SAN JOSE—The Central Coast Section Track and Field Championships happens to be one of the rare sporting events where coming in second or third place is almost a win in itself.
And so it was for four athletes from the South Valley—Christopher’s Ally Foster and Cody Oberlander, Live Oak’s Afari La-Anyane and San Benito’s Chris Cook—who all advanced to the upcoming California Interscholastic Federation State Meet after recording top-three finishes in their respective events last Friday at San Jose City College.
A top-three finish or any athlete who meets the ultra-tough at-large California standard qualifies for Friday’s CIF State Meet in Clovis.
Foster, a junior, came in third in the long jump with a mark of 17 feet, 10 1/4 inches.
She also finished in fourth place in her two other individual events, the triple jump (35-4 3/4) and 110-meter hurdles (14.93 seconds).
Foster, whose first event was the long jump, wasn’t aware that she had qualified for state in the long jump until a reporter told her that the last jumper in the field scratched her final attempt.
“This isn’t real, right,” Foster said. “Oh my God. I’m in shock right now. I wanted to go to state really bad, and I went through a lot this week with school and other things. I kind of used anger as a motivator to help me pull through this competition.”
Oberlander, another Christopher junior, went 6-5 to take second in the high jump. Last year the 6-foot-4 Oberlander qualified for CCS but didn’t make the finals. But he’s made dramatic improvements since then, and it seems like he has no ceiling. Long, lean and athletic, Oberlander has the perfect frame and explosiveness for the high jump.
“I’ve come a long way,” he said. “The coaches have helped me with my technique, and it’s been great. Coming into the season, I didn’t imagine going this far. But I’ve been improving super fast, and I can’t wait for next year.”
Speaking of next year, many eyes will be on San Benito’s Marisa Villegas, who came in fifth in a loaded 1600 field—Anna Maxwell of San Lorenzo Valley and Sarah Robinson of Gunn entered the race with the nation’s second- and ninth-best times in the event, respectively—and the Haybalers’ freshman sensation finished in a personal-best time of 4:58.96, less than four seconds off of the state qualifying at-large standard.
From the beginning, Villegas’ aim was to get near the front of the pack so she wouldn’t get boxed in early in the race, as was the case in her semifinal heat the previous week.
Displaying the savvy of an upperclassmen rather than an athlete who won’t turn 15 until August, Villegas settled in comfortably behind the leaders 200 meters into the race, and consistently hit her times every lap.
“It’s been a great season,” said Villegas, who was one of only four freshmen to earn a top-five finish in an individual event. “I came into the year wanting to improve my form. That was my goal, but once my form got better, my times started to as well. I’m a lot more confident now, and it’s an unbelievable feeling.”
Cook felt the same way after he finished in second in the long jump with a mark of 22-8 3/4. The senior progressively improved with each jump, and on his third and final attempt, knowing he needed to a huge mark, produced his best jump of the season.
Cook, who went 22-5 on his previous try, ran some sprints as he waited in between attempts.
“Coach (Iran) White told me I was not getting enough speed on the board, so I needed to go sprint,” said Cook, who qualified for state in the same event a year ago. “It’s a great feeling to get back to state. This was the most motivated I’ve ever been because I had to overcome a lot this season. I think there was a lot more pressure this year, so I couldn’t be happier in how things turned out.”
Speaking of happy, La-Anyane was on Cloud Nine after battling a tough headwind before finishing second in the 110 hurdles in 14.63 seconds. It was sweet redemption for La-Anyane, who probably would’ve qualified for last year’s CCS Championships had he not encountered some bad luck in his semifinal heat.
“The guy in the lane to the left of me hit a hurdle, and it came into my lane,” said La-Anyane, who will be running at the University of Redlands next year. “There was nothing I could do. I thought it was another struggle today running into the headwind, but fortunately I was able to get through it and get to state.”
When La-Anyane didn’t make it out of the section semifinals as a sophomore, it spurred him to new heights.
“That experience made me work that much harder to get to this point,” he said.
Other South Valley finishers from the girls’ side included Christopher sophomore Vanessa Koontz (sixth in the 400 in 58.53 and seventh in the 200 in 25.80), Christopher sophomore Haley Romero (12th in the long jump in 16-4), Christopher junior Natalia Gutierrez (eighth in the high jump in 5-1), Live Oak sophomore Kiele Anderson (10th in the high jump in 4-11), Live Oak senior Alissa Pham (11th in the triple jump in 33-11 ¼), San Benito senior Breanna Lowther (eighth in the shot put in 36-1) and San Benito junior Amy Quinones, who smashed her PR in the 1600 in a time of 5:07.75, good for 10th.
Christopher’s 4×400 relay team of Foster, Koontz, Gutierrez and Allita Watkins finished eighth in 4:06.07. Other finishers on the boys’ side included Live Oak senior James Gabbard (eighth in the 800 in 1:58.53), Live Oak senior Kalum Bergstrom (seventh in the 1600 in 4:23.69), Live Oak senior Eddie King (11th in the 1600 in 4:31.05), San Benito sophomore Elijah Changco (12th in the 1600 in 4:32.82), Sobrato sophomore Nolan Dozier (sixth in the 3200 in 9:35.86), Christopher senior Bryan Pipkin (fifth in the pole vault in 13-6) and Christopher sophomore Isaac McCrimon (eighth in the long jump in 21-0 3/4).
For Christopher coach Jeff Myers, his moment of nirvana came early in the competition, when Foster was competing in the triple jump, McCrimon in the triple jump and Koontz in the 400—all simultaneously.
“I looked up and saw cougar, cougar, cougar,” Myers said. “It’s a moment I’ll always remember.”
