Jaslene Massey of Aliso Niguel sets California Winter Outdoor Championships girls shot put record; Moorpark’s Davis Benson equals meet all-time mark in boys high jump

ARCADIA – Jaslene Massey continues to drive volleyballs down to the ground throughout the year as one of the most promising junior middle blockers in the state, but the performance of the Aliso Niguel High standout in the shot put ring reached another level Saturday at the ninth edition of the VS Athletics California Winter Outdoor Championships at Arcadia High.

Massey produced a lifetime-best 47 feet, 0.25 inches (14.33m) on her final attempt, eclipsing the 2019 meet record of 47 feet (14.32m) achieved by Natalie Ramirez from West Ranch, in addition to demonstrating significant improvement from her third-place effort at the CIF State Championships in May.

Post-meet interviews

Massey surpassed 45 feet in every round, producing the four best marks of the competition, including personal-best efforts on three consecutive attempts.

Jaslene Massey of Aliso Niguel | Jimmy Su photo

Massey, who finished second last season at the CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet with a performance of 46 feet (14.02m), improved that mark to 46-1 (14.04m) on Jan. 4 at a California Winter Outdoor Championships qualifying meet at Cal State Fullerton.

Massey’s progression Saturday included a 46-2.75 (14.09m) effort in the second round and 46-10.25 (14.28m) on her third attempt, before surpassing 47 feet on her final opportunity.

Su’Riah Williams, a senior at Redlands, was second with a third-round mark of 41-4.25 (12.60m).

Davis Benson, a sophomore at Moorpark, matched the meet record in the boys high jump by clearing 6-9 (2.05m) on his second attempt.

Benson, who also needed two opportunities to clear 6-7 (2.00m), equaled the clearance achieved last year by DeShawn Banks of Birmingham.

Banks went on to win the high jump title last year at the CIF State final by clearing 7-0.50 (2.14m), with Benson unable to make the opening height of 6-4 (1.93m) in the prelims after qualifying as a freshman.

Nathaniel Baca, a junior at Ayala, secured second by clearing 6-5 (1.95m).

Although Long Beach Poly senior Jillene Wetteland just missed matching the girls high jump meet record, she did repeat as champion with a lifetime-best 5-10 (1.77m) clearance on her first opportunity.

Wetteland produced a third-attempt clearance at 5-8 (1.72m) after making her opening three heights all on the first try.

Jillene Wetteland of Long Beach Poly | Erik Boal photo

Wetteland, who also took three attempts at 6 feet (1.82m) in an effort to surpass the 2023 meet standard of 5-10.25 (1.78m) by Meagan Humphries of Castaic, produced a 5-6 (1.67m) clearance to capture the title last year.

A pair of juniors, Julia Teven of Brea-Olinda and Lelani Laruelle from Monta Vista, both cleared 5-6 to share second place.

AB Hernandez, a junior at Jurupa Valley, also repeated as champion in the girls triple jump with a second-round performance of 40-1 (12.21m).

Hernandez, who also took third Saturday in the long jump at 18-4.75 (5.60m), prevailed in the triple jump at last year’s meet with an effort of 38-2 (11.63m).

Malia Jones of Oceanside, a sophomore, earned second with a mark of 38-7 (11.76m).

Pleasant Grove swept both weight throw titles, including consecutive victories for the boys program.

Zane Commins, a senior, produced an opening-round effort of 63-4.25 (19.31m) to win the boys championship, following the 1-2 finish of teammates Jacob Lozano and Luke Stuckey last year.

Commins improved from a sixth-place mark of 51-0.50 (15.55m) last season.

Aptos senior Logan Brantley achieved second with a fourth-round performance of 61-9.25 (18.82m).

Amanda Javellana, a senior, also achieved the winning throw for Pleasant Grove on her first opportunity with a mark of 51-5.50 (15.68m), elevating from a third-place performance last year at 45-3 (13.79m).

Thea Jeffress, a senior at Clayton Valley, finished runner-up with a 50-0.50 (15.25m) throw in the fourth round.

Benjamin Lingenfelter, a senior at Yucaipa, also enjoyed significant improvement from last year’s meet to capture the boys shot put crown.

Lingenfelter rebounded from a slow start Saturday to deliver a 55-5 (16.89m) effort in the third round, just edging Benito Lara of Golden Valley at 55-0.50 (16.77m).

Lingenfelter finished 19th at last year’s meet with a 44-4 (13.51m) effort.

Nyah Fields of Golden Valley prevailed in the girls long jump with an opening-round leap of 18-10.75 (5.75m), elevating from a ninth-place performance last season at 16-10 (5.13m).

Fields also earned eighth place Saturday in the triple jump at 35-4 (10.76m).

In addition to winning the 60-meter title at 7.49, junior Ellie McCuskey-Hay of St. Ignatius also placed second in the long jump with a leap of 18-8.25 (5.69m). McCuskey-Hay also finished fourth in the 300 at 39.59 and secured sixth in the 150 at 18.08.

Nic Alexis, a senior at Elsinore, won the boys long jump championship with a third-round effort of 23-5 (7.13m), with Jerald Martin Evangelista from Carson placing second at 23-0.25 (7.01m).

Alexis added a sixth-place performance in the triple jump at 44-6 (13.56m), elevating from 12th at last year’s meet with a mark of 40-11 (12.47m).

Zeshaun Daley, a senior at Oceanside El Camino, overcame three fouls in the boys triple jump to win the title with a 46-7 (14.19m) performance on his last attempt, with Quartz Hill senior Camren Smith taking runner-up at 45-10 (13.97m).

Daley, who ascended from taking 13th in last year’s final at 41-3 (12.57m), also earned a third-place finish Saturday in the long jump at 22-2 (6.75m).

Michael Cullen, a senior at Redlands, cleared an outdoor-best 16-1 (4.90m) on his first opportunity to win the boys pole vault championship following a third-place effort last year at 14-11 (4.54m).

Cullen was unsuccessful on three attempts at 16-4 (4.98m), which would have eclipsed the 2017 meet record of 16-3 (4.95m) produced by Tate Curran from Redondo Union.

Cullen achieved a lifetime-best 16-6 (5.03m) to win his section Jan. 18 at the UCS Spirit National Pole Vault Summit at the Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center in Nevada.

Joseph Sbuttoni of St. Augustine achieved a personal-best 15-9 (4.80m) on his third try Saturday to secure second.

Jessica Condliff, a senior at Canyon Crest Academy, continued an impressive comeback following a significant back injury that sidelined her last season, winning the girls pole vault title by achieving a new personal-best clearance at 12-4 (3.75m), which also elevated her own program record.

Jessica Condliff of Canyon Crest Academy | Erik Boal photo

Condliff needed third-attempt clearances at 10-7 (3.22m) and 12-1 (3.68m), before also making 12-4 on her third try to surpass a 12-3 (3.73m) effort from her sophomore year.

Blaise Burwell, a sophomore at Servite, won the boys pentathlon crown with 3,404 points, holding off Thousand Oaks junior Christopher Toppe at 3,292 points.

Burwell ran 8.40 in the 60-meter hurdles, produced a long jump effort of 20-6.25 (6.25m), achieved a shot put mark of 38-3.25 (11.66m), cleared 6-0.50 (1.84m) in the high jump and ran 3:03.28 in the 1,000 meters.

Katie McGuinness, a senior at La Canada, was victorious in the girls pentathlon with 3,366 points, improving on her runner-up total of 3,242 points last year.

Avery Leck, a junior at San Marcos, finished second Saturday with 3,227 points.

McGuinness clocked 9.21 in the 60 hurdles, cleared 5-0.50 (1.54m) in the high jump, achieved a shot put effort of 27-8 (8.43m), produced a leap of 17-11 (5.46m) in the long jump and ran 2:28.0 to prevail in the 800.