Latest news with #NorthCoastSectionMeetofChampions
San Francisco Chronicle
26-05-2025
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
De La Salle honors late coach with dominant NCS track and field championship
As day transitioned to Saturday night and the chill developed from a growing Dublin breeze, 12 De La Salle-Concord track and field athletes and seven assistant coaches gathered tightly to celebrate the most dominating of their seven North Coast Section Meet of Champions titles. The Spartans scored a school-record 93 points — their previous best was 58 — to easily outdistance runner-up El Cerrito (38) and Tamalpais-Mill Valley (28) behind a junior sprinter Jaden Jefferson, who set an NCS record in the 100 meters (10.30 seconds) before taking the 200 as well. Anthony Dean (triple jump, 47 feet, 11 inches) and sophomore Chase Young (110 hurdles, 14.04) also won titles and seniors Trey Caldwell (9:08.91) and Tadhg Murry (9:09.75) finished one-two in the 3,200. The team of Ikembuchukwu Udeh, Young, Dominic Kelley and Toa Faavae finished the meet emphatically, with a victory in the 4x400 relay in 3:20.78. But the celebration along the Dublin High School infield was understandably subdued for the Spartans. Quiet. Hugs were long and hearty, but no jumping for joy. No victory dances. They spent their thoroughly top-to-bottom championship pointing upward. This was a victory for their head coach John Harvey, who died on April 28 due to a long respiratory illness. He was 56. 'I was running for Coach Harvey,' Faavae said. 'I knew he could do anything with him watching over me. …. Coach Harvey was a man of few words, but when he spoke, he touched our hearts. He was always there for us, always cared for us, always pushed us. He'd say 'never let someone beat you — focus on what you're supposed to do to be successful.' Best friend and sprints coach Terrell Ward recruited Harvey and brought him to De La Salle nearly 20 years ago from Merrill West-Tracy. Ward had a large, proud grin Saturday, but his eyes were misty when speaking of Harvey, whom he said he talked to nearly every day until his passing. 'It was about six weeks ago these guys knew that John wasn't going to be here coaching any more,' Ward said. 'Once he passed, we mourned, had daily prayer meetings and just last week we had his service. Tonight perhaps we finally started to get a little closure.' Said Jefferson, a football commit to North Carolina: 'He meant a lot to me. He has been there since my freshman year. He was always hard on me and never told me just what I wanted to hear. He was honest. … When I heard of his passing it was heartbreaking. Every day since he passed I've thought about him. … I bet he would be very proud to see how we did today.' Said Ward: 'These kids really competed the last two days for John. Really, this was the John Harvey Meet.' Meet notes: Jefferson's wind-legal 10.30 beat the previous NCS top mark of 10.31 set by El Cierrito's Robert Stitts in 2023. A great start got him out quickly to edge El Cerrito sophomore Chad Works-Wright (10.43), who ran side-by-side with Jefferson in the second leg of the 4x100 relay won by El Cerrito in 41.02 to 41.20 for De La Salle. Jefferson came back to win the 200 in over Works-Wright 21.11 to 21.28. …. Montgomery-Santa Rosa senior and Stanford-bound Hanne Thomsen won the 1,600 (4:47.25) and 3,200 (10:19.56) to give her six MOC titles, along with one state 3,200 title and three cross-country crowns. … Pittsburg senior Khaliq Muhammad won his third MOC pole vault title, setting a meet record at 17-1, edging the 1987 mark of 17-0 by Acalanes-Lafayette's Brent Burns. … Pittsburg junior Amirat Tem Aganju led the Pirates to the girls team title by winning the 100 (11.78), anchoring both victorious relays and taking second in the 300 hurdles (44.36) to Santa Rosa senior Janelle Wanliss (43.74). CCS championships: St. Ignatius junior Ellie McCuskey-Hay won the 100 (11.78) and 200 (24.06), and finished third in the long jump (18-6). … Los Altos' Daniela Hughes won the 100 hurdles (14.64) and the triple jump (39-0). … Monta Vista-Cupertino junior Ryan Shen took the long jump (with a big personal best 23-7¾) and the high jump (6-6). … St. Ignatius senior Prince Buchango-Babalola won the 110 hurdles (14.32) and placed second in both the 100 (10.78) and 200 (21.43) to Piedmont Hills-San Jose's Jonas Petty (10.75 and 21.36). … Bellarmine won the boys title with 72 points to runner-up St. Ignatius (54), while Mitty (58) edged Los Altos (52) in the girls team competition. SFS championships: Lowell swept the boys and girls championships, with the boys edging Lincoln 156-137, and the girls breezing to a 240-96 win over runner-up Lincoln. … Lowell's Alicia Choy won the 100 and 200 and anchored the winning 4x100 relay. … Other Lowell girl wins came from Ava Jencek (800), Mirabel Adams (3200), the 4x400 relay team, the 4x800 relay and Alexa Bernard (pole vault). … Lowell boys' champs were Henry Witt (800), Malcolm Barry-Kao (3,200), William Chung (110 hurdles), the 4x400 relay and the 4x800 relay.
San Francisco Chronicle
23-05-2025
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Pittsburg pole vaulter Khaliq Muhammad among athletes to watch at NCS Meet of Champions
There's only one state leader among the competitors heading into the two-day North Coast Section Meet of Champions at Dublin High School. Pittsburg senior Khaliq Muhammad leads all Californians in the pole vault with a mark of 17 feet, 2 inches, one inch better than University City-San Diego senior Kai Anderson. Muhammad, who finished second at state last year to Anderson, has cleared 17-2 twice, the last time at the Bay Valley Athletic League championships on May 7. Last week he broke the NCS Tri-Valley championship meet record at 17-0½, and Friday he'd love to challenge the NCS MOC record of 17-8½ set in 1987 by Acalanes-Lafayette's Brent Burns. Field event finals Saturday start at 2 p.m., and the first races begin at 4:30 p.m. The top three finishers and qualifying marks advance to next week's state meet at Buchanan High School in Clovis (Fresno County). 'Khaliq's competitive attitude is off the charts,' said Pittsburg's 17th-year head coach Aaron Alatorre. 'He never shies away from the moment and does whatever it takes to improve himself.' His sister Jathiyah Muhammad won the state pole vault last season (13-9) and is now competing for the University of Arizona. Their father, Gary, is a first-year coach for the Pirates but has coached the sport for years, most notably at James Logan-Union City. To improve his marks this season, Khaliq has worked on his speed and run the 100, 200 and 400 meters and 300 hurdles, improving all marks considerably throughout the season. His best times are 11.66 (100), 24.19 (200), 55.36 (400) and 43.31 (300 hurdles). Few, if any pole vaulters, would make such a physically taxing sacrifice to improve at his true craft. Heading into Friday, he's bettered his 16-4 mark from the 2024 state meet 10 times and gone at least 17-0 five times in competition. 'He's under a little pressure (to win state) because his sister did it last year,' Alatorre said with a laugh. 'He's had a great season to date.' So has teammate Tim Edwards, a senior sprinter who anchored the Pirates to a stunning state 4x100 relay title last year. Edwards has expanded his range to the 400, where his 47.47 best last week at the NCS Tri-Valley meet places him 15th in the state. He also won the 200 last week (21.51) and hopes to elevate the Pirates relay from their best of 42.00, which is well off their winning state time of 40.77 last season. Football star Jamar Searcy (Wake Forest signee) is the only other returner to the 4x100 team, but Ahmaud Thompson and Elijah Bow have improved greatly and should help the Pirates compete with favorites El Cerrito (40.87, fifth in state) and De La Salle-Concord (40.91, sixth in state) for the top of the podium. Pittsburg placed third at MOC last season before its shocking state title. More NCS track and field athletes to watch: Montgomery-Santa Rosa senior distance runner Hanne Thomsen, who has signed to Stanford, has the state's second-best mark in the 1,600 (4:41.16) and the 3,200 (9:58.17). She won the state 3,200 as a freshman, placed fourth in the 1,600 as a sophomore and last year placed second in the event (9:59.81). Thomsen has dropped the 800 but has the state's No. 6 mark (2:09.04). … Other top-10 state marks this season from NCS athletes: De La Salle junior sprinter Jaden Jefferson has the state's No. 7 100 time in 10.39. He finished fourth at state last season and is the defending MOC champion. … De La Salle senior Trey Caldwell is ninth in the 3,200 (8:58.17). … Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa junior Devon Bertoli is fifth in the shot put (60-9½). … San Marin-Novato senior Trenton Jepma is ninth in the discus (180-4). … Benicia senior Grady Wachob is tied for 10th in the high jump (6-8). … Encinal-Alameda senior Levi Harte is 10th in the long jump (23-9). … In the boys triple jump, Bishop O'Dowd-Oakland senior Cameron Jones is sixth (48-7) and De La Salle senior Ant Dean is seventh (48-5). Branson-Ross sophomore Farah Allen is 10th in the 1,600 (4:48.13). … Bay School junior Soleil Warner is seventh in the 300 hurdles (42.29). … Monte Vista-Danville's 4x800 girls relay team of Sofia Fernandez, Cate Miller, Kaylie O'Connell and Ava Padilla is seventh (9:14.46). … Acalanes senior Dulcinea Vail is tied for seventh in the high jump (5-7¼). … St. Mary's-Berkeley junior Kira Gant Hatcher is ninth in the long jump (19-5½) and third in the triple jump (40-0½). Teammate Corinne Jones, a sophomore, is fifth in the triple jump (39-9¼).
