Double dandies
| Tuesday, May 26 2009 03:40 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, May 27 2009 02:01 PM
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Casey Christie / The Californian Centennial's Alana Alexander competes in the triple jump competition, Saturday, at Buchanan in Clovis during the Central Section track and field championships.
Casey Christie / The Californian Bakersfield's sprinter Lenden Gant runs the third leg of the 4 x 100 meter race, Saturday, in Clovis, during the Central Section track and field championships. BHS came in 5th in their heat during this race Saturday.
Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale's Alex Collatz sends the shot put flying, Saturday, at Buchanan High during the Central Section track and field championships in Clovis.
Casey Christie / The Californian Centennial's Alana Alexander competes in the triple jump competition, Saturday, at Buchanan in Clovis during the Central Section track and field championships.
Casey Christie / The Californian Bakersfield's Brushay Wandick, right, passes Edison's runner, left, Saturday, at Buchanan High School in Clovis during the anchor of the women's 4 x 100 relay race during the Central Section track and field championships.
Casey Christie / The Californian Bakersfield's sprinter Lenden Gant runs the third leg of the 4 x 100 meter race, Saturday, in Clovis, during the Central Section track and field championships. BHS came in 5th in their heat during this race Saturday.
Casey Christie / The Californian Frontier's Matt Darr let the discus fly during the Central Section track and field championships, Saturday, at Buchanan High in Clovis.
Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale's Alex Collatz sends the shot put flying, Saturday, at Buchanan High during the Central Section track and field championships in Clovis.
Casey Christie / The Californian Shafter's Anna Jelmini competes in the shot put, Saturday, in Clovis at Buchanan High School during the Central Section track and field championships.
Casey Christie / The Californian Centennial's Alana Alexander competes in the triple jump competition, Saturday, at Buchanan in Clovis during the Central Section track and field championships.
Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale's Alex Collatz has a good jump during triple jump competition, Saturday, at Buchanan High School in Clovis during the Central Section track and field championships.
Casey Christie / The Californian Bakersfield's Brushay Wandick, right, passes Edison's runner, left, Saturday, at Buchanan High School in Clovis during the anchor of the women's 4 x 100 relay race during the Central Section track and field championships.
Casey Christie / The Californian Bakersfield's 4 x 100 meter runners Michael Norwood, right, just passed the baton to Lenden Gant, left, in the third leg of the race Saturday, in Clovis at Buchanan High School during the Central Section track and field championships. BHS came in 5th in their heat.
Casey Christie / The Californian Bakersfield's sprinter Lenden Gant runs the third leg of the 4 x 100 meter race, Saturday, in Clovis, during the Central Section track and field championships. BHS came in 5th in their heat during this race Saturday.
Casey Christie / The Californian Shafter's Anna Jelmini had a great day during Saturday's Central Section track and field championships in Clovis.
CLOVIS Adding yet another mark to an already impressive resume, Shafter's Anna Jelmini and Chris Schwartz from Foothill can add 2009 Central Section champion to the list.
Jelmini, a already owns the national record in the discus and the top state mark in the shotput, posted meet records in both events at Saturday's Grand Masters track meet at Buchanan High.
She opened the shot put with her best throw, 51 feet, 9 inches, and then posted a 51-51/2 toss in the finals to outdistance teammate Lacie Rasley (43-2) and Stockdale's Alex Collatz (40-41/4). Jelmini then set the meet mark with a 182-8 heave in the discus. Collatz was second, while Rasley wound up fourth (130-2).
"I thought it was solid," Jelmini said. "It's just all about making it to the state meet at this point. If you don't make it to the state meet, it doesn't matter what you're ranked."
In the 1,600, Schwartz a state champion in cross country ran a personal-best 4:14.37, knocking more than 15 second off his season best, and then bested the field in the 3,200 in 9:20.22.
"I felt really good, it was a nice easy pace the first three laps," said Schwartz after the 1,600. "On that last 600 I just took off."
The top three finishers in each event qualified for the state meet, scheduled for two weeks at Buchanan.
Fontier throw Matt Darr was also a double winner, taking first in the discus (177-6) and shot put (60-73/4).
The Ridgeview boys finished second as a team on the strength of strong performances by Johnny Carter and Isiah Purvis. Carter, who won the state title in the triple jump last year as a freshman, posted a 47-4 to win by four inches.
Purvis won the 200-meter dash in 21.68 and was second in the 400 with a 48.24. He also anchored the 4 x 400 relay, nearly rallying the Wolf Pack to the section title. Ridgeview was fifth when he took the baton and lost to Centennial at the tape by .01 of a second.
"I'm just trying to get on the podium every time I can," Purvis said. "I just want to end my senior year with a bang."
Other state qualifiers include: Liberty's Amanda Clinches in the girls pole vault (second, 11-9) and Marty Afrentranger in the boys long jump (first, 22-9), Golden Valley's Shanesha Epps in the girls long jump (third, 18-5), Bakersfield's girls 4 x 400 relay (third, 4:01.68) and 4 x 100 relay (second, 47.93) and sprinter Brushey Wandick (second in both the 100 and 200 in 12.09 and 25.00, respectively), West's George Robbins in the high jump (first, 6-8), Garces' Phillip McCollum in the high jump (second, 6-6), Stockdale's Nathan Alada in the 100 (second, 10.84) and Ridgeview's Jerrid Lewis in the 800 (first, 1:54.63).
Frontier's Taylor Jackson recovered from a hitting a hurdle in the 110 hurdles where she finished ninth, to win the 300 hurdles in 44.35.
