REDDING - The same six teams that competed for the Eastern Athletic League Track & Field Championships in Chico a week ago travelled to Redding and Enterprise High School to contest the Division I Track & Field Championships simply because there are no other "big" schools in the Northern Section. Like the league championships, competition will be held in both varsity and junior varsity divisions but unlike last week all events will be contested as finals (i.e. no heats) with the results of last week's meet being used to trim fields to eight in all but the three distance races where up to twelve will be allowed. The results of this meet and the other three divisional meets will be used to determine the qualifiers and subsequent seeding for the section finals.

This all finals format makes for a shorter meet and allows for late afternoon starting time. This delayed start and more favorable weather conditions, thanks to a sunny skies giving way to a high cloud cover leaving temperatures roughly ten degrees cooler, made for a better quality meet as did the fact that fewer of the best athletes did more than two events (not counting relay participation). There were exceptions in both varsity and junior varsity, the most notable among varsity athletes being Shasta sophomore Naia Kristoffersen, who won the triple jump, was runner-up in the long jump & high jump and third in the 100m. As for JV athletes, Chico's Molly Alling backed up her successful quadruple wins at the EAL Championship by repeating it a week later at this meet.

The team champions last week were the team champions this week as Pleasant Valley won the boys competition with 132 points over Chico's 98, Enterprise's 94 followed by Foothill's 83, Shasta's 67 and Red Bluff's 15. The Vikings winning margin came about as they piled up points in the distance events, had solid placing in the sprints and hurdles to pull away from Chico, Enterprise and Foothill. Chico girls dominated the distance and hurdles race but couldn't overcome Shasta's superiority in the field events which was also Foothill's strength just not to a same degree as the Wolves. The three teams garnered more than a hundred points with Shasta on top with 132, Chico next with 115 and Foothill third with 103. Pleasant Valley took fourth with 71, Enterprise fifth with 39 (thanks to 20 by Aliyah Choi) and Red Bluff last with 34.

Best quality races on the day were varsity girls 400, where the top two (Aliyah Choi, Talyn Hanly) within a couple tenths of Kody Atkins meet record. The Hornet junior came back to also win the 200m, the second time she has successfully completed this double at the divisional level. In the girls long jump Jaiden Lynn winning mark of 18-8 1/2 came an inch and a half short of Brooke Whitburn's meet record. Whitburn's record in the triple jump was also under threat as sophomore Naia Kristoffersen best mark of 37' 11 1/2 came up only a few inches short. Jackson Hein's double win on the day was the third time he has repeated this winning double at the divisional meet and this time around it was his fastest double (4:20/1:55).

Division 1 Event Summaries

Varsity Boys 4x100: On paper Enterprise should win easily over PV and Chico yet last week they lost to PV. This week, stick work was tight and the Hornets won easily with a time virtually unmatched in section history. Instead it was the Vikings for which the exchanges were sketchy and that left them in third behind the Panthers. Still all three will likely battle at the section championships at West Valley.

Varsity Boys 1600: Pleasant Valley takes the top two places with the Vikings led by Jackson Hein, who runs a seasonal best of 4:20 and did his teammate Nolan McLaughlin (4:28) despite collapsing near the finish totally exhausted from his effort. Enterprise's Marcus Newell was a distant third (4:40).

Varsity Boys 100h: Enterprise's Dallas Carter is closely pressed by Foothill's Blake Lema but clipped final hurdle costs the Cougar junior any chance at an upset. PV's James Sanders finishes a distant third.

Varsity Boys 400: No 400 this go-around for Jackson Hein, leaving the door open for the EAL runner up to claim the division title which Chico Kohen Struyf does. Teammate Colton Kessler takes second and Enterprise's Thomas Castles third.

Varsity Boys 100: Another McNally-Wilkes showdown in which McNally takes with relative ease over his cross-town rival. PV's Gavin Myers takes third while his teammate Titus Andrus watches the race from the sidelines after false starting.

Varsity Boys 800: Jackson Hein doesn't mess around, taking the race out hard and then closes well to come home in 1:55.46. Chico's Carter Murphy, although clearly out matched, does his best to stay close and comes away with a personal best 1:58.99. Teammate Emiliano Ibanez is a more distant third.

Varsity Boys 300h: Another tight one for Dallas Carter over Blake Lema as the Foothill junior's stumble coming off the last hurdles makes the finish less close than it would otherwise be.

Varsity Boys 200: Shasta's Nic Wilkes holds off Enterprise's Aiden McFall in a race most notable by the absence of Foothill's Ryan McNally, who had back spasms after winning last week's EAL 100 so he scratched in the 200 a race he probably would have won.

Varsity Boys 3200: Pleasant Valley sweeps the top four places. Clarke first, looking much better dealing with coming off an illness than he did last week. McLaughlin second again, Plummer third and Denman fourth just ahead of PR efforts by Panther Kenton Girt and Wolves Micah Good.

Varsity Boys 4x400: The top three relay teams in the section meet again. This time PV keeps it close enough to Enterprise and Chico for anchor Jackson Hein to power by his EAL rivals something he wasn't able to do the week before where all he could do was make it real close,

Varsity Boys Shot Put: Luke tops Lucas for the second week in a row. This time the margin was down to a half an inch as the Shasta runner-up pops off his career best, something that Chico's Schabert did the week before.

Varsity Boys Discus: Luke sweeps the weight events, something he failed to do at the EAL championships. It was his turn to toss a personal best.

Varsity Boys High Jump: Thompson of Chico gets the nod over the long jump champion Iwvalla on the basis of fewer misses. It wasn't pretty the winning height was only 6' 0.

Varsity Boys Pole Vault: An event still not contested any league schools other than Foothill & Enterprise. Hornet's Kash Joseph tops the 4 athlete field with his 11' 6 foot vault.

Varsity Boys Long Jump: Iwvalla is the only one of the top five placers not to PR. Still won by 8 inches although a lot less than his two foot margin a week ago.

Varsity Boys Triple Jump: Foothill's James Sehrt wins the hop, skip & jump just like he did the week before and by almost the same margin although this week the runner-up was Dillan Jones (PV) and last week it was Brady Combs (Ent).



Varsity Girls 4x100: Much improved stick work kept Pleasant Valley in the hunt this week before relying on anchor Marinello's superior speed to pull away from EAL champions Foothill. A season best and section leading time for the victorious Vikings that bettered the Cougar's seasonal best set at the league championships.

Varsity Girls 1600: Chico's Taylor Wellersdick leads every step of the race with Shasta' s Elle Merrill shadowing closely until fading a bit coming down the homestretch. The race saw the return of Panther freshman Harper Ducale who took third after missing the league championship due to a medical exemption.

Varsity Girls 100h: Chico sophomore Sisi Marinescu runs a much cleaner race, nabbing a personal best as she defeats her league/divisional rivals in the short hurdles by a much wider margin from a week ago when a late clipped hurdle almost cost her the win at the league championships and could have prematurely ended her season. PV's Sims is runner-up like the previous week but this go around Bria Tate from Shasta takes third.

Varsity Girls 400: Likely the most competitive race of the meet as section leader Enterprise's Aliyah Choi again just holds off Shasta's Talyn Hanly as both PR and dip under 58 seconds for the first time. The two best section 400 runners will likely be joined by Chico's Sienna Jones in the section finals by placing third as she runs a very competitive time not much over 60 seconds.

Varsity Girls 100: PV junior Katherine Marinello pulls away for a comfortable win while behind Red Bluff's Troberg improves from 4th to second from the previous week as EAL runnerup Kristoffersen is left in third. Only the winner is guaranteed a spot in the section finals and no others are likely to do so as the rest of the section has faster sprinters.

Varsity Girls 800: What a difference a week makes! Hankins makes another aggressive start, taking the first lap in 66 and a couple strides ahead of a large chase pack. Breaking out of the pack coming down the backstretch, Csutoras catches Hankins with 200m to go, then passes her rounding the turn and accelerates home for the win. RB's senior Winstead-Stroing goes by Hankins just off the final turn and teammate Alchin does so closer to the finish as Hankins finds out the reality of going out too fast. Csutoras coming into racing form sets up an intriguing matchup at the section championships with the addition of Brianna Hayes, the section leader & Division III champion, and Naava Kroop (NS no. 3 & Division IV champion) in one of the, if not the potentially deepest 800m fields in section history.

Varsity Girls 300h: Chico teammates Sisi Marinescu, Sienna Jones and Foothill's Hailey Walton go 1-2-3 as Marinescu tightens up her hurdling to claim her second division hurdle title on the day as both she and her teammate run personal bests.

Varsity Girls 200: Enterprise's Aliyah Choi has a much easier time dispatching her competition as her closest rival (Hanly) never gave her much of a challenge likely a bit tired from her previous races (400 & 800).

Varsity Girls 3200: Wellersdick leads the entire way with Merrill staying a close second until fading over the second half of the race as Taylor rachets down the pace. Lillian Jeffords broke out of a trio of Panthers to take third.

Varsity Girls 4x400: Top ranked Pleasant Valley leads from the get-go as Holly Alchin opening leg sets the tone and gives the Vikings a decent lead over Red Bluff and Foothill. Chico ends the initial leg in fourth as late addition Puterbaugh (for Wellersdick) runs a solid but hardly spectacular leg. The next leg gets the Panthers back in second which they subsequently maintain through the finish. Up front, the Vikings broaden their lead in leg two and minimize the intrusion on their lead in the race's second half in which Chico's Csutoras and Jones ran back-to-back 60 second legs. Red Bluff is a distant third.

Varsity Girls Shot Put: Shasta's Faith Ferguson wins by almost two feet over Foothill's Kalli Smith. Nearly another foot behind is her teammate Evie Turner in third.

Varsity Girls Discus: Foothill's Evie Turner wins her third Division 1 discus title and does so with a personal best. Faith Ferguson is second and Kalli Smith third, 6 and 12 feet behind respectively.

Varsity Girls High Jump: Another win by Shasta's Jaiden Lynn. Not her best day but still she was the only one in the competition to clear 5' 4.

Varsity Girls Pole Vault: Not a lot of quality here as Foothill's Emma Hawkins wins by clearing 8 feet. Anika Namihas of Shasta vault of 7' 6 nets her second as only two in the field go better than 7'0.

Varsity Girls Long Jump: Unrivalled in the section, Shasta's Jaiden Lynn, wins by over a foot over her Wolves teammate Kristoffersen with her best mark well over 18 feet.

Varsity Girls Triple Jump: Shasta sophomore Naia Kristoffersen wins, not only proving she's the section's best at the event but improves upon her section leading mark by leaping nearly 38 feet.

JV team titles, just like the EAL Championships, went by a wide margin to Pleasant Valley for the boys and to the Chico girls in a much more competitive affair. This meet was the season finale for the junior varsity athletes.

Junior Varsity performances of note: Chico's Molly Alling, a four-time winner on the day (& duplicating what she accomplished at the EAL championships), by taking titles in the long & high jumps and both hurdle races. She is one of the most improved athletes over the course of the season 110 hurdles (19.27>16.99). 300 hurdles (57.77>50.67), High Jump (4' 2>4'11) & Long jump (12'11>16' 2).