SANTA ROSA — Zuhuri Manley of Clear Lake, Nick Dellia, Victor Montanez and Amber Hart of Middletown, and Arnulfo Vargas of Kelseyville are headed to the Meet of Champions this weekend at U.C. Berkeley”s Edwards Stadium.
Those select five punched their ticket to the MOC, which is the qualifier for the CIF State Championships on June 1-2, by either finishing in the top three of their events or, in Vargas” case, by unexpectedly moving up a notch during the North Coast Section Class A Meet on Saturday at Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa.
Boys
Manley was the only Lake County winner and he did it in impressive fashion, capturing the long jump in 22 feet, 1 1/2 inches, which is not far off the meet record of 22-2 3/4 and just a half-inch shy of the Lake County record of 22-2 set by Clear Lake”s John Glazier in 2010. The junior is the Redwood Empire long jump leader (meaning both small school and large) this season.
“He brought his A game for the long jump,” Clear Lake coach Lars Ewing said. “It”s all coming together for him.”
While the 22-1 1/2 jump, which came on the third of his six attempts, was a personal best, according to Ewing, the Clear Lake coach said Manley has plenty more left in him.
“He went 21-11 in his first meet of the season and then he tweaked his hamstring in mid-April. He”s been nursing that ever since.”
As a precaution, Ewing has held Manley out of another of his best events, the 200 meters.
“We”ve been holding him back and he”s not really at 100 percent yet. That has allowed us to focus on the long jump,” Ewing said.
“I think he”s got a 23-footer in him,” Ewing added. “I would not be surprised if he finishes in the top four (necessary to advance to state). I”m looking forward to the meet.”
Dellia”s path to the MOC came in not one but two events as he finished second in both the shotput and discus.
Montanez placed second in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.13, bested only by Carlos Portillo of Fort Bragg (41.19).
Vargas didn”t place in the top three in the triple jump, but his fourth-place mark of 42-9 1/2, which is a personal best, will get him to the MOC anyway because the third-place finisher, Isaiah Boone of Lick Wilmerding, announced he would not be competing in Berkeley.
Manley, a junior, won the long jump in front of Sean Cook of Redwood Christian, who came in second in 21-9 1/2. Middletown”s Tanner Alves was fourth in 20-8 1/4 and Vargas was sixth in 20-1.
Dellia, who broke his own school record in the shotput a half-dozen times this season, uncorked a toss of 44-10 on Saturday. Only Devin Wong of Fremont Christian did better at 45-7. Clear Lake”s Julio Gonzales came in fifth at 41-3 1/4.
In the discus, Dellia”s best throw traveled 124-8, more than three inches farther than the third-place throw of Owen Dayton of Stuart Hall, but nearly 14 inches behind winner Antoine Nathaniel of California School for the Deaf (138-7).
Vargas finished behind Leith Butler of Fort Bragg (45-4), Cook of Redwood Christian (44-2 3/4) and Boone of Lick Wilmerding (42-11 1/2) in the triple jump. Austin Benson of Middletown was sixth in a personal-best 41-10 1/2.
As a sophomore last season, Vargas finished third at the sectional meet with a jump of 40-10 and placed 16th the following weekend at the MOC.
While his jump of 42-9 1/2 on Saturday was a personal best, Kelseyville track coach Rob Ishihara believes Vargas can do better at the MOC.
“He probably has a 43 or a 44 in him if everything goes right,” Ishihara said.
Middletown”s 4×400 relay team of Benson, Barrett Southern, Anthonie Guzman and Alves came in fifth in 3 minutes, 39.40 seconds.
Middletown”s varsity boys also placed fifth out of the 27 teams present with 32 points. Fort Bragg won the team section title with 60 points, edging out Lick Wilmerding (58) and Stuart Hall (56).
“Saturday went great,” Middletown coach Louise Owens said of the performance of both her boys and girls. “We had a lot of kids PR, and you can”t ask for more than that. We”re excited to have three kids move on in four events.”
Middletown qualified two athletes for the MOC a year ago – Alves in the long jump and Cheyenne Snow in the shotput.
The fifth-place finish by the boys” team is the best finish ever by a Middletown team at sectionals, according to Owens.
“The kids did wonderful. We”re peaking at the right time and the results show it,” Owens said.
Girls
Middletown”s Hart was the lone Lake County girl to qualify for the MOC, doing it with a third-place time of 17.35 in the 100 hurdles. Amelia King of University won the event in 16.09 and Kayla Schelling of Redwood Christian was the runner-up at 17.28. Hart added a seventh-place finish in the 300 hurdles at 51.99. Clear Lake”s Jessica Asbury was sixth in 51.90.
Also for Clear Lake, Nadine Bradley finished fourth in the high jump (4-10), fifth in the 100 (13.15) and seventh in the 200 (27.45).
“She barely missed out in the long jump,” Ewing said of Bradley. “But she”s only a junior, so she”s got next year. This will be a good experience for her.”
Other notable finishes were Amber Drake”s fifth in the long jump (15-2 1/2) for Upper Lake, and Kelly Wilkinson”s sixth in the triple (30-7) for Middletown. Clear Lake”s Kelsie Lawson added an eight-place finish in the 1,600 (5:39.58).
