Section’s top track athletes travel to Elk Grove for Masters

The track and field season has funneled down to the cruelest cut of all – also known as the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Championships.

The elimination process began with league championships, then the three section divisional meets last week, leading to today and Friday at Elk Grove High. About 150 Stanislaus District athletes have qualified for the section’s biggest meet, and all know what it will take to keep their season going.

Only the top three in each competition, plus those who meet or exceed the standard time or mark, will advance to the 98th CIF Championships at Clovis’ Buchanan High. The final destination is merely the nation’s best high school track and field meet each year.

Getting there is not easy.

Only nine from the area advanced last year, two more than 2014. In 2013, 10 went on, 16 in ’12, 12 in ’11 and 10 in ’10.

Obvious conclusion: Only the elite travel to Clovis.

Tops on that list is Oakdale senior Hannah Chappell, who is favored to win her fourth consecutive Masters title in the discus. She announced her season-peaking form with a launch of 156 feet, 6 inches – the best in the section by 25 feet and fourth in the state – at the Division II-III meet last week at Bella Vista.

Merced senior Daniel Ambriz will concentrate on the 800, where he is ranked second in the section (1:53.28), after he was disqualified for interference at the end of the 1600 at the D-I last week.

Then there’s Enochs junior Claire Seymour, who will return to the same Elk Grove track where she even surprised herself. Seymour placed second in the the 400 behind St. Francis’ Ariane Arndt, but it was her 55.48 – second only to Arndt in the section this season – that vaulted her into contender status this week. Seymour also is ranked 12th in the state.

Another emerging athlete is Gregori freshman Briseida Garcia. She ran an event-record 2:14.28 in the 800, fifth in the section, at Sacramento’s Meet of Champions last month. Only two other freshmen in the state have been faster this season.

Athletes who pursue a second straight state berth are Modesto Christian junior Nicole Warwick in the long jump, Pitman senior Kiana Clay in the 400 and Sonora sophomore Cassi Land in the 3200.

Thursday’s program, which starts with field events at 2 p.m., features finals in the girls high jump, boys triple jump, boys discus, boys pole vault, girls shot put and girls triple jump. Lane events begin at 4 p.m. with preliminary heats, as athletes attempt to qualify for Friday’s finals.

This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 4:32 PM with the headline "Section’s top track athletes travel to Elk Grove for Masters."