CLOVIS–11 boys and 8 girls from the San Diego Section qualified yesterday for tonight’s 99th state track and field championships at Buchanan High.

Six, all-time County top 15 performances came amid gusty winds and a temperature in the high nineties when competition began at 5 p.m.

The breezes eventually eased and the thermometer had gradually cooled to the low eighties  when the final event was concluded near 10 p.m.

Poway’s Kayla Myers climbed to ninth all time when she cleared 12 feet, 6 inches, in the pole vault and was  one of 10 qualifiers at that height.

La Costa Canyon’s rising sophomore,  Karson Lippert, ran the 14th fastest 400 meters, closing strongly in the stretch to win his heat in :47.76.

McKenna Brown, Lippert’s teammate on the girls squad, ran smartly in a grouped pack in the 1600 meters and held on for fourth in her heat with a time of 4:51.72 that  ranks No. 12.

Brown was almost six seconds swifter than her 4:57.34 in the Section finals last week and almost three seconds better than her career best 4:55.66 in 2016.

La Jolla’s Sakura Roberson had the all-time No. 12 in the 800 with a 2:10.46 clocking.

The La Jolla girls 4×1600 relay team ran 3:53.32, which moved the Vikings to 14th  all-time, but they did not qualify.

Most impressive San Diego entry was Tri-City’s Matthew DeRoos, nursing a sore groin but outdistancing the field in the long jump at 24-4 1/4, an inch below his career best.

DeRoos, who was fifth in this event at 23-8 1/2 last year, withdrew last week from  the triple jump because of his injury and made only one other attempt in the shorter leap last night, reaching 22-10 1/2.

Mt. Carmel junior Quoi Ellis was the area’s other heat or field event winner, smoothly running a windless :21.30 in his 200 heat for No. 15 all time.

*Qualifier.

BOYS

100—Heat 1:  Guidry, Vista Murrieta, 10.49w. 5. Goodwin, Christian, 10.74.  Heat 2:  Cunningham, Moreno Val. Rch. Verde, 10.39.  Heat 3: Hampton, Yucaipa, 10.44.  3. Ellis. Mt. Carmel. 10.66. Heat 4: Allen, Tulare, 10.53w.  6. McElroy, Morse, 10.88.

200—Heat 1:  Ellis, Mt. Carmel, 21.30*.  5. Gunter, Del Norte, 21.92. Heat 2:  Hampton, Yucaipa, 21.19.  2. Lippert, LCC, 21.81. 3. Huerta, RBV, 21.89. Heat 3: Cunningham, Moreno Val. Rch. Verde, :21.20.

400—Heat 1:  Shinnick, Pomona Damien, 47.14.  3. Dean. Mira Mesa, 48.80. Heat 2: Bowens, L.B Poly, 47.45.  4. Gunter, Del Norte, 48.62. Heat 3:  Lippert, LCC, 47.76* (Section No. 14 all-time).

800—Heat 1: Weaver, Elk Grove Franklin, 1:54.83.  7. Page, Eastlake, 1:57.35. Heat 2: Scales, San Jose Bellarmine, 1:53.88.  7. Hurlburt, Coronado, 1:55.69. Heat 3: Charvet, 1:55.01.  5. Chinn, Poway, 1:55.55.

1600—Heat 1: Grijalva, Fairfield Armijo, 4:14.4.  3. Chinn, Poway, 4:14.91*. 12. Stanford, LCC, 4:24.33. Heat 2—Renken, Claremont, 4:16.03.  9. Barr, SR, 4:21.69.

110HH—Heat 1:  Anderson, Upland, 13.44w. 5.Saikhon, El Centro S’west, 14.59. 6. Baker, RB, 14.72. Jordan, Steele Cyn, 15.09.   Heat 2: Samuel, Moreno Val. Rch. Verde, 13.93. Heat 3: Lightfoot, Kimball, 13.77.

300IH—Heat 1:  Anderson, Upland, 36.87.  Heat 2: Easter, Eastvale Roosevelt, 36.74.  Heat 3: Samuel, Moreno Val. Rch. Verde, 37.32.  6. Farmer, RB, 40.53. Heat 4: Rubio, Los Alamitos, 37.41. 4.  Saikhon, El Centro S’west, 39:51.   6. Shine, W’view, 40.37.

4×100 RELAY—Heat 1:  Lancaster Paraclete, 41.56 (Moreno Val. Rch. Verde, 41.15, disqualified, lane violation).  9. Olympian, 42.74. Heat 2:  Westlake Vill. Oaks Christ., 41 8. 8. Rancho Bernardo, 42.80. Heat  3: Antelope, 41.52.  5. Morse, 42.06.

4×400 Relay—Eastvale Roosevelt, 3:15.63.  Heat 2:  L.B. Wilson, 3:17.32. 8. Del Norte, 3:27.48.  Heat 3:  Studio City Harv.-West., 3:16.50.  5. RB, 3:22.48. 7. Olympian, 3:25.35.

HJ—Eight qualified at 6-5.  9T.  Marquez, El Centro Central, 6-3*. McEwan, RBV; Dumas, El Capitan, No height.

LJ—DeRoos (Tri City), 24-4 1/4w*. 4. Jackson, Eastlake, 23-4*.  9. Sample, RBV, 22-11 ¼*. 17. Farmer, RB, 21-11 ¼.  24. Hull-Littlejohn, Olympian, 20-9 ¾.

SP—Wilson, Clovis, 61-3 ¾.   11. Harris, San Diego, 55-3*.  20.  Woods, Steele Cyn. 49-3 ½.
PV—Eight qualified at 15-4.  10T. Ward, San Dieguito; Winters, RB, 14-10. Sperry, RB, No height.

TJ—Stevenson, Temecula Great Oak, 47-7 ½.  11. Jackson, Eastlake, 46-0 ¼*. 19. Ruth, O’side, 43-4 ¼. 25. Bornes, San Marcos, 41-10 ½.

DISCUS—Otal, Oak Park, 206-11.  18. Navarrette, El Capitan, 158-01.  20. Smith, El Camino, 147-5.  21. Hernandez, E Cam. 147-5.

GIRLS

100—Heat 1: Nowling, Calabasas, 11.52w. 6.  Dougan, Mt. Carmel, 12.29. Heat 2: Reed, Gardena Serra, 11.52w.  7. Yarbrough, Fallbrook, 12.35. Heat 3: Augustine, L.B. Poly, 11.57.  Heat 4: Wilson, Bakersfield Stockdale, 11.75.  4.  Hickey, Coronado, 12.01.

200—Heat 1:  Roberts, Carson, 23.61. Heat 2:  Augustine, L.A. Poly, 23.58w.  6. White, Valhalla, 25.20.  Heat 3: Reed, Gardena Serra, 23.68.  8. Salongo, Mira Mesa, 25.54.

400—Heat 1: Anderson, Norco, 53.73 . 5. Firsching, Cathedral, 56.12. 7. Noble, Olympian, 56.91. Heat 2: Roberts, Carson, 53.96.  6. McFarland, Eastlake, 57.17. Heat 3:  Surrell, Newark Mem., 53.90.

800—Heat 1: Brewer, San Ramon California, 2:09.12.  Heat 2:  Sakura Roberson, La Jolla, 2:10.46*.  2. McCarthy, Carlsbad,  2:11.36*. Heat 3: McIntosh, Loomis Del Oro, 2:09.84.  5. Sierra Roberson, La Jolla,  2:13.93.

1600—Heat 1: Skahill, Mtn. View St. Francis, 4:52.47.  7.  Riedman, LCC,  4:57.33*.  Heat 2—Denner, El Dorado Oak Ridge, 4:51.29. 4. Brown, LCC, 4:51.72* (Section No. 12 all-time). 11. Watkins, LJCD, 5:14.93.

100H—Heat 1: Davis, Agoura, 13.31.    5. Oliver, Mira Mesa, 15.18. Heat 2—Robinson, El Cerrito, 13.36. Heat 3—Woodward, Vacaville, 13.44w.  4. Smith, Miss. Hills, 14.25*. 6. O’Donnell, LCC, 15.01.

300H—Heat 1: Anderson, Norco, 42.17.  3.  Scott, Vista, 43.67*.  4. Thomas TP,  44.86.  Heat 2:  Woodward, Vacaville, : 41.99. 4. Mattson, Sage Creek, 45.11.  Heat 3:  Robinson, Manhattan Bch. Mira Cos., 41.94.

4×100 Relay—Heat 1:  Carson, 45.81.  7. Scripps Ranch, 48.81. Heat 2:  Oakland Bish. O’Dowd, 46.80.  Heat 3:  Gardena Serra, 46.39.  7. La Jolla, 48.44.  8. San Marcos, 48.62.

4×1600 RELAY—Elk Grove Sheldon, 3:46.47. 4. La Jolla, 3:53.32. (Section No. 14 all-time). Heat 2: Fairfield Armijo, 3:48.98.  6. Poway, 3:58.96. Heat 3:   Quartz Hill, 3:46.66. 7. Olympian, 3:54.97.

HJ—11 qualified at 5-4.  13T, Cany, TP; Hickey, Coronado, 5-2. Smith, Miss. Hills, No height.

LJ– Davis, Agoura, 20-8 ½.  18. Smith, Mission Hills, 17-9. 19.  Beckham, O’side, 17-8.  20. Cross, Steele Cyn., 17-6 ¾. 27. Campbell, Mt. Carmel, 17-2.  30. Zappia, Val. Ctr. 16-11 ¼.

SP—Amaechi, S.F. Lincoln, 47-5 ½.  10. Tuilefano, E Cam., 41-8*.  17. Lagoy, RB, 38-4. 20. Coronado, U. City, 37-0.

PV—10 qualified at 12-6, including Myers, Poway* (Section No. 8 all[-time).   23 Burkhardt, Del Norte, 11-6.  Cervantes, Poway, No height.

TJ—Davis, Agoura, 43-4.  16. Beckham, O’side, 37-10 ¼.  24. Scott, Gompers, 36-9 ¾. 27. Cany, TP, 36-4 ¾.

DISCUS—Amaechi, S.F. Lincoln, 174-7.  16. Tuilefano, El Cam. 131-5. 19. Lacy, G. Hills, 125-0. 20. Devore, West Hills,125-0.

Top performances in  seven events and 79 efforts earning 2017 top  10 distinction highlighted 11 league championships last week in San Diego Section boys’ and girls’ track and field competition.

Qualifiers from those meets will meet at Mt. Carmel High Saturday in Section trials.  Finals are scheduled at the same site on May 27, followed by the state meet in Clovis June 2-3.

The girls were the most aggressive, with the 4:57.08 in the 1600 meters by La Costa Canyon sophomore Jessica Riedman in the Avocado West finals at Canyon Crest leading the way.

Other elevated efforts came from the San Marcos 4×100 relay squad (:48.30), El Camino 4×1600 relay squad (3:59.76),  pole vault, 12-4 by Poway’s Jazmine Scott, and discus, 145-06 by El Camino’s Nu’u Tuilefano,.

Boys’ bests were the :10.64 in the 100 meters by Christian’s Benjamin Goodwin and  24-foot, 5 ½ inch long jump by Tri-City’s Matthew DeRoos.

DeRoos maintained his state lead  and Goodwin moved into 10^th place among the state’s short sprinters.

A trio from Morse, although off state top 10 pace, turned in promising times in the Western League meet at University City.

Phillip McElroy ran: 10.70 in the 100 meters and: 21.84 in the 200, trailing teammates Richard Benson (:21.74) and Shamar Martin (:21.74).  Along with Rayvon Benson, the Morse 4×100 team ran: 42.68, below its seasonal best of :42.32.

The Morse sprinters, off those times, should be much faster in the short relay in the next couple weeks when the competition heats up.

The boys’ 400 is warming to a potentially big event, with sophomore Karson Lippert, running a comfortable :48.49 last week and with a Section No. 17 all-time best and state 2017 No. 4 ranking of :47.83,  the favorite but others are zeroing in.

Del Norte’s DeAngelo Gunter, competitively comatose since running :48.64 in March, got back on point with a :48.78 in the Palomar finals.  Morse’s Richard Benson ran :48.52 in the West.

San Diego Section athletes in among state top 10’s:

GIRLS

BOYS

Matthew DeRoos of Tri-City Christian long jumped 24 feet, 4 1/4 inches in the Coastal League finals at Orange Glen and took the state lead in that event.

Scripps Ranch’s Alex Barr was displaced as the state leader in the 1600-meter run.  Barr ran 4:14.51 in an early outdoor meet  and now is ninth inn that event.

Sophomore Karson Lippert logged :21.57 in the 200 at the Dick Wilkins Frosh-Sophomore meet last week at Granite Hills and also is the leader at :47.83 in the 400.

Events in which San Diego Section athletes are among the first 10 in the state are listed accompanied by state leaders:

BOYS

GIRLS

With Arcadia behind them, San Diego Section track and field athletes settle into  three more weeks of dual meets, weekend invitationals, and league trials before Section trials May 20 and finals May 27 at Mt. Carmel, and the state meet in Clovis on June 2-3.

Scripps Ranch’s Alex Barr ran :4:14.51 in the 1600 meters last month in the Mt. Carmel Invitational and holds the state lead. Equally impressive was sophomore Karson Lippert of La Costa Canyon.

Lippert’s :47.83 clocking in the 400 at Arcadia ranks No. 17 all-time in San Diego County and is the best ever for his class. Rashid Shaheed of Mt. Carmel was the San Diego Section leader at :48.47 in 2016.

Leading among the girls is the 2:11.24 800 by La Costa Canyon’s Kiley M cCarthy,  fourth in the state.

San Diego performers in the state top 10, followed by the state leader in those events:

GIRLS

Another good season of San Diego Section basketball is in the books.

St. Augustine finished sixth in the final, expanded Cal-Hi Sports listing of the top 40 teams in the state and the Mission Hills girls were seventh in rankings of the top 35.

The Saints (28-5) were a preseason No. 21 in the newsletter’s top 25  but rolled through local games and showed continued improvement.

An example of the Saints’ rise came in the three losses to No. 2 Mater Dei.  Coach Mike Haupt’s team lost by 23, 12, and finally by 6 to the Monarchs in the Southern California semifinals.

Torrey Pines (28-5) rose to 13^th after not being in the preseason top 25.  Preseason-ignored Vista (28-5) finished 24^th  and Foothills Christian (24-7)  26th after starting No. 16.

Foothills was third in Cal-Hi’s final rankings for the 2015-16 season, with Cathedral 14^th, and St. Augustine 23^rd.

St. Augustine was 23^rd, Torrey Pines 24th, and Foothills Christian 36^th in 2013-14.

Helix, the winningest San Diego team this season with a 31-6 record and a state finalist in Division IV, was not in Cal-Hi’s  top 40.

Schedules matter.  The Highlanders annually do not play the level of opponents of the section’s big three.

HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH…

The girls’ team at Mission Hills repeated its third place rating of a year ago.

The Bishop’s (30-4), with state career scoring leader Destiny Littleton,  was 12^th.

La Jolla Country (18-12) was ranked 26^th, “the best 12-loss team in the state,” according to Cal-Hi Sports, which respects the schedules and teams annually turned out each season by coach Terry Bamford.

TRACK

The spring thinclad season officially commands center stage this week at the Arcadia Invitational, where dozens of San Diego Section runners, throwers, jumpers and vaulters will compete in a variety of classes.

Charles Sanford finished the perfect race.

Etched in my memory: Edwards Stadium, Berkeley, 1963 state track meet, final event, 880-yard relay. San Diego High against the field at the end of the two-day program.

Sanford and teammates Walter (Buddah) Blackledge, Gordon Baker, and Raymond Dixon, were considered one of the better entries coming into the meet with a best time of 1:27.2, but there were other, more favored teams  from the Los Angeles City and Southern sections.

Sanford, who passed away at age 72 recently, was an attacking sprinter, grinding out his races with each stride, and the best at San Diego High since the days of Roscoe Cook and Bobby Staten a decade before.

Sanford had set a San Diego Section record of :09.6 in the 100-yard dash the week before and had a best of :19.2 in the 180-yard low hurdles.

He qualified in neither event in the Friday trials  but was fresh and ready for the baton chase the next day.

The Cavers got off to a good start when Blackledge came out of the blocks with a :22-flat first 220, handing off to Gordon Baker, who put some distance between himself and the pack with a :21.3 second leg.

Baker a sometimes erratic sprinter-quartermiler, ran the most important leg, because he was able to make the second pass from the pole position to Dixon.

With the posse in hot pursuit, Dixon held the inside lane, running his furlong in :21.7, and maintaining Baker’s lead as Dixon passed to  Sanford.

Anchor man Sanford closed with a :21.3 leg, increasing San Diego’s winning advantage  to about five yards.

The Cavers had covered the distance in 1:26.3, second fastest in the country that year; almost one second faster than they had run the week before,  and bettered the record they had shared with the 1957 Cook-Staten-Charles Davis-Willie Jordan team.

Los Angeles Manual Arts was second in 1:26.8.

What I remember most were the flawless handoffs as the Cavers protected the baton amid the pressure of flying spikes, and streaking bodies in a high-powered race.

Sanford, who also was a football standout at San Diego, will be honored in a funeral service Monday, April 3, at 11 a.m. at Missionary Baptist Church in Logan Heights.