Metro Conference high school track and field student-athletes took on the best that the San Diego Section has to offer this season and came away holding their heads very high at last Saturday’s state-qualifying meet at Mt. Carmel High School.
Make that extremely high.
Teamwise, Eastlake scored a meteoric fifth-place finish among the 61 scoring girls teams. On an individual basis, the conference recorded two section champions (Olympian senior Gabrielle Hawkins in the girls 400-meter dash and Mater Dei Catholic junior Mekhi Oluwa in the boys long jump), an impressive 23 section medalists (15 girls, eight boys) and state qualifiers in 11 events.
An abundance of runners, throwers and jumpers from South County schools earned the right to compete at this weekend’s elite state championship meet in Clovis.
State prelims are Friday, followed by finals on Saturday to end the 2024-25 scholastic year.
Bring it on
A total of 18 athletes qualified from the section’s three divisional championship meets in each event to compete in last weekend’s section finals. Out of the 18 qualifiers in each event, the top nine received medals while the top three place-winners earned the chance to compete for a state title.
Eastlake and Otay Ranch each racked up state qualifiers in three events while Olympian and Mater Dei Catholic each followed with two event qualifiers. Bonita Vista is also sending one athlete.
Hawkins (Mesa League) and Oluwa (South Bay League) each captured four gold medals at their respective league finals, so it wasn’t necessarily surprising that they excelled on the section’s biggest stage.
“I’m excited but I was expecting this,” said Oluwa, who will compete in Clovis in two events after claiming the section title in the boys long jump (23-3) and finishing third in the triple jump (45-1.25). “I PR’d (23-11.25) at the Division III finals, my next step is 24 feet.”
Oluwa finished 0.75 inch ahead of Cathedral Catholic junior Steven Evans-Glynn to nose out the win in the long jump and finished 0.,75 inch behind Mira Mesa senior Elijah Cato for second place in the triple jump.
Oluwa, the 2025 South Bay League Track Athlete of the Meet, competed in three individual events at the section finals, placing 11th in the boys 110-meter high hurdles (15.10).
“My goal has been to get to state in the long jump and triple jump, the hurdles are more of a fun thing,” he said.
Things will definitely turn more serious this coming weekend.
Hawkins recorded a 55.15 personal record in coming up to win the girls 400 dash. She’s also a member of Olympian’s third-place 4×400 relay team that will compete at the state meet.
The Mesa League Finals Track Athlete of the Meet edged Westview senior Kaitlyn Arciaga by 0.13 second. It was a dynamite finish as Torrey Pines sophomore Emery Gonzales was just 0.22 second behind the leader in third place.
“I run all-out,” she said. “I really don’t have a strategy. I just line up and go fast.”
Joining Hawkins on the state-qualifying relay unit are senior Ivanna Ruiz, junior Kelena Gallardo and senior Sophia Getman. The Lady Eagles (3:52.95) finished just 0.06 second out of second place behind Westview (3:52.89).
Eastlake junior Jaelyn Williams was embroiled in two of the section meet’s most hotly contested races last Saturday, placing second each time to La Jolla junior Chiara Dailey in the girls 1600 and 3200 distances.
Williams, the reigning Division I champion, led Dailey, this year’s Division III champion, for virtually all of both races. Dailey held back, waiting for her chance to pounce on Williams, slowly closing the narrow gap that separated them as both hugged the oval.
Who would be the first to commit the final sprint to victory?
Dailey made her move just prior to the last turn in the 1600 and just a wee bit before that in the longer distance.
Dailey crossed the finish line in 4:43.57 in the 1600, immediately followed by Williams in 4:44.71 to record a season best by two seconds.
Both challengers notched fast times in the 3200. The La Jolla distance queen timed 10:15.74 while Williams followed in 10:16.39.
Dailey’s margin of victory in the 1600 was 0.74 seconds and 0.65 seconds in the 3200.
Williams set a season best by one second in the second match-up. In the process, she became a three-time state qualifier in the girls 3200 in which she is the defending state champion.
“She was just trying to draft on me,” Williams said in regard to the 1600 race. “I expected that. I tried to take it out with a strong pace. I was hoping I had more in the last 100.”
“I was hoping for a section championship, I thought I was there,” she added about the 3200. “She (Dailey) is an amazing runner.”
It was either Dailey or Williams’ races to lose. Bishop’s junior Ayanna Hickey (4:56.62) finished third in the 1600 while Canyon Crest Academy senior Katja Dunayevich (10:30.26) was third in the 3200 – both well behind the co-leaders.
Is it conceivable that Dailey and Williams could place first and second, in either order, in the state 3200? It’s an exciting thought.
Then there’s Otay Ranch senior Zamaria Mack, who finished second in the girls 100-meter low hurdles (13.98) and third in the 300 low hurdles (41.75) to qualify for the state meet in two events.
Mack, who swept both events at the league finals and was first in the 100s and second in the 300s at the preceding Division I championship meet, finished runner-up to San Diego senior Anisa Bowen-Fontenot (13.38) at the section finals in the 100s and behind Carlsbad senior Morgan Herbst (39.95) and Bowen-Fontenot (40.71) for third place in the 300s.
Bowen-Fontenot set a new section record in the 100 lows to keep Mack at bay. Both Herbst and Bowen-Fontenot eclipsed the old record of 40.96 in the 300s to place ahead of the Lady Mustang hurdler.
Mack had timed 13.86 in the l00s at the D-1 finals and was second in the 300s in 41.46, both personal records.
Mack edged Grossmont junior Gabrielle Thomas (14.14) in the 100s by 0.16 second.
It was a loaded field in both events. Now, all runners will regroup for Friday’s prelims.
Otay Ranch senior Dallas Corbett nailed down a state-qualifying spot with a second-place finish in the boys 400 dash with a 48.17 PR. He was a double medalist on the day with a seventh-place finish in the 200 dash (22.01 PR).
Corbett, closing fast, finished arrears of Mt. Carmel senior David Slaughter (47.94) by a scant 0.23 seconds in the 400. The Otay Ranch speedster also ran a leg on the Mustangs’ 4×100 relay (14th place, 43.44).
“It feels great,” Corbett said. “All the hard work I’ve put in since I was a freshman is showing. Now I’m going to state. I’m really excited.”
Bonita Vista sophomore Jerry Stokes, the Metro king in the high jump at 6-4 and the gold medalist at the Division I finals, also at 6-4, had to negotiate a 6-6 PR to place third at the section meet to extend his season by another week.
Mission Bay sophomore Alijah Cheeks attempted 6-10 before settling for a winning 6-8 mark.
“It’s exciting,” Stokes said. “I never thought I’d qualify for state this early as a sophomore.”
Hawkins, Williams, Mack and Oluwa will each compete in two events this weekend, not too shabby at all.
There’s more.
Eastlake finished in fourth place in the girls 4×400 relay at 3:53.60 but met the automatic qualifying standard to advance to the state meet. Team members include junior Samara Maldonado, seniors Jenna Cesena and Sheridan Roche and freshman Kareli Rascon.
There were three Metro medal-winners in girls 400 dash. Joining Hawkins on the award stand were Eastlake’s Rascon (fourth, 56.39 PR) and Olympian’s Ruiz (eighth, 57.90). All three dipped under the one-minute mark.
In relay events, medals went to teams representing Otay Ranch in the girls 4×100 (fifth, 48.55) and Olympian (sixth, 48.63).
Otay Ranch’s runners included senior Shamaya Beasaly, junior Anaya Carter, sophomore Shilah Coco and Mack while the Olympian quartet featured freshman Andrea Villareal Enciso, senior Sarai Rodriguez, Hawkins and junior Aubrey Tibayan.
Hawkins and Mack each finished the section meet with three medals.
Eastlake junior Mason Maryan, who cleared 6-2 to place second in the high jump at the Division I finals, cleared 6-0 to place sixth at the section meet.
Bonita Vista senior Christina Harris was a double individual medalist in the girls triple jump (fifth, 37-0.25) and long jump (seventh, 17-3.25). The triple jump showcased two Metro medalists as Eastlake’s Roche placed fourth in 37-3.5.
Olympian’s Tibayan was sixth in the girls 100 with an 11.75 PR.
Otay Ranch sophomore Gio Spain placed seventh in the boys shot put (47-10.25) to leave the field with a medal while Eastlake sophomore David Branco placed eighth in the discus throw (148-8) to also leave the venue with something shiny and metallic.
Mater Dei Catholic senior Alessandra Rael finished eighth in the girls long jump (17-3) to give South County two medalists in the event.
In relay events, medals went to teams representing Otay Ranch in the girls 4×100 (fifth, 48.55) and Olympian (sixth, 48.63).
Otay Ranch’s runners included senior Shamaya Beasaly, junior Anaya Carter, sophomore Shilah Coco and Mack while the Olympian quartet featured freshman Andrea Villareal Enciso, senior Sarai Rodriguez, Hawkins and Tibayan.
Hawkins and Mack each finished the section meet with three medals.
Olympian junior Jack Degenhardt just missed snaring a medal with 10th-place finishes in both the 1600 (4:25.70) and 3200 (9:42.65) running events. A staggering 16 runners finished under 10 minutes in the boys 3200.
Olympian senior Collin Gainer also just missed earning a medal with a 10th-place mark (42-11.75) in the boys triple jump.
San Ysidro senior Luis Romero placed 10th in both the 400 dash (49.69) and 800 run (1:59.03) as the 2025 South Bay League champion in both events.
A fourth-place medalist at the Division I finals in the boys pole vault by clearing 14-8, Mesa League champion Dane von Guenthner placed 13th at the section finals with a vault of 13-8. Similarly, Bonita Vista senior Adrian Cruz tied for third in the boys high jump at the division finals (6-0) but placed in a tie for 12th in the section meet at 5-10.
Helix (171 points) won boys section title with a commanding 61-point bulge over runner-up Mt. Carmel (110 points). Otay Ranch and Mater Dei Catholic tied with 42 points to place 22nd among the 64 scoring boys teams while Eastlake (25.38 points) was 29th, Olympian (20.88 points) was 33rd and Bonita Vista (19.5 points) was 38th.
“This was our senior-laden team,” Helix coach Rodney Van said. “This was the year that we could get this done.”
Del Norte won the girls team title with 174.5 points ahead of Steele Canyon with 148 points. Helix ws 16th with 54.5 points while Grossmont was 22nd with 39 points, followed by Santana in 29th place with 31 points. Monte Vista was 34th with 20 points.
Olympian tied Mt. Carmel for 10th place in the girls team standings with 66 points while Otay Ranch was 17th with 51 points and Mater Dei Catholic was 38th with 19 points
Carlsbad senior Makenna Herbst made her section exit after a superlative local career by winning the girls 800 run in 2:03.30 (eight seconds ahead of the section runner-up and blowing aside th exiting record of 2:07.12 by Poway’s Tessa Buswell in 2024) and helped the Lady Lancers claim the 4×400 relay in a new meet record time of 3:48.52.
Many of her marks rank nationally. She leads the state in the girls 800 at 2:04.72. She will continue her track career at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. She will become a Razorback with her sister Morgan.
All inclusive
This year’s meet continued the recent installment of Paralympic-style events such as the wheelchair and ambulatory 100, 200 and 400 dashes, unified 100 dashs and wheelchair, ambulatory and unified shot put.
West Hills senior Logan Mann finished first in th 400 ambulatory 400 dash in 1:17.17, second in the ambulatory 200 dash in 31.44 and third in the ambulatory 100 dash in 14.89.
Torrey Pines senior Ivan Chaban doubled in winning the ambulatory 100 dash in 13.95 and the ambulatory 200 dash in 28.96 while employing a blade-runner style prosthetic on his right foot. Chaban broke Mann’s existing record of 33.73 in the 200.
It was a stirring sight and evoked memories of the 2012 London Olympic Games and South Africa’s Oscar Pistorious, who won the right to compete among able-bodied runners on the world’s stage while competing on twin blades.
From the Sweetwater Union High School District, Eastlake junior Alec Morlett set a new meet record of 12.29 in the unified 100 dash while Hilltop junior Micah Hopkins set a new meet record in the boys unified shot put at 33-3.
In the unified 4×100 mixed gender relay, Southwest A (57.28) finished runner-up to Clairemont A (51.83) while Eastlake A (58.91) was third, Montgomery A (1:05.41) was fourth, Eastlake B (1:05.71) was fifth and Montgomery B (1:11.51) was sixth.
