed third, tossing the metal ball over the 34 foot mark for the third time this season.

Discus: Foothill's Evie Turner (126' 2) unleashes a seasonal best for the win. Shasta's Ferguson (113' 0), the only other competitor over 100 feet, takes second. PV's Gomez (92' 6) is third again.

High jump: Shasta's Jaiden Lynn prevails over PV's Kayla Johnson on the basis of fewer misses as both clear 5' 2. Teresa Barlow, four inches lower, takes third.

Pole Vault: No vaulters from any other school but Foothill. Clara Pargett ties Abigail Watt at 8' 0. Emma Hawkins is third, six inches lower.

Long jump: Shasta's Jaiden Lynn (18' 0 1/2), leaping over 18 feet for the first time, upsets the section leader Kayla Johnson (17' 4 3/4). A seasonal best by PV's Atteberry (16' 11 1/2) gets her third.

Triple jump: No upsetting the section leader in this event as PV's Kayla Johnson (36' 3 3/4) takes the event by nearly a foot. Freshman Naia Kristoffersen (35' 6 1/2) from Shasta is second with Theresa Barlow (33' 6 1/4) is a couple feet further back in third.

The top eight varsity and frosh/soph advance to the division finals held at Foothill on Friday except for distance events (800m and above) then it's the top twelve that advance. The next two place finishers will be designated alternates, to fill in for qualifiers who decide to scratch.