King High School Athletes of the Year:  Marques Lea and Loto Franklin.  Marques played football, basketball, track and is headed to the University of Miami on academic scholarship.  Loto played basketball and track and is headed for Cal Baptist

King High School Scholar Athletes:  Chris Belfield, Track, going to UC-San Diego.  Shari Haynes, Track, going to MIT

Manny Santiago's magical run toward the California State triple jump finals ended a step short last night at Cerritos College in the preliminary round. His emotion charged four weeks -performing clutch jump after clutch jump - and advancing on when no one thought he could, came to a halt in what is annually perhaps the toughest high school competition in the country.

Manny's three attempts featured a legal jump of 45-9 and two scratches-the last one well within range of qualifying into the finals. But since scratches are not measured, we'll never know exactly how close he was. It would have taken a jump of at least 47-1 to get that ninth place spot into Saturday's final. Manny was not the only casuality of the day in the triple jump. The state's top ranked jumper, Chris Bernard of Corona Santiago finished 10th and out of the money by a quarter inch. Vista Murrietta's Nick Ross, a top 5 performer in the state  all year, would finish 12th. Manny would finish in 14th place out of the 30 competitors. As he realized he would not be going on, he gathered up his gear and headed out of the stadium to to be met by his coaches. His head hung low and with tears in his eyes he walked away from his final high school competition, disappointed in the final result but knowing that he had nothing to be ashamed of.

The State Meet can be a very unkind experience. It is the biggest track show in the state, as said before, perhaps the country. Along with the elation of victory comes the upsets, the surprises and the disappointtments. Evidence of this comes with dropped batons, pulled muscles, disrupted strategy or just plain being out talented. Coach Corona commented as he watched some great athletes not qualify or finish toward the back of the pack, "You know, a week ago all these kids were studs. Today, in light of what they're competing against, they're just another competitor. Somehow, that doesn't seem quite fair to what those kids have accomplished."

It would be easy to catergorize Manny's 14th place and say he was just another competitor, but nothing could be further from the truth. One has to consider the big picture in his accomplishments. He finished 14th in the STATE. Out of the 1500-some-odd schools in the state(460of which were represented yesterday) -- out of all the triple jumpers in California, he was the 14th best. He is the first King male track athlete to EVER get as far as he did.   More than that, he has been an inspiration to his teamates and to his school as he went from the 13th ranked jumper in Divsion 1 Prelims to the Division 1 Finals to the Master's Meet and finally to the State Meet. For four weeks, he made us beleive that with hard work and a little bit of belief, anything is possible. Coach Corona asks the seniors every year "What will you leave behind?"  What Manny Santiago did in 2008 ,and how he did it, will live on in King Track history, and be an inspiration,  for a long time to come.

That is the mantra that King jump coach Zaza Ralph recites to his charges any time things aren't going well. An athlete might not have his/her step right, they may be struggling to get out into the sand pit. Sometimes frustration and anger begin to kick in and it seems like all is lost.Coach Ralph then recites his usual piece of advice. the inherent message is "Stay patient. Adjust where you have to. Stay calm and stay with it. Keep the faith."

It was this message that King triple jumper Manny Santiago heard from his coach as he struggled through his warmups and his intial jumps Friday night at the CIF(SS) Master's Meet at Cerritos College in Cerrittos. As the last qualifer from Division finals, Manny was attempting to qualify for the State Track and Field Championships to be held next week in this very same stadium. He had to finish in the top 5 or jump 46-3 to capture that dream. After four jumps, he had two scratches and a best jump of 45-0. He had not looked good since getting on the field and it was cold, windy, rainy and there had been several delays along the way. The end of his season seemed to be very near.

However, on his fifth attempt, Manny sailed to a PR-School Record 46-6.25. He would go 45-9 on his last attempt, but no matter. He had made the State Meet--the first King male athlete to ever do so and the first since Orlisha Henlon's high jump accomplishment in 2003.

With his performance Friday night, Manny continues his magical run through the post-season. One local coach called it a "Cinderella Story." Since May 1st when he won the Ivy League Championship with a 43-9, Manny has reached one benchmark after the other. He finished 6th in Division 1 prelims with a 45-0 jump which qualified him for CIF Division 1 Finals. At the Finals, he finished 6th with a jump of 46-4 which got him into the Masters Meet. Last night, his jump of 46-6 placed him 6th and qualified him for state. Coach Corona joked that after the meet, he was driving to Las Vegas, finding a roulette table and putting some money down on number 6.

This coming Friday, Manny will be attempting to become one of the nine who will qualify out of prelims into the finals on Saturday. He will be going against the very best in the state of California. Can he do it??  As Coach Ralph would say--"It only takes one."

Today in the Division One boys triple jump, Manny Santiago was simply master-ful, and with a leap of 46' 4.25", he found himself taking the last spot into the Masters meet next week at Cerritos College.  In doing so, furthered the school record he already held and became King's first ever male athlete to hold the title, "Masters qualifier."

His jumping had to wait longer than normal as the pace of the meet seemed to wilt under the triple-digit temperatures all day. The delay didn't seem to hurt the talented and motivated senior though, as all three of his jumps (he fouled on attempt #3) were progressively beyond the school record he set last week at the Preliminaries. His PR/SR mark of 46-4.25 is over five feet beyond his best of '07! Manny finished sixth overall in Division One, and when the results were combined from the  previously held Divisional contests, his was the 12th best on the day (36 total jumpers, four divisions) and the final invitation to next week's prestigious affair!

Sophomore Amber Sanford made her debut at the CIF Finals, competing in the 200 meters. As the 9th place seed going in, she drew the unenviable position in lane one; the tightest curve to navigate. A seemingly quick gun caused her to get off a fraction too late and despite a valient effort to make up ground on the straight, she finished 9th. Her time was just off her best-ever, so it was certainly a good first-go of it for the talented 10th grader who is sure to visit this ground again.

And so there is one left. The roster of King Track and Field last February was in excess of 300. By mid season it was hovering at 205. 100 qualified for the league championship week; 30 made it to CIF Prelims and two made it to the CIF Finals. He may be alone this week, but the "King" on Manny's chest represents us all, and should he compete as he did today, he will represent us all quite nicely!

Full results

The Division One Track and Field Preliminaries of the CIF Southern Section can be a buzz saw or a buzz kill for many an athlete. The level of talent and depth of skill this section produces is unrivaled perhaps anywhere in the entire state. Regardless of individual performance, the experience can leave many athletes by meet's end wondering "what happened?"  Solid efforts can somehow seem diminished in the shadow of statuary talent that the division yearly creates. Just qualifying for the Preliminaries is an accomplishment, performing well on this competitive stage is signficant and finding one's way out of the Prelims and into the CIF Finals -- a Big Dance which limits its invitations to nine athletes per event -- is truly signficant.  Except for the exceptional few, athletes who assemble at this venue must find a way to mentally and physically overcome the odds to compete at a high level. If "moving on" to Finals is the goal, an extra measure of drive and good fortune is required.  On Saturday at Trabuco Hills High, Amber Sanford and Manny Santiago punched their ticket for the Finals (to be held May 17 at Mt.SAC) and led a whole host of Wolves who finished their seasons in fine fashion regardless of the temptation to let those marks pale in comparison to the stellar competition.

It took setting a school record for both of the King stars to make it happen. In Manny Santiago's first attempt at the triple jump, he hop-skipped-and-jumped to a PR and school record of 45-.75, taking down Rashad Bias' 3 year old standard. He proceed to scratch his next two attempts, but his first try was good enough for the sixth-seed going into the CIF Finals. Amber Sanford is making up for an injury-ended 2007 campaign with some superb efforts and performances over the last few weeks, starting in mid-April with her IE Championship dash in the 200. She started things off with a carry on the 4x100 relay team on Saturday, helping the group of Autumn White, Tiffany West and Juli Lambert to a school record of 49.08. That mark was the 14th fastest foursome of the entire division. Mid-meet, Amber ran another great race in the 100, just missing qualification in the 12th spot overall. But it was in her forte', the 200, that she came storming down the track in a new SR of 25.04 and snagged the 9th and final place into the prestigious Finals. The sophomore sensation has truly found her stride!

Beyond setting school records, there were solid performances and PR's across the day for King, helping to erase the memories of the 2007 debacle King held at this same meet.  The sand-pit was a welcome place for the jumpers in Santiago's club, as both Tyree Taylor and Brandon Walker landed in PR's. Taylor went 43-4 in the triple for his best-ever, while Walker leaped 21-1 in the long jump for his best mark. A great way for the talented jumpers to end their season!  Chris Belfield had his second-fastest time ever in the 300 hurdles at 31.33, Shari Haynes just missed improving her #5 all-time King mark with a 300 hurdle race of her own that finished under 50 seconds. Casey Candelaria ended her incredible season (and year) of growth with a fraction-of-a-second improvement in the 800 meters. She'd help the 4x400 team of Carrie Soholt, Kayla Cunningham and Tiffany West notch a 4:07 time, King's #3 all-time best.

Chantel Hicks finished high in the discus, also with a PR of 115-3, King's #2 all time. Kasey Tippets ran King's 5th-fastest freshman time in the 1600 with a fine 5:32 effort, Rebecca Asplund nearly matched her PR in the same event. Kelsi Tippets came oh-so-close in the 3200, finishing 12th overall in a great effort and her second-fastest time ever. She also pulled off a tough distance double, going 5:19 in the 1600 earlier in the day. Tiffany West ran her best time ever in the 400, another #2 all time mark for the day. She crossed the line in 1:00.04. Larissa Davis concluded her first-ever trip to the Preliminaries with a solid race in the 3200.

Each year brings better and faster athletes and the bar seems to be raised with each passing season. Proving their mettle and ability to bounce back, the 29 athletes in King's uniform showed that the past is indeed the past, and with a new year brings renewed commitment and improved accomplishment.

Link to full results

On Thursday at Citrus Hill High School in Perris, the teams from Riverside traveled for that opportunity and for King, a sizable group went home having punched their ticket to compete at the next level.

In the dashes, it was Amber Sanford's turn to rise, having had to endure the Ivy Finals last year from the sidelines with injury. In a classic dual of the dash, she came up just a fraction short of her first league title in the 100, but later came back to dominate the 200 in her fastest time of the year. Her time in the 100 was 12.25 and a new school record! Tiffany West finished second in the 400 with her best mark this season. In the 800, freshman Carrie Soholt claimed her first league title with a trademarked come from behind race. In her draft was vastly improved Casey Candelaria who finished fifth last year at this meet in the 400, but since moving up another lap has found her groove and gift. Both girls grabbed another PR in the process.

The distance races in fact belonged to King this night, as in the 1600 King would cross the line in the top four places, (and six of the nine places!) with Kelsi Tippets winning for the second year in a row followed by Rebecca Asplund who PR'd at 5:28, Carissa Bowman and Kasey Tippets. Later in the 3200, Kelsi took home an easy victory again, but the story may have belonged to qualifier and third place finisher Larissa Davis. Having to overcome extreme disappointment last Fall in an injury-riddled cross country season, she made the decision to come back for one more go at it, and in her last season qualified for CIF for the first time. Remarkable perseverance! Danielle Fillmore finished fourth and with Asplund and Aubrey Bowman at 8th and 9th the girls in blue put together a collective effort worthy of praise.

Vivian Ibewiro and Shari Haynes both qualified out of the two hurdle races, with Vivian snatching a victory from the jaws of defeat with a victories 35-9 triple jump in her last attempt to win. Both relay squads moved on and Katie Coggins vaulted her best of the season at 10-0 to move to CIF as well. Loto Franklin and Chantel Hicks did the same in the two throwing events.

On the boys side, it was an equally impressive qualifying day, if not as numerous as the ladies. Manny Santiago won his first-ever league title in the triple jump, eclipsing 43-0, and was followed by Tyree Taylor in second. Chris Belfield added another impressive performance to his treasure chest of great races in the hurdles with a runners-up run in the 110 highs. He came back and finished third the the 300's. Charlie Alvarez had a very fine race in the 3200, going 10:03 and finishing second with his second-fastest time of the year. The 4x100 relay team had it's fastest time of the year at 43.77. (The 4x400 team did not qualify, but did run King's #4 time all-time). Much improved Jon Job and Trent Parrish vaulted into CIF with 2nd and 3rd place showings in that event. Brandon Walker and Brian Deslonde matched those places with a low-level leap in the long jump. 

There were numerous solid performance at the JV level as well. Ariel Casco was beside herself with joy as she cleared the final hurdle in the lead of the 300's and could barely wait to cross the line before she sweetly celebrated her victory. It was a great sight to see! Rachel Webb took a victory in the 200, Kayla Cunningham was the winner in the 400. The two combined to help carry the stick in the two relays and again helped to bring home wins for King. Nina Green won both horizontal jumps and Casey Maphis won in the vault.

In the 100 dash, Rossi Hill had to lean at the line to win in a sliver of a second, he'd place second in the 200. Austin McKell tried to lean in Rossi Hill like fashion in his 800 race, and despite crashing to the track as his body hurdled past the camera, the photo finish gave him a scraped up and bruised second place. He was fine, especially after hearing the hard charging finish brought him a PR of 2:08 on the season!  Brooke Yirgo won both hurdle events and Austin Anderson claimed the victory in the vault. Finally, Densel Moody was the JV champion in the triple jump.

So it was quite a day. For some it spelled a conclusion to a season, under the lights a chance to glitter one last time. For many others, it was not only a chance to shine, but shine bright enough to catch the attention of those at the CIF level, among whom they will be able to show their stuff, to jump higher, throw farther and run faster than they ever have before. That opportunity will come in about a week.

Full Results   King High Results only

The Wolves represented themselves well in the 90 plus degree heat and despite the speedy way the meet was run (the meet was over at 11:30 am-just 31/2 hours from the start!) There was not a lot of rest to be had between events. The girls got solid performances throughout the meet led by a first place finish by Jenel Bloom in the pole vault at 8-0. Teamate Casey Maphis finished third at 7-6. Kasey Tippetts got  PR in the 1600 with a 5:36 effort for second place and then doubled back with a 2:31 800 for third. Freshman Rachel Webb pulled out a PR effort in the 200 finishing fourth in 27.9. Jessica Wiese also got a fourth place in the discus.

The boys were able to secure a second place trophy behind the two first place finishes of Khyber White. Khyber, who made his breakthrough last year in this same meet, blew away the field with a 15.7(hand time) in the 110 hurdles and did the same in the 300 hurdles at 42.9. The 4 x 100 relay of Rossi Hill, Donte Franklin, Joh Hofilena and Marvin Epps finsihed second on the day in 45.13 and the 4 X400 of Hofilena,Nikko Valenzuela, Chris Miller and James Echavarria pulled out a third place in 3:43.  Miller ALMOST ended his quest for a sub-2:10 800 as he ran to third in 2:10.02 and Brad Sheets collect two fourth place medals in the 1600 (4:55)and the 3200( 11:09). Jon Barnes cleared 9-0 to get fourth in the vault. Densel Moody had his best day of the year leaping to a PR 18-8 in the long jump for second place and a 36-10 in the triple.for fifth.

Almost the entire group ended the day with a PR or got close in their dash to the finish of the season. "I got my PR!" said Caine Jordon, as the team headed for the exit. "I'm excited!"

He wasn't alone on this day. Ariel Casco earned a PR in the 100 hurdles at 18.8 while hurdlemate Brooke Yirgu got a sixth overall in the 300's at 45.6. The boys 400 crew of Jon Paul, Echavarria and Valenzuela all went under 57 for the first time. Katrina Graham dropped two seconds to 1:08 in her 400.

It really wasn't much of a contest right from the start. Kelsi Tippets, Carissa Bowman and Larissa Davis swept easily the 3200 and by the time the 4x100 crew had carried the victory stick for their lap and the 100 hurdlers had swept their event, the Bears were heading for hibernation. Though Poly would be able to manage a few event victories, the windy afternoon belonged to King, with sweeps of the 800 (Candelaria, Soholt and Strasbaugh) and the discus (Franklin, Russell and Hicks). Katie Coggins and Brittani Ciupek finished 1 and 2 in the pole vault, Rebecca Asplund and Kasey Tippets did likewise in the 1600 meters. Shari Haynes  and Taylor Scott combined for 6 points in the 300 hurdles. The final score ended at King 93, Poly 43.

"Runners-up" has been the story line of the varsity boys, as they've taken that spot in the league each of the last three seasons. La Sierra is the official winner in 2008, but that didn't keep the King boys from finishing the dual meet season in great fashion, winning easily  by a score of 99-32. It didn't start smoothly though. After a bobble and botched exchange took King out of the running 100 meters into the 4x100 relay, they were saved by Poly's DQ in the second exchange. The next event was the 1600 and Poly took a close victory there despite good racing by Patrick Gonzalez (2nd) and a strong effort by Derek Nelson (3rd). But Khyber White, Chris Belfied and TonyRay Pacheco began to slam the door shut with a sweep of the 110 highs and from there the Wolves were able to pull away. Manny Santiago jumped into the all-time Long Jump list with the #2 AT leap at 21-8.5.  Charlie Alvarez PR'd in the 800, his second-such effort in the last week at 2:05.84. Marques Lea took two seconds, in the 400 and the 200. Patrick Gonzalez came back at the end of the afternoon to win the 3200. Ryan Sibley had his best vault of the year to win at 13-0 as did Jon Job who finished second in 12-0.  Dexter Jackson won the 100 in a headwind.

The JV teams also captured the titles with easy victories putting an exclamation mark on the sentence of this season. From the eurphoric victory the girls gained over North, to consistent diligence in the many dual meets held this season, to the incredible victories at Chet Nicholson and the Inland Empire Championships, it has been quite a year. The dual meet and team-centered emphasis will now give way to the more individualistic approach to the league championships and the attempt by many to qualify for CIF.

The objective wasn't really to win. As with any big meet King enters, the athletes' charge is simply, "do your best!"  The philosophy guides the program and over 9 years of competing it has brought forth great results for King Track and Field. Occassionally, when the talent has been coupled with purpose, it reaps victories.

In five seasons, the Inland Empire Championships has grown to become a marquee event on the calendar, in part due to the continuous growth of the IE and the subsequent quality of track and field athletes who populate the dusty terrain. With the growing powerhouse teams from the Temecula and Murrieta Valley area along with Rancho Verde Moreno Valley's sprint prowess, to qualify for a starting position let alone compete well is quite an accomplishment. Well, by the time the lights were turned off under a full moon at meet's end, the track was still aglow for the King girls as they came home with their first major invitational victory in six years.

The girls peppered the track and a few field events with point-scoring efforts all day, but heaps of their eventual 71 points came in four events. Amber Sanford sprinted to her fastest-ever 200 meter dash for victory, exclaiming after she picked up her medal and $140 Nike sport watch reward, "I had to sprint the whole way!"  Given the stable of sprinters the host school Rancho Verde and Vista Murrieta possesses, it was a near-stunning victory.  Kelsi Tippets doubled in the long distances and finished second and third in the 1600 and 3200 respectively. Carissa Bowman also scored in the 1600, helping the team cause. But it was in the 800 meters that an avalanche of points came across the line.  A week ago in the afternoon sun of the Arcadia Invitational 4x800 King's top four two-lap-dashers were stymied by a dollop of anxiety and nerves that slowed each of their efforts to compete on the big stage.  But the lights of Rancho Verde's stadium caught the glitter of these King High gems on this night and they were simply brilliant over two laps. Carrie Soholt, Casey Candelaria and Sara Strasbaugh all PR'd on the night and finished 3rd, 4th and 6th amidst a stellar field and after absorbing a prickly-sweet challenge that was laid down by Great Oak's great middle distance runners during the warmup. Sara's time of 2:22.38 surpassed her own PR by three seconds and eclipsed the once-held school record. Carrie lowered her own SR below 2:20, and Casey also dropped below the pre-2008 SR going 2:21.

In the glow of their accomplishments, Sara, acknowledging their afternoon meltdown at Arcadia, pointed to the lights and said, "See, when the lights come on the stars do come out!"   In the frosh-soph heat of the same race, the fourth member of the quick quartet, Hannah Peterson challenged for the win before settling in fifth with a PR of 2:25 of her own.

Tiffany West PR'd and scored in the 400 meters at 60.65. Though she did not score, Larissa Davis had a fine day in the 3200, winning the day-meet open race in a season-best 12:06. She notched her first invitational victory of her fine four year campaign. MIT-bound Sheri Haynes ran 49.38 in the 300 hurdles, her fastest mark ever and the #5 mark in school history. The 4x100 team finished fourth, scoring; the 4x400 team matched the finish place. Jazzmine Simpson didn't clear 5-0 in the high jump but was able to score. Katie Coggins took third in the vault. Vivian Ibewiro was 5th and 6th in the two horizontal jumps.

There were some notable performances at the frosh-soph level beyond the effort of Hannah Peterson. Aubrey Bowman ran King's 7th fastest freshman mark ever in the 3200 at 12:18. Kelli Boyd was a two-time winner in the high jump at 5-0 and the long jump at 15-10. With both marks she leaped into King's record books, notching top five all time performances in both events.  Jessica Weise finished fifth in the shot put.

Though the boys were not as successful in the scoring column as the girls were, they still were able to find within themselves the ability to compete well against some truly impressive programs from across both Inland Empire counties. As representative of the depth the IE offers in terms of quality, Jason Schupp had his finest and fastest race of the season in the 800, running 2:06, the #7 time ever at King. That was only good enough for 21st place however and it spelled out the story for the boys all evening; great personal performance, but not good enough to grab some hardware against the studs from the Murrieta and desert areas.  Chris Belfield was one of the few to break through the wall of opposition with a near-best time in the 300 hurdles, his 41.67 would place him 5th on the day.  Brian Deslonde didn't jump his best of 21-7 in the long jump, but a 21-6 took home fourth place for the senior. Manny Santiago went 43-9 (#2 all time) to finish third in the triple jump. 

At the frosh-soph level, Rossi Hill had two sixth-place dashes in the century and deuce. Craig Aguilar and Daniel Balcazar both PR'd in the 800 but failed to score. Jarod Nocella picked up a PR in the 3200.  The 4x100 team finished fourth overall, and like the varsity girls baton-squads matched it too with a fourth place finish in the 1600 relay. Khyber White had another typically great outing all afternoon, and Chris Jackson took home a fourth place vault.

One doesn't have to watch too many events in a meet that brings the IE's best to center stage to recognize that the talent level has risen dramatically over the last decade in a place once called by an LA disc jockey, "The Valley of the Dirt People." On this cool evening under a moon-cast Southern California sky,  the athletes of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties rose to the occasion and made the dirt billow in dust stirred by great performances, just as they do in countless contests spread across the entire season and in a plethora of track and field venues. In this stadium, lit up for all to see, the girls of King High were leading the way.

FULL RESULTS ON DYESTATCAL.COM    Riverside County TF Website

The Arlington Lions came into the King Stadium Thursday to contest the second-to-last Ivy League meet of the season. As the Lady Wolves march ever so closer to their first Ivy League title, the Lions represented one of two remaining squads that could disrupt that parade. Undersized and outmatched, Arlington could not muster enough points to earn a victory and King's girls moved within one victory of the crown.

The Lions scored only 11 points to King's 125, and "King's Queens" won every event contested. Loto Franklin had a solid heave of 35-9 in the shot for a huge PR. Her toss was just 2 inches short of the school record! Chantel Hicks mimicked Loto's success with the number-2 throw All Time in the discus, flipping the plate 114-2, also a PR. Kayla Cunningham won the 400, Jazzmine Simpson cleared 5-feet in the high jump, and Katie Coggins continued her improvement in the vault with a strong 9-0 showing and win. Kellie Boyd got on the top-5 list for the triple jump with a mark of 33-9, good for #4 all time in school history. Kasey Tippets took home a victory in the 3200 at 13:00.

The boys had just as easy of an afternoon, scoring 105 points. Brian Deslonde continued his fine jumping going 21-7.5 in the long, a 6 inch improvement on the season and the number-2 mark in school history.  Brian Malone threw beyond 43 feet in the shot and Jared Pico went PR in the discus, making it a good day in the field for the Wolves. Joe Gilliland gutted out a victory in the 400 meters, Ryan Sibley skyied 11-6 to win the vault. Charlie Alvarez dropped down to the 800 from his normal 3200 meters duty and performed exceptionally well with a lifetime PR of 2:07.74, and took over the season leader spot in the process.  Ethan Park put together a great race in the 3200 to finish second, a come-from-behind effort that saw him in fourth after three laps of the eight. Dexter Jackson moved to #4 all time in the 100 meters with an 11.21 dash and win.

Only the Poly Bears remain in front of the Wolves in their quest to finish first (girls) and second (boys) in what is looking to be the final year of Ivy League existence.  One week to go, stay tuned!

Friday marked the first day of the meet and the early entrance for the King 4x800 team ranked, at the time, sixth in the state of California. Things did not go well, as Casey Candelaria, Sara Strasbaugh, Hannah Peterson and Carrie Soholt clocked a 9:49 time in the invitational heat(fastest heat of the two run on the day).  It was a disappointment as the cumulative time was some 11 seconds off what they achieved at the Chet Nicholson Relays two weeks ago. The enormity of the meet, the thousands of spectators and thier own doubts as to whether they belonged on such a talented stage seemed to overwhelm them and the race was a struggle almost from the beginning.  However, they were followed later in the evening by the 4xmile team which etched a new school record by two seconds going 21:49.95 . Bouyed by the lead-off leg of senior Carissa Bowman who ran a 5:14.5, the rest of the team, Danielle Fillmore (5:37)- Rebecca Asplund(5:37) and Kelsi Tippetts (5:20) were able to pull through for a 9th place finish in their heat of 30 teams.

On Saturday, the 4x100 team of Autumn White, Amber Sanford, Tiffany West and Juli Lambert clocked their second fastest time of the year in 50.16, finishing in the middle of the pack among 55 other teams. This group ran off at 10 AM, and no King team would be seen again until 8:10 that evening but it was well worth the wait. The Distance Medley (1200-400-800-1600) team of Carissa Bowman, Amber Sanford, Carrie Soholt and Kelsi Tippets DESTROYED the school record by 47 seconds as they finished 8th out of 17 teams in the Invitational portion of the meet with a 12:22.26. Three schools, Torrey Pines out of San Deigo, Davis High from Utah and Esperanza High of Anahiem,  broke the meet record going under 12:14. It was called by the meet announcer as the fastest DMR race in the country to date. Arcadia's slogan is "When the lights go on the stars come out" and no words could have been more apropos for one of the final events of the evening, and for the Lady Wolves' brightest stars.

Carissa Bowman, making her way back from illness, ran her second impressive race of the weekend as she led off with a 3:52 1200. Amber Sanford broke off a 1:02 400 but had to run an extra 10-12 yeards because Carrie Soholt took off early. Amber had to catch her to get the baton to her. Now an "Arcadia veteran" after Friday night, Carrie ran around a 2:20 800 leg before giving off to Kelsi Tippets. Kelsi lost some ground along the way but ran extremely hard and put on a vicious kick in the final 100 meters, clocked a 5:08 1600 leg to rally the team to the finish line.  The mark for Kelsi would stand as a school record if it were an open race. More significantly, the 12:22 team time was second ALL TIME for any girls team from Riverside County, with only the mighty Murrieta Valley squad of 2002 ahead of them. Surrounded on the track by some of the legendary distance programs in the state and from out of state, the girls from King held their own and showed that they not only deserved to be in the field, but could race well with the spotlight firmly pointed at them.

So, on a national stage the Queens of King showed they had room to grow yet also belonged right there next to some of the best track stars this nation has to offer.

Go to www.dyestatcal.com for full coverage and results.  For the national angle, go to www.dyestat.com

The Vista Murrietta team carved off a chunk of their younger athletes from their 300+ member track program and brought to the 4th Annual King Frosh Soph Classic a view of the great program that the Mustangs are. With talent and depth spread throughout the field and across the track, the participation of Vista took the meet to another level unforeseen untill now. When the points were tallied, Vista Murrieta won both the boys and the girls contests handily.

Their victories were not unchallenged however. Orange Lutheran, who brought a small contingent of boys last year and did well, came back this year with the ladies who put up a run to take the crown from Vista before settling for second. The Mustangs of Rancho Verde saw their younger set of guys give chase, but that horserace fell a bit short for the Moreno Valley school who finished second, just 6.5 points short. San Jacinto's and Orange Lutheran's boys were both in the mix all day making it a four-team pullaway from the field. King would finish 6th. The girls of Poloma Valley and King finished in 3rd and 4th respectively, just two points apart.

The sprints were a showcase of talent. Ashley Marshell of Rancho Verde set a new meet record in the 100 meters, going 12.54. Deontae Cooper and Damanie Wilson (Citrus Hills and Orange Lutheran) did the favors in a photo finish of the 100, running 11.07 and 11.08. Wilson would come back in the 200 for another nail biter, this time  over Anthony Crook of San Jacinto in a meet-record 22.90-22.94  advantage and victory.  In the girls 200, all six medalists broke the three-year old meet record, with Marshell taking the victory again.  Orange Lutheran's girls took gold in the 400 relay with an impressive 50.41.

The distances were equally strong with "varsity-like" times posted despite the relative youth of the competitors. Sciarra (no first name given) of Crean Lutheran sliced under 60 in the 400. (she also won the 300 hurdles in meet record time).  Carrie Soholt of the host King, ran 2:23.93 in the 800, just holding off a hard-charging Tarra Rarick of Poloma Valley.  King's strong distance crew showed their depth in the longer races, with Kelsi Tippets winning the 1600 in 5:22.66, towing two teammates in Hannah Peterson and Rebecca Asplund to 3rd and 5th place finishes.  Danielle Fillmore of King led for all but 100 meters in the 3200 meters before relinquishing the top two places to Feuerstine of Serrano and Lauren Justus of Glendora.  All three broke 12:00.

Out in the field, Vista Murrieta took first and second in the girls triple and won the pole vault.  Britteny Dannewitz of San Jacinto swept the throws with a strong PR toss of 114-7.25 in the discus.

The boys 110 high hurdles took the timing operator several minutes to analyze the photo to discipher a clear winner, it was that close! Teammates Keele and Gomez of Vista Murrietta crashed through the line side by side at 16.11-16.12.  Keele would win the 300's as well, challenged by Khyber White of King who had a breakthrough day of his own over the barriers. The 800 and 1600 were dominated by Ruben Danielson of Rancho Verde who's sub 2:00 and sub 4:30 credentials were not strong enough to get him on the trip with his older teammates to the Stanford Invitational! Broaching no complaint, he looked near-collegiate with and easy 2:03 and 4:29 victories.

With over 20 schools in attendance and some very strong showings by programs such as Vista, San Jacinto, Orange Lutheran and Rancho Verde, the King Classic made it's fourth showing in the Southern Section one with views of greatness.

Scroll to the bottom of the event results to see the team scores.

Photo Gallery of the meet  Dyestatcal.com Featured Meet Summary!

The road to the Ivy League Championship for the girls passed through Ramona High School yesterday and the going was distinctly different than the road to the school's similarly-named city. This journey was smooth, lacking the thrills of precipitous treachery. No signs of "Danger!" were visible.  From the opening gun to the final vault, the King girls cruised toward their first Ivy League crown by winning handily, 117-19. Kirsti Correa snagged her first event victory this season with a win in the 100 hurdles. Larissa Davis did as well in the 3200, leading a King sweep of that event.  Loto Franklin won the shot at 31-4.5, and Kasey Tippets got in on the first-time-ever-winning-an-event action with a victory in the 1600. Katie Coggins, somewhat accustomed to winning in the vault made 8-0 for another win.  Kelli Boyd had an incredible day, scoring in four events and winning two of them.

Ramona's boys added a couple of twists and speed bumps to King's journey to victory, but it wasn't enough to make it close, just closer than the girls. With a win of 93-42, King moved to 2-1 on the season in the Ivy League. Kyhber White took gold in the 110 hurdles and Chris Belfield did the honors in the 300 hurdles. Patrick Gonzalez won his first varsity race of the season and also finished third in the 1600. Brian Malone scored twice in the two throws. Dexter Jackson sprinted to a victory in the 100. Jon Job PR'd in the vault at 11-6, his first scoring effort of the season.

So a couple of easy wins were recorded, making the journey to a league title if not easier, at least a day shorter.

The meet got off on time and the first event of the day began the re-arrangement of King's record books. The girls 4x1600 team of Carissa Bowman, Danielle Fillmore, Rebecca Asplund and Kelsi Tippets ran 20:00, nudging the record by 5 seconds. Later in the day the distance medley record (1200, 400, 800, 1600) was also brought down by Asplund, Tippets, Kasey Tippets and Tiffany West. However, it was the third distance multi-lap affair that not only brought down the book, but the house as well. In the 4x800, the foursome of Casey Candelaria, Hannah Peterson, Sara Strasbaugh and Carrie Soholt carried the stick for 8 laps, and after Casey dispatched their nearest competitor at the end of leg 1, the remaining three girls were left to battle themselves, the track and the clock as they left 2nd place some 50 meters back and some within the field hoping to not get lapped. Despite the "solo" effort the last three girls had to run, Hannah and Sara both dropped their PR's for the race, while Carrie carried it home to a phenomenal 9:36 time!  Their accomplishment broke the meet record of 9:51 set back in 1981, beat the school record by 1:15, and was the fourth fastest time in Riverside County history! 

The sprint medley (200,200,400, 800) of Juli Lambert, Amber Sanford, Tiffany West and Hanna Peterson pulled away from their opponents within 30 minutes of the conclusion of the 4x800, and their winning mark of 4:22.30 was also a second school record, perhaps making Hannah first King athlete to rack up 2 school records in a half-hour! The shuttle hurdle team of Shari Haynes, Autumn White, Taylor Scott and Vivian Ibewiro got in on the SR action, as did the discus throwers (Chantel Hicks, Loto Franklin and Vanessa Loya) who combined wen 265' 1.5".  Juli Lambert, Tiffany West, Sanford and Autumn White took their 4x100 time under 50 seconds for the first time this season.

In scoring 5th overall, the boys team could well have crawled off the track, licking their wounds, but none did. Instead, they allowed the competition to pull them to some quality performances and a couple of school records to match the ladies. The pole vault crew won their event (as did the girls), the shuttle hurdle group of Khyber White, Manny Santiago, Mark Belfield and Dalane Nash took home a bag of 1st place medals and a 1:10.28 time. An 8x100 is a rarely-run event, but when it is contested, it's lightening and thunder as the exchange zones tend to be hazardous zones of sticks and flying bodies. The King crew came out unscathed with a school record of 1:34.52. The distance medley team of Derek Nelson, Chris Hatzl, Daniel Balcazar and Charlie Alvarez finished fourth overall in 11:19.70, and the triple jump group set a school record at 122-7.

After 7 hours of racing, jumping and throwing, the day ended well for King. A box of medals, some PR's and a major revision in order for the King Track record book.   Click here for full results

On the varsity side of things, Larissa Davis continued her surge forward as she earned a season best 5:43 in the 1600 for a third place medal and then came back with another season best 12:23 in the 3200 good for fourth place overall. Stacy Yarbrough put in a 6:03 in the 1600 for her season best.  Ethan Park won his heat of the varsity 1600 with a fine time of 5:09 and just missed his PR in the 3200 with an 11:08 clocking. TonyRay Pacheco was a 7th place finisher in both hurdle races at 17.99 for the highs and he shaved two seconds off his 300 Hurdle mark with an impressive 45.9. Not bad for a guy who is in his first year of track and only been hurdling for four weeks!!!! Andrew Levine churned out a 57.0-a season best in the 400 and Michael Gardner dropped to 2:25 in the 800. 

In the Soph/Frosh Divison, both the boys and girls fared well. Aubrey Bowman got two third place medals for her finishes int he 1600 and the 3200. Aubrey pushed herself to a new PR in the 1600 with a 5:49 and came in in 12:41 in the 3200.The 4 X100 relay of Marvin Epps, Donte Franklin, Jonathan Watson and Rossi Hill turned in a 47.01 for third. Not to be outdone, the 4X400 team of James Echavarria, Nikko Valenzuela, Chris Miller and Jamie Moses got the baton around in 3:53-good for second place. Hill, a soph, also got fourth places in the 100 and the 200. Brad Sheets finished fourth in both the 1600( 5:02) and the 3200 (11:02). Not far behind was Sean Lee who tied his PR in the 1600 at 5:10 and earned a PR in the 3200 at 11:11.Ellyise Gamo finished second in the high jump leapng to 4-6 and came ever so close at 4-8. Jessica Wiese made a big push for a varsity spot with a second place shot put of 30-3.  Jessica also finshed fourth in the discus. Bianca Freeman showed how far she has come as she won her heat of the 200.

It was a long day..puncuated by Rebecca Fairley's question-"Why are they taking ten minutes between races?".....but a very successful one for the part of the team that went west (to Corona) and the one that went east (to Beaumont).

2 points. That's the number of points the Huskies from North came short yesterday in securing their 13th league title in a row. In a meet that was close from start to finish, the girls from King High beat their cross-town rivals by the narrowest of margins and in so-doing, ended the remarkable reign of North and put themselves on track to earn their first Ivy League title since entering the league. It was an historic and heroic win for King.

2 events.  In any close track meet, every point and every event matters, but when the dust had settled it seemed like a couple of events jumped out as turning points and critically important. Amber Sanford usually finds herself looking down the track at 100 or 200 meters of speed, but in a move to counter North's traditional 400 meter strength, Amber was put into the 400 for the first time this season. Running abreast three talented Huskies through 250 meters, the surprise entry may have taken the steam out of the North girls' engine as they looked over into lane three and saw a King athlete still in it!   Amber was able to come out of the final turn in the lead and hold on for the win. (Her time of 60.52 was the #3 AT mark at King)  It was at least a 7-point swing as King has never been able to finish first in the 400 against North. Amber would later come back to win the 100 and the 200 to manufacture a big-meet performance.  The other event was a thrilling, never-say-die race in the 800.  King's 800 crew this season has some incredible depth and it came in handy yesterday. Carrie Soholt, Casey Candelaria and Sara Strasbaugh were given a pre-race strategy to take the race out hard and eliminate any type of kick the lone-North runner could muster. The race went to plan for 700 meters, when Soholt, Candelaria and North began to break away. Just as the three entered the final stretch however, the North runner faltered and began to slow dramatically. Sara Strasbaugh, who was by that point some 10 meters back in fourth, looked up and saw the wheels coming off her opponent and made a ferocious attempt to get back into third.  30 meters from the line, Sara passed the North runner who was by that point near-jogging. Another seemingly small 2-point swing was made. Small then, HUGE by the end of the meet, as the final score ended 69-67, King.

1 team. In any team contest, the heroics of a few are shared by all of course, and when the final score was announced, the Lady Wolves erupted in cheers and frankly, some understandable shock. With the dominance of North over the years, most have just never expected to beat them. But not today. 12 years was ended with 2 points and 2 highly significant events.

The boys continued their winning ways over North; the string of victories now goes out to three years. It was a close finish in 2007, but the gap was some 12 points this time and with characteristic dominance in a variety of events, King was able to even up their league record at 1-1. The victory ended under a setting sun, as the high jump went long and both squads gathered around the approach to watch and cheer on the final jumpers in an event that is often overlooked. Michael Albrecht ended up the victor with some fine leaping, clearing 6-2 for the second time this season.

The JV events were held, but in that North did not field a JV squad of either gender, scores and marks were not officially recorded.

The distance runners of late have exemplified both characteristics and Saturday at Azusa Pacific University they showed the results that come from both.  After patiently heeding the advice of the coaches all season to "pick their battles" and moderate their emotional and physical output in racing,  their first all-out effort of the season at the famed Arroyo Distance Carnival could not have come sooner, and they wasted no time in getting down to business and making some truly remarkable things happen. In race after race, from under the morning sun till bathed in the stadium lights, the distance runners put on a show that was in every way remarkable. Personal records were not just adjusted but radically altered and two long-standing school records came crashing down.

The girls 800 meters has become a surprisingly strong event this season for the first time in school history. Where once King struggled to put one girl a season under 2:30, this year has seen an avalanche of times under 2:30, making history anew for the school. Hannah Peterson (FR), Casey Candelaria (JR) and Carrie Soholt (FR) toed the line early in the morning in the "invitational" heat of the 800, a line that was packed with some of the best two-lappers in the state. Off to a blistering start in the race, the three held their own, and at the finish line the effort showed with three new PR's. Casey matched the old school record (Kristin McHugh, 2:22 in 2003) and Carrie crushed the record with a 2:20.20 . Talented and giggling, the precocious 9th grader had a hard time containing her enthusiasm over the achievement. Sara Strasbaugh came in the next event and lowered her lifetime best at 2:26.  So, in two heats spanning just five minutes, the girls from King had changed the landscape of half-milers wearing the blue and silver. Adding Kasey Tippets' 2:31 (a 10-second PR, #4 AT 9th grade) a few heats later, King placed five girls at 2:31 to 2:20, the first time such depth has ever been displayed at this event in our history. As stellar as Candelaria and Soholt's SR matching/breaking races were, they were matched by the unrivaled depth of the team behind them!

The 3200 meters school record fell at the end of the day; this one four years old, set by Megan Fairley at 11:05.  Kelsi Tippets' highly competitive race habits were on full display with a hard charging, aggressive and tenacious race in the fastest heat of the day. Mixed in with All-Staters and All-Americans, the sophomore took her game to a new level, flirting with a sub 11:00 time for much of the race before finishing at 11:03.25. It eclisped Fairley's record by two seconds and was 15 seconds in front of her own PR from a year ago.  As of this writing, it is also the #7 time in Riverside County history!The two-time All State honoree in cross country proved again why she is one of the best sophomore distance runners in California.

Between the school record bookends that openend and closed the day, there were stories of achievement and personal success. Mark Jimenez and Alex Bruno, both 9th grade rookies to distance running put together PR's in the 800, with Mark winning his event. Dylan Gallagher dropped 10 seconds in the 800. Jason Schupp and Greg Bedell went "lifetime" with 2:08 and 2:09 finishes, the first time either had gone under 2:10. Daniel Balcazar did the same. Austin McKell (2:11) and Chris Miller also PR’d at 2:13. Craig Aguilar took 7 seconds off his LT best. With Haley Hammer’s 10 second seasonal best, it was quite a day for the half-milers!

In the 1600, Balcazar doubled back for a 4:51 finish that came with a furious kick. It's the number 3 freshman time in school history, so he now owns the #3 time in both the 16' and the 800.  Soph Brad Sheets had a great day, going 5-flat in the 16' with another PR earlier in the 800.  Hannah Peterson hung around after her great 800 to lay down an incredible 1600. The 9th grader who could not make the varsity cross country team last fall now has the #4 1600 time on the team at 5:36! Larissa Davis had a season's best at 5:51. Kasey Tippets doubled her PR total with a tremendous race to finish at 5:44.  One of the girls who had an especially big day was Aubrey Bowman who ran two, wonderful races of great effort. She broke six in the 16' with a 5:51 time and also ran an incredible 12:38 in the 32' to medal in 6th place!

Jason Schupp, the "Tower of Power" as Coach Corona calls him, put together the most amazing 1600 of his life, devouring the track and running 4:47, a second faster than his stated goal. The "Big Man" (6'6" at least!) looked sharp and admitted after the race he felt "great" through the laps. It showed. Patrick Gonzalez won his heat at 4:51 and Ethan Park and Andrew Huscher both had PR's.  Perhaps, though, the greatest single race of the entire day belonged to Michael Gardner. The senior who's been on and off the team for four years, took the lead at the gun and went on to hold it for all but 150 meters. Finishing second and medaling, he had his teammates and parents standing in awe and slapping high-fives all around over the kind-hearted and generous kid from King who in running 5:06, dropped his PR in the event some 24 seconds!!  

Fitting of a “Distance Carnival,” the 3200 meters stands out as a marquee event, with the seeded invitational heats of the meet run under the lights at the end of the day. It was in this electric setting that Kelsi grabbed her SR, while Charlie Alvarez and Rebecca Asplund did their own PR dance in their heats on the same stage. With fans and spectators invited to ring the track, the crowds spilled out on the backstretch taking up lane four to form a gauntlet of screaming zaniness that the surging pack of racers split. It was quite a scene, and Rebecca Asplund took advantage of it to drop a full 25 seconds off her best at 3200, finishing at 11:40, the 6^th fastest time in school history. Needless to say, the sophomore was beaming as bright as the stadium lights as she walked from the track. Charlie Alvarez has likewise been patiently training and waiting his opportunity to pounce on a great race, and pounce he did. Swept along in a huge pack, he executed a planned split at the mile at 4:49 and then hung on to a lifetime best of 9:44. (#2 AT).  

Earlier in the day, Danielle Fillmore showed that she’s back from illness to post her best-ever time of 12:04. Rebecca Trupp, Rebekah Fairley also PR’d and Stacy Yarbrough’s long-awaited goal of breaking 13:00 came to pass with a gutsy 12:50 race.  Derek Nelson ran 10:22, a half-minute below his best-ever; Jarod Nocella and Brandon Rogers both dropped PR’s under 11:00 for the first time. Sean Lee and Rafi Perez also went home with lifetime bests. Patrick Gonzalez paced out his fastest time of the season (10:17) by running almost even splits, and trailing in second-to-last at half way before moving on the fast starters and ultimately medaling. Ethan Park PR'd at 11:07.

We’re not sure exactly what sound a record makes when it falls, but based on the experiences of the Distance Carnival at APU, it’s accompanied by the rush of wind, the thunder of spike-clad feet skirting the track and concludes with great applause and shouts of joy from audiences and athletes alike. We do know that they fall only with effort and attitude. King had all of that and more throughout the meet.

What a day. What a sound. 

Results linked here.

The defending boys Ivy League Champions brought their road show to King High yesterday and ran into a King boys team that was intent on disrupting their corronation to the crown in 2008.  The undefeated Eagles soared in with their usual dominating distance runners that have an uncanny ability to cross over to the sprints and score against full-time sprinters. The Knight twins devoured King's top brass the last two seasons, and on this day Steve Norton scored in all three distance events and then won the 400 for good measure.  But perhaps the biggest surprise was an incredible King performance and utter dominance in the jumps.  In the long jump, the Wolves were led by Brian Deslonde and together put 5 guys beyond 20'. Despite sweeping that event and the tirple jump, and scoring well in other places, King came up just short in the points, losing to La Sierra 64-72.

It was indeed a day for the long jumpers. Coach Corona commented after the meet that "he had never seen anything like it." With Deslonde leading at 21' 1/2" (#5 AT), Branden Walker (20-5), Manny Santiago (20-4) Tyson Thurman (20-0) and Tyree Taylor (20-0) all went long in truly impressive fashion.  Had this been a three-man relay event (combined totals of all three jumpers) the SR that includes the individual school record holder in Jamie Jelks would have been surpassed by 2 feet!  Taylor, Santiago and Thurman did the sweep-up duties in the triple. Those 18 points surprised coaches on both sides of the track and made King's cause even greater and the narrow gap to victory even more frustrating. Branden Walker's winning effort in the 100 was also King's #4 all time 100 mark at 11.28, but despite these great efforts, King fell short in points as La Sierra proved to be deeper and more talented in more events. La Sierra won both relays, took 27of the available 28 points in the distance events and split the throws.

Vivian Ibewiro continued her assault on the all time lists, with two, top 2 All Time performances in both the triple jump and the 100 hurdles. Given the stature of the school record in each of those events (see the school records link) coming up a bit short of the title is still quite an accomplishment for the vivacious senior leader. Her excellence not withstanding, it was, overall, and easy day for the ladies, who would take first place in every event but the two throws. Upon seeing the seemingly unending line of King athletes marching single file into the stadium, one of the young Eagle competitors remarked before the meet that "King would take all the lanes!" At times in the girls contest it really did go that way as King swept six events on the day and had two of the three scoring places in several others. Outside of the JV 800 meters in which La Sierra put 33(!) runners on the line, the track belonged to the Lady Wolves from start to finish. King won 110 to 25.

The JV teams had an equally easy time of it. The boys outscored their opponents by 70 ponts and the girls had a margin of 90 points.

Omar Gonzalez, Centennial's talented distance runner was their lone bright spot, as he would crush the stadium record in the 3200, the meet's last event. His 9:57 mark was the first time any boy had broken 10:00 on King's track. He also won the 800, but skipped the 1600 which allowed King to sweep the second event of the day, led by Charlie Alvarez's solo effort at 4:47. Derek Nelson and Jarod Nocella followed. Chris Villanueva took home a victory in the 400 and Joe Gilliland and Andrew Levine helped sweep up all nine event points. Brian Deslonde, while being somewhat shutout in the sprints by the talented Centennial dashers, did find the win in the long jump, going 20-9. Ryan Sibley vaulted 12-0 to lead a sweep in that event, Kyle Nugent and Trent Parrish followed him. In the 800, two of King's fantastic freshmen got in the scoring behind Omar Gonzalez, as Daniel Balcazar went 2nd and Chris Miller notched the #6 all-time freshman mark in his first ever 800!  With a group win in the final contest, the 4x400, the boys put up 93 points to Centennial's 43. 

114-21. That was the varsity girls' winning margin. So with last week's victory over Santiago, this win now makes the Lady Wolves 2-0 against their future Big 8 League opponents. With such a lopsided outcome, the meet turned into a bit of workout for many of King's top performers. The only events Centennial was able to snag a victory in were the high jump and the 300 hurdles.

Chantell Hicks threw the discus beyond 106 feet to lead a sweep of that event, along with Lacy Russell and Loto Franklin at 2nd and 3rd. Vivian Ibewiro won the 100 hurdles and the triple jump with fine marks in the two diverse events. For good measure, she also won the long jump at 16-9, the #2 all time leap in King history! Carrie Soholt continued her sparkling beginning to the sport and the season with another incredible performance in the 800 meters. Running 2:24.92, she set a stadium record, notched a King Freshman record in the event and also posted the #2 all-time 800 for King!  As of this writing, her mark is the fastest reported time for the 800 in all of Riverside County. The freshman is off to a great start!

The JV boys won by even more, 127-9. Centennial won only one event, while King swept 11 events and won both relays. The JV girls dominated a small contingent of Centennial ahtletes, winning 127-0.

So it was a big day of winning ways for the Wolves.  While the girls continued their strong performances, the boys got back "on track" after falling to Santiago last week. Will this be what comes in '09? as all three schools join league together? Only time will tell.

It was all in good spirit, but both Charlie and Derek proceeded after the start to go ahead and in fact, beat a sizeable number of current college distance runners, as they went on to notch some incredible performances for their first time at the 5K distance (12 1/2 laps). Charlie would finish sixth overall in an impressive time of 15:59.28, Derek followed him in at 17:04.04.  Both guys expressed great satisfaction after the race and remarked, "That was fun!" Indeed!  Great to see two guys who've worked exceptionally hard all winter see a breakthrough performance under the lights on Mt.SAC's storied track.

The girls got in on the action as well, as two more King sophomores stepped up to the challenge and met it head on and in great style!  Rebecca Asplund, just turned 16, finished 7th overall in her heat at 19:22.58 and for a good distance of the race was lodged right in the middle of the lead pack! It was a great performance for the hardworking soph.  Kelsi Tippets is another of King's talented underclass, and despite her youth and diminutive size, she ran like a seasoned veteran among the women, racing to 17th place at 18:28.16.  Carissa Bowman, the only senior of the group showed why she's already signed a very sizable scholarship to run for Biola University next year, by running a smart, evenly paced race, ultimately crossing the line in 18:12, a full 58 seconds ahead of the time she recorded in the same event last year!  Quite an improvement.

More King athletes were present this night than just these mentioned. The only difference was that they were under the colors and uniforms of area colleges and universities and they represented both their present schools and their alma mater in great style. Alec Fillmore (Class of 07) ran a very solid 5000 for the University of Redlands, and in his fashion we enjoyed during his four years at King, he gritted out every ounce of effort through every lap. Matt Cummins, (Class of '07 and King's 3200 meter school record holder) is now at Harvey Mudd University in Claremont, and contested the 5000 as well. His time of 15:44 wasn't to his liking, but injured legs were obviously part of his story during the event. In typical Matt fashion, he was his positive self after the race, despite a race he wished he could take back. Megan Fairley (Class of '04), looked good again as she finishes up her career at UC Irvine and ran the 5000 meters in 18:01. Earlier in the day, Daniel Beld (Class of '03 and still King's 800 record holder), is now ar RCC and won his heat of the 800 in 2:05, an impressive mark for the talented 24 year old who is just this year picking up his running after a lengthy time away. Terrance Kirby ('05) was fourth in the same heat at 2:07, he's now at Cal Poly Pomona.

So it was a very good night for King. Impressive in every manner, from the way they raced, to their composure among older and more experienced runners, these young stars of King Track held their own and proved that should time be good to them, it won't be too much longer before they will take their place on the starting line of some future track, wearing the colors of college themselves.

Full Results here. (Carissa Bowman is listed as "Carissa Brown")

In the annual clash between Corona-Santiago, Hemet High and King, the varsity boys from King found themselves by meet's end on a singular high -- Ryan Sibley's 12-6 pole vault was the only event win for the Wolves.  When all the points were counted they ended up the low guys on the totem pole, some 50 points behind the Santiago Sharks and just 15 points ahead of Hemet at Hemet High School. The girls on the other hand, were soaring on the winds of incredible highs thanks to great performances and by dominating event after event to a crushing 67 point margin over Hemet and a 70 point gap over Santiago. Both JV squads took home victories as well. With the arrival of Santiago next year in the same league with King, the matchup proved telling for both schools as a preview perhaps of things to come.

King's girl's 4x100 team got things rolling right away with a four-second win in the first event, then was followed up by a 2nd ,3rd and 4th place finish in the 1600 by Carissa Bowman, Rebecca Asplund and Carrie Soholt.  Vivian Ibewiro continued the string, winning the 100 hurdles.  But it was a dominating force in the 800 that shut the door on the competition. King's rising distance stars simply commanded the 800 -- a rare outcome for King in this event over the years -- as the two lappers put across all four placers under 2:32!  Carrie Soholt led the way with an incredible kick that took her from fourth at one point, followed by Casey Candelaria and the incredibly improved freshman, Hanna Peterson  who was contesting her first ever varsity race and notching the #7 King frosh time all time! Sara Strasbaugh completed the sweep. The meet concluded with even more King victories, as Hemet was able to win only one event of the last seven.

The boys were treated to three hours of sprinting, throwing, jumping and multi-lapping excellence, courtesy of the Sharks of Santiago. The impressive team performance sent a clear signal that the Big 8 league both schools will be a part of next year will be no cakewalk. King found itself 2 seconds behind in the opening 400 relay, shut out in the shot put, able to score only one point in the 100, and shut out again in the discus. Though King nabbed some second and third places throughout most of the afternoon, with only Sibley's aforementioned high mark in the vault, being squeezed consistently out of the first place column decimated the Wolves' ability to mount an attack. One performance worthy of listing, was Charlie Alvarez running the 1600 in 4:38.85, good for fourth on the all-time list for King. In that same race, all four of the King distance runners (Alvarez, Jared Nocella, Derek Nelson and Brandon Rogers) notched lifetime PR's, with Rogers dropping 40 seconds off his best from '07. Last season, the then-9th grader ran 5:43, this evening he finished in 5:02. Incredible!  Tyree Taylor likewise had a strong outing in the triple jump, going beyond 42 feet from the board.

About a dozen of King's distance runners got an early go on the season by competing in the Orange County Half Marathon, a race that saw over 5,200 finishers!  With ample parent support and Mr. and Mrs. Alvarez's motor home as a gathering place for breakfast following the race, the event was a great experience for all.

King's runners, including a bunch of 9th graders, put their endurance and pacing skills to the test over the 13.1 mile race that started at the Newport Beach "Fashion Island" shopping center and ended at Irvine's "Spectrum" Center.  Though very slight, the course elevation gained over the the half-marathon distance.

It was truly a great morning of superb efforts and even mind-changing experiences, as these young runners discovered that they are stronger than they think they are!  Here are the results we know of, for full results, go to http://runraceresults.com/Event.asp?ID=RCOE2008: