Stockdale's Collatz, three others advance at state track finals
| Friday, Jun 03 2011 11:07 PM
Last Updated Friday, Jun 03 2011 11:18 PM
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Alex Collatz of Stockdale High School throws the discus at the CIF State Track & Field Championship Prelims on Friday, June 3 at Buchanan High School in Fresno, Ca.
Christian King of Centennial High School enters the final stretch of the Boys 300m Hurdles at the CIF State Track & Field Championship Prelims on Friday, June 3 at Buchanan High School in Fresno, Ca.
Blake Haney of Stockdale High School competes in the Boys 1600m run at the CIF State Track & Field Championship Prelims on Friday, June 3 at Buchanan High School in Fresno, Ca.
Independence High School hands off the baton for the second leg of the Girls 4x100m relay at the CIF State Track & Field Championship Prelims on Friday, June 3 at Buchanan High School in Fresno, Ca.
Bevan Wemhoff of Frontier High School attempts the 6'3" mark in the Boys High Jump at the CIF State Track & Field Championship Prelims on Friday, June 3 at Buchanan High School in Fresno, Ca.
Brena Andrews of Independence High School crosses the finish line in the Girls 100m Dash at the CIF State Track & Field Championship Prelims on Friday, June 3 at Buchanan High School in Fresno, Ca.
CLOVIS -- In years past, Stockdale's Alex Collatz knew the pressure of the CIF State Track and Field Championships but never quite the complete thrill of being here.
Consider that box checked, after Collatz -- a year after winning a state title but just five weeks into a return from serious knee injury -- threw her discus 164-2 on Friday outside Veterans Memorial Stadium to qualify first for today's state finals.
"No matter what happens, I really can't be unhappy," Collatz said. "Even my first throw, which wasn't that good, I was smling, because I've made it. You never know what can happen anymore."
Collatz's first two throws were pedestrian by her standards, even post-injury, 140-6 and 152-2. But her third, even though it came out of the ring a little awkwardly, flew perfectly down the right sector line and landed with a thud -- and Collatz's post-injury personal record.
"My technique is all over the place, and I've got to think about a thousand things, whereas last year, I didn't have to think at all," Collatz said. "I would just go through the motions and it would be good."
All of the marks from Friday's qualifying are wiped away for today's finals -- which begin at 6:30 p.m. for the girls discus -- so Collatz will have to do it again. But that doesn't bother the defending state champion; she's been through enough.
Collatz set a national junior-class record with a 180-9 last year and won the state meet by more than 10 feet with a 170-9. But she tore the anterior crucial ligament and some cartilage in her right knee in Stockdale's first volleyball game of the fall. Suddenly, her senior throwing season was in serious doubt.
But six-hour-a-day training sessions with her dad, Cal State Bakersfield track coach Alan Collatz, and intense physical therapy got Alex back to state.
"I've had to work so much harder this year than I've ever had to in my life," Collatz said. "And I'm not even throwing as far as I was. But just the fact that I'm here proves how hard I've worked."
Hers was part of a great day for Stockdale, which also saw freshman Asia Chesley qualify for the girls high jump finals. Chesley matched her PR by clearing 5-4, the same as the other 11 finalists.
This despite a miss on her first two attempts at 5-2, something she chalked up to running up too close to the bar before jumping.
"I panicked," Chesley said. "It was nerve-racking being here. But I knew I could make it."
Today, Chesley hopes to clear a new PR, something she thinks will land her on the medal stand.
"I want to go 5-6 or higher," she said. "My nerves have gone down."
Stockdale's third finalist will be boys 3,200-meter runner Cameron Miller. There is no preliminary in the meet's longest race. His teammate, freshman Blake Haney, narrowly missed qualifying in the 1,600. He ran 4:13.58, two spots and about a second away from reaching the final.
Still, Mustangs coach Dave Lonsinger was thrilled with the day's results.
"Three out of four is incredible," he said. "It's really hard to make the finals."
That was illustrated by nearly everyone else from Kern County. Burroughs junior Jayson Kovar, the state leader in the boys discus, threw 173-0 and qualified in eighth, but he and the Stockdale three were the only locals to make it to Saturday.
The top nine in most events qualified for the finals, and everyone else was a near miss. Few were closer than Centennial's Christian King, who ran 38.39 in the boys 300 hurdles for 10th place, significantly slower than his winning 37.74 at the Central Section finals and just .11 of a second behind ninth place.
"The competition got to me this time," King said. "When we run track, we have to run our own race, and I didn't do that. The pressure got to me."
King also ran a leg of Centennial's 1,600 relay team, which ended the day with a season-best 3:18.82. That too was only good for 10th place, five-hundredths of a second out of the top nine.
"It's a hell of a lot more motivation for next year," said King, who's a junior. "This was supposed to be my year. The team gave it all of our heart, but (qualification) just wasn't there."
Independence sophomore Brena Andrews helped the Falcons to a season-best 48.30 in the girls 400 relay, then had two near-misses of her own: She finished 11th in the 100 in 12.13 and 10th in the 200 in 24.87. Both were slower than she has ran before, and the 200 time was just one one-hundredth of a second out of the top nine.
Liberty pole vaulter Andrew Ramay and high jumpers Arik Smith of Bakersfield and Bevan Wemhoff of Frontier all cleared one height below the one that qualified but couldn't get over the bar that counted.
Add Shafter senior Lacie Rasley to the heartache crew, too. A two-time section shot put champion and a state medalist in the event last year, she fouled on her final throw and finished 11th with a 39-8. She also was 11th in the girls discus at 133-11.
"People don't realize how hard it is to make the top nine," Lonsinger said. "You've go to feel for some of those kids who got so close."
Results
CIF State Championships
Preliminaries at Veterans Memorial Stadium, Clovis
Top qualifiers and all locals
Boys
400 relay: 1. Corona-Roosevelt, 41.06; 13. Centennial 42.18. 1,600: 1. Gedyon, L.A.-Loyola, 4:10.39; 14. Haney, Stock, 4:13.58. 110H: 1. Cabral, Agoura, 13.58; no locals. 400: 1. Clark, L.A.-Dorsey, 47.58; no locals. 100: 1. McClain, Covina, 10.31; 25. Matos, GV, 11.04; 800: 1. Hutchinson, San Jacinto, 1:49.82; 26. Loustalot, Fron, 1:56.48. 300H: 1. Cabral, Agoura, 36.85; 10. King, Cent, 38.39. 200: 1. McClain, Covina, 20.92; 24. Matos, GV, 26.64. 1,600 relay: 1. Long Beach-Poly, 3:14.60; 10. Centennial, 3:18.82; 19. Frontier, 3:21.90. HJ: t1. Four at 6-7; t14. Smith, Bak, and Wemhoff, Fron, 6-3. PV: 1. nine at 15-3; t10. Ramay, Lib, 14-9. LJ: 1. Snow, Oceanside-El Camino, 23-4.25; 27. Singh, Ind, 19-10.5. TJ: 1. Roberts, Chula Vista-Otay Ranch, 49-5.75; SP: 1. Scarvelis, Goleta-Dos Pueblos, 62-9.25; no locals. Disc: 1. Cochran, Newport Beach-Newport Harbor, 186-8; 8. Kovar, Burroughs, 173-0; t17. Bender, Shaf, 157-1; 24. Hamilton, West, 149-1.
Girls
400 relay: 1. Long Beach-Poly, 45.80; 16. Independence 48.30; 21. Centennial 49.07. 1,600: 1. Hiltz, Aptos, 4:48.20; no locals. 100H: 1. Cox, LB-Poly, 13.42; 21. Ellis, Fron, 14.85. 400: 1. Ndipagbor, LB-Poly, 54.28; 26. Lewis, West, 1:00.49. 100: 1. Prandini, Clovis, 11.60; 11. Andrews, Ind, 12.13. 800: 1. Gray, Beverly Hills, 2:10.51; no locals. 300H: 1. Woodruff, St. Mary's, 42.24; 12. Ellis, Fron, 44.13. 200: 1. Ndipagbor, LB-Poly, 23.57; 10. Andrews, Ind, 24.87. 1,600 relay: 1. Gardena-Serra, 3:45.83; 12. Centennial 3:53.56. LJ: 1. Prandini, Clovis, 19-9.25; 16. Scott, GV, 17-8. TJ: 1. Brewer, Union City-James Logan, 43-2.5; 16. Scott, GV, 37-4.75. PV: 1. 12 tied at 11-9; no locals. HJ: t1. 12 tied at 5-4, incl. Chesley, Stock. Disc: 1. Collatz, Stockdale, 164-2; 11. Rasley, Shaf, 133-11. SP: 1. Jemison, Carlsbad, 45-10.25; 11. Rasley, 39-8.
