Oakdale’s Chappell settles for fifth in discus at state meet

Oakdale High School junior Hannah Chappell competes to win, not to finish second like last year or, Saturday night, fifth.

That said, each competition becomes its own entity, and when all the scores were tabulated, the discus star wasn’t displeased with her performance at the 97th CIF Track and Field Championships.

“I did pretty good after a not-so-great warmup. I really had to build to get up there today,” Chappell said after earning a medal for the second year in a row at state.

The state meet, arguably the nation’s best gathering of track athletes each year, produced its usual thrills for a crowd of 8,322 at Buchanan High’s Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Calaveras’ Hannah Hull capped her excellent prep career with a ninth-place finish in the 1,600 meters. Later, Sonora freshman Cassi Land laid a foundation with her 19th in the 3,200.

Chappell again stepped onto the podium, thanks to a throw of 148 feet, 3 inches in the third round. That effort illustrated her competitive instincts. Until then, she stood eighth out of 12, and only the top nine earn their final three throws.

“I’m good under pressure,” she said.

Though she was an encouraging fourth heading into the finals, Chappell – a three-time Sac-Joaquin Section Masters champion – couldn’t sustain her slow buildup.

Ironically, she caromed the platter off the cage on her final try, the one that felt the best to her.

The win went to Valley Christian-San Jose senior Ronna Stone, who padded her margin of victory on the final throw of the event to 161-9. Kendall Mader of Newbury Park took second (155-3). The favored junior Elena Bruckner, Stone’s heralded teammate, settled for third (154-9), and Petaluma senior Allison Scranton was fourth (149-4). Chappell led Bruckner until the fifth round.

Chappell steps forward in her development. In the cauldron that is the state finals, she produced a 138-7 as a freshman (seventh), a 140-6 last year (second) and the 148-3 Saturday.

Better still, her lifetime best of 151-2 last week at Masters – despite an aerodynamically negative tailwind – resulted in her season breakthrough. She believes she can top that at nationals next month in Chicago.

“After another year of growth physically and with my mechanics, I think I can win (state). I can do it,” she said.

Hull, whose Masters victory last week was the first by a Calaveras girl, elbowed through traffic in the faraway second pack of the 1,600. She pushed herself into sixth but, tiring slightly, fell back to ninth with a time of 4:53.03. That was off her lifetime best of 4:51 Friday night, when she willed herself into a fourth-place finish and a spot in the finals. Her season ended at the state trials last year.

Amanda Gehrich of Tesoro kicked to the win after a three-way dual (4:39.33).

“It was a privilege, definitely,” summarized Hull, who thanked her coach, Doug Avrit, and her teammates, family, friends and supporters. She leaves Calaveras with school records in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200. She also stretched the Redskins’ Mother Lode League dominance to seven straight years.

“It was more nerve-racking (Friday). I was actually more excited than nervous today,” Hull said. “Today, I knew the pace would go out and I would just follow. It definitely was exciting. I felt good until the last 300 meters, when I was locking up.”

Land, third at Masters, worked hard for her 19th in the 3,200. Her time of 10:54.28 was a few fractions off her 9-second PR set at Masters. Destiny Collins of Great Oak stalked Davis-Yolo’s Fiona O’Keeffe the entire race, then out-kicked her on the final lap for the win (9:53.79).

“This is a lot more competitive with a lot faster people, and they push you,” Land said in reference to her first experience at state. “I know I’ll compete the next three years and be more toward the front.”

This story was originally published June 6, 2015 at 10:21 PM with the headline "Oakdale’s Chappell settles for fifth in discus at state meet."