Canyon, Calabasas and Oaks Christian girls sprinters took center stage at the CIF Southern Section prelims last week that which served as the qualifier for the CIF-SS finals.
Each school was first or second in their respective divisions in the 4×100 relay and several runners reached the podium individually.
Each heat winner at the prelims, in addition to the runners with the next fastest time — a total of nine competitors — qualified for the CIF-SS finals that will be held Saturday at Moorpark High School.
Canyon ran the 4×100 girls relay in 46.56 seconds to finish first in Division 2. Alaya Graves-Hogains, Emoni Wright, Lyric Scott and Lanai Gant comprised the winning relay team.
Canyon also finished 1-2-3 in the 400 meters. Gant was first at 55.52, Graves-Hogains was second at 55.52 and Scott was third at 56.42.
The trio also qualified individually for the CIF-SS finals in the 200. Graves-Hogains was second (24.79), Gant was third (24.92) and Scott was sixth (24.93).
Canyon also took first in the girls 4×400 relay and Wright recorded 12.14 for fourth in the 100.
Calabasas and Oaks Christian dominated in Division 3. The Coyotes hit 46.04 in the girls 4×100 relay and the Lions ran the event in 47 seconds. Olivia Kirk, Marley Scoggins, Malia Rainey and Dejah Egans all ran for the Coyotes and Chiara Baker, Kyra Terry, Devyn Sproles and Rayah Rodriguez represented the Lions.
The two schools also claimed all six of the top qualifying spots in the girls 100. Scoggins (11.78), Rainey (11.79) and Kirk (11.81) finished first, second and third, respectively.
Devyn Sproles of Oaks Christian was fourth at 11.95 and her teammate, Kya Terry, was fifth at 12.04. Calabasas’ Egans was sixth at 12.23.
Scoggins was the top qualifier in the 200 with a time of 23.85. Kirk was second (24.05) and Rainey was third (24.26). Oaks Christian’s Rayah Rodriguez was fourth (24.30) and also finished first in the 400 (55.47).
Aja Johnson stays on top
Notre Dame thrower Aja Johnson was the top qualifier in the shot put and discus in Division 3. She had throws of 47 feet, 3/4 inches in shot put and 145-7 in discus. The senior is the No. 2 thrower in California this season in shot put and No. 3 in the state in discus.
Thousand Oaks’ Reagan Maguire was third in shot put in the division with a toss of 36-9 1/2. The Knights also had Sarah La Voie (36-7) and Natalie Buffolino (34-8) qualify for the finals.
Buffolino also threw 116-0 for second in girls discus. The top nine athletes in each field event qualified for the CIF-SS finals.
Newbury Park flies through distance events
Micah Dickran was first in the boys 1,600 (4:16.17) at the CIF-SS Division 2 prelims and finished ninth in the 800 (1:58.03). The Panthers’ Sophia Grant was fourth in the 1,600 (5:02.04) and third in the girls 800 (2:16.40).
Newbury Park also had a first-place finisher in the boys 100 when Nicholas Durbiano crossed the finish line in 10.54 seconds. Teammate Jaden Griffin came in ninth (10.75).
Durbiano had a big day in the 200, clocking 21.75 for fourth place.
More first-place finishers from the CIF-SS prelims
In Division 2, Canyon’s Jordehn Gammage had the top time in the boys 110 hurdles (14.58) and West Ranch’s Tamea Crear was the top qualifier in the 100 (11.73) and 200 (24.56).
Natalie Cottrill from Hart cleared 5-2 for first in the girls high jump qualifying. Westlake’s Claudia Turner cleared 10-0 in the girls pole vault and Canyon’s Nathan Hernandez reached 13-6 in the boys pole vault in Division 2.
Golden Valley’s Nyah Fields nearly doubled in the long jump and triple jump in Division 2 qualifying, coming in first in the long jump (19-6) and second in the triple jump (38-7).
Grayson Rivera represented Hart in the boys Division 2 shot put (51-5 1/2) and Lawson Grace threw 151-4 for first place for Westlake.
In Division 3, Notre Dame’s Beckman Borquez finished the 110 hurdles in 14.29 for first and Calabasas’ Deja Egans was the top qualifier in the girls 300 hurdles in 44.69.
Thousand Oaks jumper Madison Thai cleared 5-2 in the girls high jump to advance to the CIF-SS finals. Chaminade’s Matthew Browner reached 6-2 to finish first in boys high jump qualifying. In pole vault, Sofia Rakfeldt of Harvard-Westlake and Taya Frodis of Thousand Oaks cleared 10-0 to move on to the finals.
Christopher Toppe was the top qualifier for Thousand Oaks in the boys long jump (23-1 3/4) and Notre Dame’s Joshua Harel had a mark of 44-4 in triple jump.
In Division 4, Demare Dezeurn of Alemany had the top time in the 100 (10.56) and placed second in the 200 (21.86).
Viewpoint’s Darren Haggerty doubled in the high jump and long jump with measurements of 6-0 and 21-1 3/4.
Crespi’s James Moffat qualified in the shot put (49-3 1/4).