Rincon Valley Christian sophomore Alyssa Hammer had a big couple of days at the NCS Meet of Champions. After she dropped an eight second personal best at the NCS Class A Meet the prior week, she proved that performance was no fluke, as she ran a great race in the preliminary round of the NCS Meet of Champions which qualified her for the finals the next day.

Maria Carrillo junior Cooper Plattus had a career day at the 2018 NCS Meet of Champions, as he finished second in the pole vault. He vaulted 14’-9”, a six inch personal best… Not to mention that he improved his personal best by 9 inches from the NBL Finals to the Meet of Champions. His six inch personal best was perfectly timed as well because it carried him to a State Meet berth.

Going into the Redwood Empire championships, Carrillo junior Aimee Armstrong was one of the top athletes in both the 1600 meter run and the 800 meter run, Armstrong did not disappoint. She finished second in the 800 meter run and fourth in the 1600 meter run. Her times of 2:18.29 and 5:02.46 in the 800 and the 1600 respectively put her in the top 25 all time in both events. Armstrong also helped the Pumas take second place in the 4x400 meter relay.

Maria Carrillo junior Tyler Van Arden was a huge part of the Pumas’ overall first place finish at the 2018 Redwood Empire Championships. Although Van Arden did not win any of his individual events, (he was a member of both the Pumas’ first place finishing 4x100 meter and 4x400 meter relays) he had two top three individual finishes, as he finished both the 200 meter dash and the 400 meter dash in third place.

Carrillo senior Savannah Neid won the women’s pole vault competition at the NBL Finals, with a height of 10’-6”. She wasn’t done scoring big points for the Puams with just vaulting, she also finished second in the triple jump, jumping 37’ 7.5”. Neid also finished 10th in the 100 meter hurdles, finishing in 18.30 seconds, along with a big headwind.

After finishing a close second at the NBL cross country championships, Chung had to make sure he walked away an NBL champion at the end of the track season. At the end of the day he walked away with more than just one NBL title, he took two, winning both the 1600 meter run along with the 3200 meter run.

Healdsburg senior Natasha Marsden captured an individual victory in the women’s 100 meter dash in the SCL Finals, finishing in a time of 13.17 with no wind. She then came back for the 200 meter dash where she took a close second with a 27.57, and this time with a noticeable headwind.

Analy senior Bennett Simpson showed that he’s the fastest man in the SCL, as he won both the 100 meter dash and the 200 meter dash. He won the 100 meter dash by over a quarter of a second and the 200 meter dash by over half a second.

The three time CIF Cross Country Division V individual state champion had one arguably one of the most impressive league finals performances, ever. Most teams are thrilled when one of their athletes captures a league championship in any event. But Bowen didn’t just win one league title, she won every race that lasted for 400 meters or more, and all four were by notable margins.

Sonoma Academy senior Kheva Mann took three individual wins in the CMC Finals in the 1600 meter run, the 800 meter run and the 400 meter dash. On top of that he also finished fourth in the 200 meter dash, quite an interesting combination of events, yet Mann pulled it off.

Analy junior Sierra Atkins had a big day against Petaluma this week, as she destroyed the field in the girls 1600 meter run. Her time of 5:06 won the race by 34 seconds, which to put into perspective she won the race by nearly half a lap. She then came back later in the meet and also win the 800 meter run in a more conservative time of 2:31, this time she kept the race interesting, winning by less than a second.

Carrillo’s Mason Adams is one of the best jumpers in the Redwood Empire and his performance against Cardinal Newman reminded everyone of of his talent in all three jumping domains, as he won the high jump, the long jump and the triple jump. Adams, only a junior, won the high jump by four inches, the long jump by 9.5 inches and the triple jump by 6.5 inches. Quite a performance.

Petaluma’s Sydney Dennis showed off her strengths both on the track and in the field. Dennis, a junior, won both the 100 meter hurdles and the 300 meter hurdles and both the long and triple jumps for the Trojans. Dennis scored over a fifth of Petaluma’s 93 points, very impressive numbers. Dennis’ big day showed Piner how talented she is in multiple disciplines, which is not something most can say. Her abilities show that she is a true track AND field athlete.

The Santa Rosa High School junior, Brayden Glascock, had a big day against Maria Carrillo and Casa Grande, taking home two individual victories on the day in both the 110 hurdles and the 300 hurdles, as well as helping the 4X400 meter relay team take home the win. Glascock, the defending redwood empire 300m hurdle champ won the 110 hurdles by a generous half a second margin and won the 300m hurdles by a second and a half. Not a bad day for Brayden.

Healdsburg’s Gabrielle Peterson is quickly becoming one of the most decorated female distance runners in the history of the Redwood Empire. At the Viking Classic, Peterson ran the sixth fastest time ever in the 1600 meter run for the Redwood Empire. Her time of 4:51.47 is also the sixth fastest mark in California and the nineteenth fastest in the nation, not to mention she’s only a junior, making her the sixth fastest junior in the nation and fourth fastest junior in California.

It is impressive to win any race at a track meet, it's even more so to win two. Not only did Jack Dunbar win the 1600 meter run at the Viking Track Classic, he also won the 800 meter run, both are now the SCL leading mark. The SCL leader will be attending the University of California, Santa Barbara next fall where he will continue his athletics career, following a few other big time Sonoma County alumni.

Casa Grande junior Lauren Doran was a big part of Casa’s big win over Rancho Cotate, Doran took home two individual victories on the day, winning both the 100 meter dash and the 200 meter dash. Currently Doran is the fastest junior in the NBL in both the 100m and the 200m. She is currently the number 2 sprinter in the NBL for both events.

At the first week of NBL meets of the season Maria Carrillo senior Ben Lawson pulled off the elusive distance triple competing in the 1600 meter run, the 800 meter run and the 3200 meter run, where he took second in the 1600m and won both the 800m and the 3200m, scoring 13 of Maria Carrillo’s 91 points. Not a bad day for the reigning individual NBL cross country champion.

Maria Carrillo Senior Habibah Sanusi is putting up very impressive times for her final season. At Arcadia, she placed 6th and obliterated her previous 100H PR of 15.12 by over .2 of a second with a time of 14.88, breaking her own school record once again. Her times puts her at #2 all time wind legal performance. We can expect to see Sanusi go far into the post season with these times.

Going into his third season for Lower Lake High school, junior Bryson Trask is throwing much further than he has in his previous seasons. He just hit two big PR’s in both the shot put and discus. A foot and a half PR in the Shot Put and an incredible 17 foot one inch PR in Discus, which also puts him at number 47 on the Redwood Empire all time list. Trask is already throwing 40 feet further in Discus this year compared to last year, and nearing 9 feet further than last year in Shot Put. At this pace we can expect to see his name more in his final year next spring.

Kirsten Carter, already one of the most decorated athletes to ever come out of the Redwood Empire, added to her ultra impressive resume at the Stanford Invitational. The UC Davis commit torched the field in the 400 meter hurdles, winning by over two seconds, not to mention she ran the second fastest 400 hurdles in the nation with a time of 1:02.18. If that’s not enough, she also ran a season best in the 100 meter dash, running 11.90 (+1.2 m/s) in the prelims. Then she went on to run a 12.03 (+0.3 m/s) in the finals where she took fifth place.

Brent Oru-Craig had to run 100 meters over hurdles more than he had ever had to previously, but that didn’t phase the Montgomery junior. If anything he likes the extra distance, as he is a distance runner turned hurdle star. Oru-Craig’s 56.94 mark in the 400 meter hurdles at the Stanford Invitational earned him fourth place in his first trip to the prestigious meet.

Caitlin Grace, the Santa Rosa High junior, had a big day at this year’s Twilight Invitational where she won the women’s discus with a mark of 106’5”. Not only did she win the discus, she dominated the field, winning by nearly 10 feet! She also snatched third in the shot put where she threw 31’6.5”. She has not placed worse than third in either the shot put or the discus thus far. Just another big day for the prep best in the discus throw.

Maria Carrillo’s Severin Ramirez had a big day for the Pumas at the Carrillo hosted Twilight Invitational, where he broke the illusive 11 second barrier in the 100 meter dash, where he ran a wind legal 10.98 (+1.5 m/s) for the win. Not only did he win the invitational 100, he also helped the Pumas to victory in both the 4x100m and 4x400m relays. Not a bad day for the Carrillo junior.

The Maria Carrillo senior and Cal Poly commit had an outstanding day at the Dublin Distance Fiesta. Rivas, the reigning NBL cross country champion and reigning NBL 3200m champion, took second overall in the 1600m and fifth overall in the 3200m. Where she set PRs in both events, with times of 5:06.99 in the 1600m and 10:52.29 in the 3200m. Her time in the 1600m makes her the 35th fastest high school miler in the state of California and 98th fastest in the country. Her 3200m time places her 27th in CA and 42nd in the U.S.

Casey McLaughlin, the Windsor junior, put on quite the show at the Santa Rosa High hosted Field Jamboree. McLaughlin’s 20’ 6” mark in the long jump earned him second place at the meet and set a new NBL best for the season in the event. He cleared 5’ 10” in the high jump, which was good enough to take third on the day. In the triple jump his best jump of the day was 38’ 7.5”, and took home another third place finish. Along with his new NBL leading mark, McLaughlin was the only athlete who placed top three in all three of the jumping events.

The Only Redwood Empire meet this week was the North Coast Track Extravaganza. A meet that hasn't been run since 1993. This 4x100 team ran a meet record of 53.94, Winning by a full second. Team Members included: Lauren Doran, Perla Perez, Maya Tiu, Mia Shew-Smith.

The Only Redwood Empire meet this week was the North Coast Track Extravaganza. A meet that hasn't been run since 1993. This Sprint Medley consisted of two 100m's followed by a 200m and finishing off with a 400m. The Santa Rosa High Team of Wesley Guerra, Brayden Glascock, Trevien Prince and Nathaniel Seims won in a time of 1:39.42 which placed them 16th on the all time list.

Carrillo sophomore Sarah Aanenson started the season off by being the only female to win an event both on the track and in the field. She won the 200 meter dash in a close race against second. Aanenson had an impressive long jump at 16'-5" giving her the win and crushing her previous Big Cat performance by over a foot and a half.

Jack Fricker kicked off his final season with for impressive performances both on the track and in the field. He scored the most points out of any guy at the meet. He came in second in both the 110 meter hurdles and long jump. He earned a respectable fourth place finish in his 300 meter hurdles and tied for the win in high jump with a height of 5'-4". Fricker is currently the SCL leader in all four of his events.