Local Digest: Sac-Joaquin Section Division I track finals Friday night at Elk Grove High
The Sac-Joaquin Section Division I Track and Field Championships reaches the finals Friday with the season’s end now in sight.
The top eight finishers and top four consolation finishers return to Elk Grove High for the Section Masters next week. One finals race to watch Friday night is in the girls 400 meters, where Enochs sophomore Claire Seymour and Pitman junior Kiana Clay figure to be contenders.
Seymour set a school-record 56.61 in Wednesday’s trials, the sixth-best time in the competition. Clay was next at 56.65. Others who did well during the first day were Downey sprinter Erykah Hall and Modesto hurdler Kendall McNair. Clay also recorded the fourth-best time in the 200 (25.38), and Hall was second overall in the 100 (12.30).
Pitman’s Isaiah Marable posted a 48.78, the day’s best time in the boys 400.
Finals were held in six field events Wednesday. Downey sophomore Anne Stuart, one of the section leaders in the high jump, leaped only 4-11 – off her best of 5-4 – and finished seventh. She can bounce back, however, next week.
Overachieving Pirates – The Modesto Junior College men’s track team overachieved this season in a major way. They placed fourth – best in school history – at the State Championships last weekend at College of San Mateo, anchored by Daniel Roberts’ triple in the hammer throw, shot put and discus. Roberts was named the Field Events Athlete of the Meet. The 4x100-meter relay team lowered its own school record and placed second.
Modesto totaled 49 points, trailing champion Mt. San Antonio’s 101. The Pirates beat fifth-place Riverside, which had won the last three state titles and six of the last seven. The Pirates took second at the Big 8 Conference meet and third at the NorCals.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so proud of my team,” coach Demitrius Snaer said.
Tom Moore meet – The Central Valley Roadrunners are hosts for the 10th annual Tom Moore Youth Classic track and field meet Saturday and Sunday at Ripon High. Hundreds of track athletes throughout the state will compete in the event, which saw 23 meet records broken a year ago. There is no admission charge for the meet, which is co-sponsored by the Ripon Community Foundation Association. It honors the late lifeblood of the Modesto Relays who at one time held the world record in the hurdles.
Softball
Warrior honored – Cal State Stanislaus senior pitcher and first baseman Jessica Varady earned second-team All-Region honors. Varady, a native of Livermore, batted .331 with a team-leading six home runs and 24 RBIs. She became Stanislaus’ first All-Region selection since Jordan Flora in 2011.
This story was originally published May 21, 2015 at 5:32 PM with the headline "Local Digest: Sac-Joaquin Section Division I track finals Friday night at Elk Grove High."