NorCal Track: 10 Early Discoveries

Easter Weekend featured two powerhouse meets in Arcadia and Stanford. Here’s what they told us.

  By MITCH STEPHENS | Contributor

The 2012 Northern California track and field picture got a little clearer with the Arcadia and Stanford Invitationals each held April 6-7. Here’s what we learned.

1. It’s not easy to repeat — even if your name is Trinity Wilson
The nation’s top 100-meter hurdler is shutting it down until at least May due to a big left toe injury she sustained at the Stanford Invitational while winning her trials heat in a national-best time of 13.41 seconds.

Meet officials were expecting her at Arcadia — she is the defending champion there and at state — but because the two mammoth meets conflicted for the first time, she opted for Stanford.

Wilson has a lifetime best of 13.15 she set during the USA Junior Outdoor Championships last summer. She also won titles over the summer at the World Youth Championships and Pan-American Junior Championships.

The winner at Arcadia, Long Beach Poly senior Traci Hicks (13.63) was hoping Wilson would have shown. “It’s always good to get pulled,” she said. “But I’m sure we’ll see each other soon enough.”

2. Kenneth Williams is a serious state title contender
Despite lowering his early-season state-best 110-meter hurdle time to 14.05 seconds at Arcadia, the Kennedy-Richmond senior was hardly pleased. That’s because he finished third in the race, well back of Brophy College Prep-Phoenix junior Devon Allen (13.52).

“I planned on running faster,” said Walker, a wide receiver on the Kennedy football team and UCLA-signee.

Williams has time. The state meet is two months away and he’s one of six juniors to make last year’s finals. Walker finished sixth last season but at this point, he’s the front-runner.

3. Noel Frazier is ready
After placing second at state last season, the California-San Ramon senior high jumper is the front-runner this season after winning at Arcadia with a clearance of 6-9. That was the same height he cleared at state last season — under wet conditions — and he’ll likely need to approach 7-feet to win it this season. Frazier actually tied two other jumpers at Arcadia but won on less misses. He’s tied for the state lead, according to dyestatcal.com, with Canyon-Canyon Country senior Cody Crampton at 6-10.

4. Byron Marshall in serious shape
The Valley Christian football star is absolutely ripped and ready for track action as he showed earlier this season by going a lifetime best 10.61 in the 100 meters at the St. Francis Invitational on March 17. He looked ready to better that time at Arcadia, but he pulled up at the end with a slight hamstring pull. He still finished in 10.70 and placed fifth. His status for the rest of the season is unclear.

Marshall missed much of his senior football season due to a shoulder injury. When healthy, he probably was perhaps the Bay Area’s top recruit. The powerful 5-11, 185-pound running back/defensive back signed to Oregon.

5. There’s another serious state contender at Valley Christian
And that is junior Sean Davis, who took sixth at Arcadia in the 800 at a superb time of 1:52.39. He may have finished sixth but the race was dominated by out-of-staters. Davis owns the second best time in the state, though it’s almost two seconds behind Army & Navy-Carlsbad senior Alexander Monsivaiz, who has the nation’s No. 3 time at 1:50.47.

Two runners in the meet broke 1:50, winner Tyler Smith (Welaskiwin Composite-Alberta (CAN)) at 1:49.23 and Hector Hernandez (Ellison-Texas) at 1:49.91. 

6. James Logan churns out another triple jumper
Every season it’s someone new, but James Logan-Union City has another state contender in the hop, skip and jump. This year it’s junior Jeff Prothro, who went 48-1 at Arcadia to place second. The mark is No. 2 in the state, behind Claremont’s Klyvens Delaunay (49-4) and No. 5 in the nation.  

Here is the long list of placers (top six) in the triple jump (boys and girls) at James Logan: Rasheed Abdullah (1995, 4th, 48-2), Angelo Jeffery (2003, 5th, 48-3; 2004, 3rd, 48-11), Nkosinza Balumbu (2003, 6th, 47-5; 2004, 1st, 50-6; 2005, 1st, 49-7), Tracey Stewart (2004, 4th, 38-11; 2006, 2nd, 41-7), Deconte Kaye (2005, 3rd, 41-10), Brianna Stewart (2007, 4th, 41-3; 2008, 3rd, 40-3), Ciarra Brewer (2008, 4th, 39-7; 2009, 1st, 42-11; 2010, 2nd, 41-10; 2011, 1st, 41-11); Lauren McGlory (2009, 5th, 40-1). 

7. Carrie Verdon isn’t only campo star at a distance
Yes, Campolindo senior Carrie Verdon continues to look like she’ll improve on her third-place 3,200 finish at state this year — she’s No. 9 in the nation with a time of 10:24.72 and No. 1 in the state in the mile (4:53.38) — but senior Thomas Joyce looks equally strong.

Though his placing was almost absurd at No. 22, Joyce recorded the fifth best 3,200 time in the state this season at 9:01.42. There were a remarkable 16 runners who broke the magical 9-minute plateau in the Arcadia event.

8. Sasha Wallace deserves her due
When Wilson went down with her toe injury, Holy Names junior Sasha Wallace more than picked up the slack, winning the 100 hurdles in 13.73, the state’s No. 3 time behind Wilson and Hicks. She also won the triple jump at 40-5 , the best mark in the state this season and No. 3 in the nation. She has a slight edge over St. Mary’s Academy junior Rachel Toliver (40-3). Wallace has been lost somewhat in the shadows of Wilson and three-time triple jump champion Brewer. It appears this is the time for the soft spoken and jovial Wallace.

9. Fairfield Hurdles On
Sac-Joaquin Section power Fairfield shows no signs of slowing down, especially with the return of senior hurdler Daje Pugh, who took fourth in the 100s at Arcadia in 14.08. She also won the seeded 300 hurdles in 42.98, which would have placed her fourth in the Invitational. Last year Pugh finished sixth at state in the 300s and seventh in the 100s. She’s going to get pushed by Vacaville sophomore Daria Cook, who went 14.08 and 43.41 in Arcadia. Fairfield also has a section title contender in 800 runner Darrell Jackson who recorded the state’s fourth-fastest time at Arcadia in 1:53.85.

10. Two emerge from relative oblivion
Tamalpais-Mill Valley has never been confused for sprinter’s ally but senior Lilla McMillan ran the state’s third fastest 200 during the Arcadia meet in 24.45. McMillan reached the state meet last year but went 25.00 in the trials and failed to make the finals. … And out at Heritage-Brentwood, sophomore Frank Kurtz emerged from absolute obscurity to record the third fastest 400 time in the state this season with a mark of 48.26 at Stanford.  J

Mitch Stephens is a senior writer and national columnist for MaxPrep.com. E-mail him at mstephens@maxpreps.com.