By Michael West, Contributing Writer
The Olympics opened last Friday with a controversial ceremony, but all eyes will certainly be on the Track and Field events this weekend. Although it’s not the same stage, San Diego’s finest Track and Field athletes made headlines in Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High School, Clovis on May 24th and 25th. Fifteen athletes from the San Diego Section qualified for the CIF Preliminary events, ten of whom earned “gold” in the Finals. Here are five notable standouts from that record-breaking performance.
Jaelyn Williams was the only competitor that didn’t have a qualifying round Friday, and the Eastlake long-distance runner closed the meet in fantastic fashion. She not only won the 3200 Meter title, but she erased a record time of 9:59.08 set by Gioana Lopizzo last year-clocking in at 9:57.11.
One week before the State Finals, the Junior eclipsed the 1600-meter record at the San Diego Section Finals with a time of 4:40.29. She bested Hannah Riggins’ (of Del Norte) time of 4:41.42-which only lasted a year. Ironically, Williams decided to focus solely on the 3200-meter race in Clovis.
The fireworks started on Friday the 24th, however. Annisa Bowen-Fontenot (San Diego High) easily qualified for her final in the 100 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.74. The Junior followed that up Saturday by breaking Aaliya McCormick’s 2022 time of 13.61 with a 13.59 time of her own.
Amirah Shaheed sparkled in the bright lights Friday, qualifying for the 100 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, and 300-meter dash. The flashy Shaheed, an Oregon commit, finished third in the 300 Meter Dash, and fifth in the 100 on Saturday. Shaheed struggled in her 200 200-meter dash qualifier but struck gold in the Finals with a 23.53 time.
Brandon Arrington (Mt. Saint Miguel), highly expected to perform well at State, jump-started his efforts to capture gold with an impressive 100 Meter Dash qualifying time of 10.27. He followed that feat by matching the state record in his 200 200-meter dash qualifying burst with a 20.55 time.
On Saturday, the Sophomore peaked at 10.30 in the 100-still earning gold. Minutes later, he matched his 200 Meter Dash time of 20.55 to capture gold as well. The mercurial phenom is seeking to erase both Kenon Christon’s 100-meter record (of 10.20 seconds) and 200-meter record of 20.55 next year.
Payton Smith (La Jolla High School) qualified for her Saturday match with a third place showing of 55.05 seconds. On Saturday, the Michigan-bound speedster blew away the field, earning gold with a 53.39 time-eclipsing a 50-year-old school record set by Janet Wiser in 1974.
Saving the best for last, these athletes closed out a fine year in San Diego High School Sports. Congratulations to San Diego’s best High Schoolers for their record-setting performance!
