ST. HELENA — Nadine Bradley made sure the Clear Lake Cardinals wouldn”t come empty-handed from St. Helena during the Coastal Mountain Conference Track Championships on a warm Saturday afternoon in the Napa Valley.
Bradley won two events, contributed to a third victory and also had a second-place finish as the Cardinals won the meet with 92 points to runner-up Middletown”s 57. As a result, Clear Lake ties Middletown, the undefeated dual-meet winner, for the conference championship in 2012.
“We ended up as co-champions and I hate to call it a surprise, but it was a great surprise to end with,” Clear Lake coach Lars Ewing said. “I certainly wasn”t expecting it.”
Bradley”s big day included wins in the 100 meters (13.37 seconds) and high jump (4 feet, 8 inches). Her time in the 100 was the best this year in the CMC. She also ran a leg on Clear Lake”s winning 4×100 relay team (53.97). Bradley”s only second came in the 200 (27.47).
“She rises to the occasion,” Ewing said of the junior standout. “She did a great job.”
While Bradley had the biggest day among the Cardinals, she had plenty of help from her teammates as far as contributing to the team win.
? Jessica Asbury registered seconds in the 300 hurdles (51.17) and long jump (14-6) as well as a third in the triple jump (28-11 3/4).
? Kelsie Lawson finished second in the 800 (2 minutes, 36.20 seconds) and was third in the 1,600 (5:43.65).
? Amanda Morton was third in the 100 (13.97) and fifth in the 200 (28.88).
Runner-up Middletown picked up firsts in the 100 hurdles, where Amber Hart won in 17.26, the top time in the CMC this season; and in the triple jump, where Emily Reed cleared 30-2 1/4. The Mustangs also picked up a second in the high jump as Amber Ramponi (4-6) was the runner-up to Clear Lake”s Bradley, and a second in the 4×100 (54.85) behind champion Clear Lake.
Hart added a third-place finish in the 300 hurdles (51.8) and the Middletown 4×400 relay (4:42.54) team finished third behind champion Cloverdale and runner-up Sonoma Academy.
The young Upper Lake Cougars, 10th out of 14 teams in the overall point standings, picked up a third-place finish from freshman Bianca Cruz in the 3,200 (14:13.06), a pair of fourths from freshman Amber Drake in the 100 (14.06) and 200 (28.63), and fifths from Drake in the 100 hurdles (19.56) and freshman Heather Hankins in the 100 (14.29).
Kelseyville, 11th in the team standings, received its best finish, a second, from Alex Pruett in the discus (89-4). Elisa Borg was fourth in the 100 hurdles (18.84).
Varsity boys
Fort Bragg dominated the team scoring with 135 points to Middletown”s 91 and host St. Helena”s 90.
Lake County athletes picked up firsts in the long jump where Clear Lake”s Zuhuri Manley won with a leap of 21-6 1/2, and in the shotput where Nick Dellia had a toss of 45-9, the best in the CMC this season. Dellia also added a second in the discus (115-8) while Manely picked up a third in the 100 (11.82).
Manley was held out of the 200 and 4×100 relay, according to Ewing, because of a sore hamstring.
“We wanted him to focus on the long jump and the 100,” Ewing said. “We didn”t want him overdoing it.”
Other second-place finishes went to Middletown”s Victor Montanez in the 300 hurdles (42.62) and Tanner Alves in the long jump (20-0 1/2), to Kelseyville”s Arnulfo Vargas in the triple jump (40-5), and to the Middletown 4×100 relay team (46.07).
Third-place finishers were Alves in the 400 (52.31), Middletown”s Nick Santos in the 800 (2:08.05) and high jump (5-4), Middletown”s Barrett Southern in the 300 hurdles (44.16), Clear Lake”s Julio Gonazales in the shotput (41-3), Middletown”s Austin Benson in the triple jump (39-11 1/2), and to the Middletown 4×400 relay team (3:37.26).
The big story at this year”s meet in the varsity boys” division was St. Helena”s Tutui Gomes, who set meet records en route to winning the 200 (22.60) and 400 (49.83). His winning time in the 400 is the second best in CMC history.
JV boys
Following on the heels of an undefeated dual-meet season, the Clear Lake Cardinals dominated the opposition on Saturday with 192 points. Fort Bragg was a distant second with 92.
“Our JV guys didn”t lose a league meet and they won pretty convincingly here to complete an undefeated season, and that was encouraging,” Ewing said with an eye toward Clear Lake”s future. “A bunch of them are going to help us.”
Kenyon Donald won the 110 hurdles (19.43), long jump (17-1 1/2) and triple jump (36-1 1/2) while Gabe Strong added firsts in the shotput (40-7) and discus (109-4).
The Cardinals also picked up wins from Brice Beare in the 800 (2:11.53), Stephen O”Neill in the 300 hurdles (53.46), Jonah Wilcox in the high jump (5-2), and from its 4×400 relay team (4:12.96).
Seconds went to Clear Lake”s Wilcox in the 400, Beare in the 1,600 and Christian Vander Jagt in the 3,200.
Middletown was led by Wyatt Hall, who finished second in the 200 (25.81) and shotput (38-8) and third in the discus (90-8).
For Upper Lake, Ian Seevers had a productive day with a second in the discus (91-3) and thirds in the shotput (38-1) and long jump (16-1).
Kelseyville received a second-place finish from Jacob Pfann in the high jump (5-0).
The top eight varsity finishers in individual events and top four varsity relay teams qualify for the North Coast Section Class A Championships next Saturday at Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa. The Meet of Champions follows on May 25-26 at Edwards Stadium on the U.C. Berkeley campus.
