2015 NCS Tri-Valley Championships
Amador Valley High School
Pleasanton CA
Saturday, May 22

RESULTS AT BOTTOM OF PAGE

Leach Turns Two Titles at NCS Tri-Valley

Knocking 3 seconds off her previous best, and moving to 2nd on the All-Time record list, Brighie Leach (15) began her day at Saturday's NCS Tri-Valley Championship meet with a wire to wire win in the 1600m. The senior star opened with splits of 71 and 72 on the Amador Valley High School oval before cruising through the final 2 laps to break the tape in 4:50.32. The time is tops in the NCS in 2015.

Leach's teammates, Toni Finnane (15) and Mary Orders (15), also looked strong in the 4-lap affair, placing 5th and 6th, respectively. The trio returned hours later for the 3200m, where they again qualified for the NCS Meet of Champions with top 7 finishes.

Unlike her aggressive start in the 1600m, Leach sat back in the pack during the opening stages of the 3200m race, crossing the half-way point in 5:31 before executing a measured push to catch the leader. And catcher her she did, closing in an impressive 5:07 for the final mile. With 250m left in the race, Leach passed Granada's Megan McCandless and streaked down the home stretch for the win.

Finnane also separated from the pack in the 2nd half, moving up to 3rd place, while Orders finished 5th to complete the best double of her career.

Also advancing on to next week's championships was Hana Sun (16), who nearly equalled her previous 3200m PR, finishing 8th in 11:03.62, 10 seconds under the NCS qualifying standard.

Other MOC qualifiers included Juliet Arnswald (17), who improved her 300 hurdle time to take the 7th and final qualifying spot. Her 47.74 finish time is now 8th fastest in school history.

Niki Moore (17) and Parker Lothamer (15) each improved on their pervious 800m best, finishing 2nd and 5th, respectively. Moore's 1:56.60 lands him the 4th position on the record board while Lothamer's 1:57.43 is 6th All Time.

Joining Moore and Lothamer in the boys' distances at MOC will be Jared Yabu (17) and Kevin Buckley (15), who survived a tense 3200m race that opened in a 5-minute mile before surging home. Buckley, who finished 6th in 9:41.64, nearly equaled his 1600m PR in the 2nd half of the race!

The Cougars' featured 2 more runner-up finishers: Kelley Wirth (15) in the high Jump, and Sarah Cella (16) in the 800m. Cella held off a charging pack to dip under the 2:16 mark for the first time.

Jack Shurtz (15) flung the disc to 3rd place, and Maddy Daum (15) sent her platter 102 feet to claim the 7th qualifying spot.

NCS track and field: Amador Valley's Charles wins 100, 200
By Phil Jensenpjensen@bayareanewsgroup.com

PLEASANTON -- Amador Valley High sprinter Ja'Maun Charles got a racing idea from watching a replay of the Pac-12 track and field championships, and put it to good use at the North Coast Section Tri-Valley Area Championships.

"I saw the guys were taking their drive phase for a longer time before coming up and finishing," said Charles, who then used that sprinting technique for the start of races in the boys 100. "When I got out, I stayed down and didn't pay attention to where I was."

Charles used that sprinting technique to win the boys 100 in 10.63 seconds (slightly wind-aided), and then came back to win the 200 in a wind-legal 21.62.

There were a number of excellent performances Saturday at Amador Valley.

Campolindo's Brighie Leach was a double winner in the girls 1600 (4:50.32) and 3200 (10:37.31). Entering Saturday, only four girls in the state had faster times this season than Leach's 1,600 clocking, according to DyeStatCal.com.

Leach won the races in different ways. In the 1,600, she took the lead in the first 100 meters and had a five-second advantage at the 800 mark. In the 3,200, she didn't take the lead for good until she kicked in the final straightaway.

"I did a lot of 400s and 800s during league meets. I felt really confident about my speed," Leach said.

Carondelet's Christina Chenault also won two girls individual events -- the long jump (17 feet, 111/2 inches) and a meet record-setting 39-111/4 mark in the triple jump. Entering this weekend, only three other girls in the state besides herself had a better triple jump mark than that this season, according to DyeStatCal.com.

Chenault took the lead for good on her first attempt of the long jump (17-7) and triple jump (38-3 1/2), yet the senior was looking for better marks in both events Saturday.

"I'm ready to PR," she said. "It's frustrating, but I definitely will have to think about it and work on it."

Other girls meet records were set by Dublin's Mecca McGlaston in the 100 intermediate hurdles (13.86 wind legal) and the Carondelet 1600 relay team of Mikayla Scott, Julianna Ruotolo, Mia Avila and Avery Avina (3:50.91). Entering this weekend, only four girls in the state had a better wind-legal time than McGlaston's clocking in the 100 hurdles Saturday, according to DyeStatCal.com.

Boys who won two individual events included De La Salle's Roc Johnson (the 1,600 in 4:23.83 and the 3200 in 9:38.54) and Amador Valley's Nathan Esparza in the shot put (58-4) and discus (170-1). Johnson ran 61-second last laps in both races.

De La Salle won the boys team title with 74 points, and Carondelet was the girls team champion (85 points).

In the girls 300 low hurdles, Dougherty Valley's Michelle Thompson narrowly missed breaking the meet record with a time of 44.23, just .01 from the record. California freshman Alyssa Brewer set a school record in winning the girls 400 in 55.52 and also broke her personal record by 1.12 seconds. Deer Valley's Briana Guillory also broke her personal record to win the girls 200 in 24.50.

VARSITY GIRLS RESULTS

400 Relay Marla Wong-Lauren Williams-Julie Hyatt-Juliet Arnswald=51.47, 1600 Brighie Leach 4:50.32, Toni Finnane 4:59.48, Mary Orders 5:03.74, 400 Julie Hyatt 61.52, 100 Lauren Williams 12.98, 800 Sarah Cella 2:15.99, 300 Hurdles Juliet Arnswald 47.74, Marla Wong 51.61, 200 Lauren Williams 27.39, 3200 Brighie Leach 10:37.31, Toni Finnane 10:51.87, Mary Orders 10:59.19, Hana Sun 11:03.61, Hannah Ruane 11:22.97, 1600 Relay Julie Hyatt 61.7-Sarah Cella 61.8-Juliet Arnswald 62.5-Kristy Chiang 64.7=4:10.84, HJ Kelley Wirth 5-2, PV Miranda Protzen 8-6, DT Maddy Daum 102-1

Team scores De La Salle 74, Amador Valley 65, Deer Valley 45, Heritage 38.5, Granada 32, Pittsburg 31, Northgate 29, San Ramon Valley 28, Campolindo 21, Foothill 20.5, Alhambra 20, California 18, Dublin 16, Clayton Valley Charter 14, College Park 12, Liberty 8, Acalanes 8, Miramonte 7, Dougherty Valley 4, Las Lomas 4, Monte Vista 1

VARSITY BOYS RESULTS

400 Jonathan Hughes 49.93, 800 Niki Moore 1:56.60, Parker Lothamer 1:57.43, 200 Jonathan Hughes 23.16, 3200 Jared Yabu 9:41.02, Kevin Buckley 9:41.64, 1600 Relay Parker Lothamer 51.7-Jonathan Hughes 50.6-Niki Moore 51.9-Mohammad Movahedi 51.1=3:25.26, HJ Justin Pfaff 5-10, PV Mohammad Movahedi 12-0, SP Jack Shurtz NS, DT Jack Shurtz 153-0

Team scores Carondelet 85, Deer Valley 54, California 50, Campolindo 47, Miramonte 37.5, Acalanes 32, Monte Vista 32, Granada 28, Las Lomas 23.5, Dougherty Valley 17, San Ramon Valley 17, Liberty 16, Amador Valley 15, Dublin 12, Pittsburg 10, Livermore 8, Clayton Valley Charter 4, Heritage 4, Foothill 3, Alhambra 1

CHECK OUT COMPLETE NCS TRI-VALLEY RESULTS HERE!