CIF track: De La Salle’s Jaden Jefferson crushes state-meet record in 100
De La Salle sprinter Jaden Jefferson arrived at California s th state track and field championships on Friday night in Clovis as the top qualifier in the meters from last weekend s sectional meets Turns out he was just warming up In a mind-blowing dash at Buchanan High s Veterans Memorial Stadium Jefferson crossed the finish line in a wind-legal state-meet record seconds during the first of four preliminary heats that set up Saturday s final The previous record was set in the final by Serra-Gardena s Rodrick Pleasant Jefferson crossed the finish line first in Heat a race that included Torrance s Nicolas Obimgba running to match Pleasant s time Now Jefferson has to set his sights on the final which will include Obimgba among others Jefferson is a two-sport star at De La Salle In January the junior made an oral commitment to play football for Bill Belichick at North Carolina This spring he along with his teammates are competing with heavy hearts after the passing of De La Salle head track coach John Harvey who died in late April at after what has been informed to be a long respiratory illness De La Salle dedicated last week s North Coast Section crew championship to its late coach Our coach s passing was motivation for me Jefferson stated on Saturday after he broke the NCS s record in the in He was unfailingly hard on me He never advised me what I wished to hear unfailingly explained me what I needed to hear He was very motivational The pre-meet focus this week across the state and nationally was on Jurupa Valley s AB Hernandez a transgender athlete who is contending for championships in the girls triple jump long jump and possibly the high jump Hernandez had a big day Friday advancing as the top qualifier in all three of her events amid California Interscholastic Federation rule changes for this year s meet that would allow anyone displaced by Hernandez on the medal stand to claim that medal along with Jurupa Valley junior On the track the headliner was Jefferson who before the helped De La Salle qualify for the final in the Later he advanced to the final in the finishing second in Heat in Other highlights Friday St Ignatius Ellie McCuskey-Hay moved into the girls final winning Heat in the second-best time on Friday Vanden s Naiaja Sizemore ran the top time in State leader Journey Cole of Redondo Union also made the final running In the girls long jump McCuskey-Hay qualified second in - and St Mary s-Berkeley s Kira Gant Hatcher had the third-best mark among the athletes who advanced at - Hernandez was the top qualifier at - McCuskey-Hay also reach the final in the finishing fourth in Heat in Chaparral s Keelan Wright had the top time in St Ignatius Prince Buchango-Babalola had the top boys time in the on Friday winning Heat in Piedmont Hills Jonas Petty also reach the final running on Friday Buchango-Babalola also advanced in the high hurdles finishing second in Heat in Jasir Fontenot of San Diego advanced in a state-meet record eclipsing the previous time of that Upland s Joseph Anderson set in In the boys long jump three Bay Area athletes Monta Vista s Ryan Shen San Ramon Valley s Kaleb Pleis and St Ignatius Noah Gonzalez moved on to the final Shen qualified eighth at - Pleis was th at - and Gonzalez was th at - Mater Dei-Santa Ana s Brandon Gorski posted the day s top mark at - Six athletes cleared - to advance to the girls high jump final including Monta Vista s Lelani Laruelle and Hernandez Las Lomas Kimiko Hirahara and California s Rachael Osicka reached the final with marks of - Related Articles Carmel walks off Willow Glen in extra innings to win CCS Division III baseball championship in Santa Clara NCS champs Kate Skinner fans as Liberty beats Casa Grande to win first section title since NCS roundup Northgate routs Berean Christian to win D-IV softball title California captures NCS D-III baseball title It s an unreal feeling Santa Clara wins first CCS baseball title in school history as Drew Diffenderfer fires one-hitter Mountain View s Hannah Rutherford will run in the girls final after winning Heat in Madison Mosby of the Southern Section s St Mary s Academy was the top qualifier in followed by CCS champion and state season leader Clara Adams of North Salinas who crossed the finish line in on Friday She ran her top time at last week s CCS finals In the girls St Francis Sabrina Zanetto won her heat in to qualify for Saturday s final which will also include Prospect s Kylie Hoornaert Los Altos Lily Symon and Monte Vista s Ava Padilla Palo Alto s Tristan Kippes qualified th for the boys final running in In the boys discus state leader McKay Madsen of Clovis North outclassed the field in the preliminary rounds throwing - Woodside s Evan Usher qualified fourth in - and Acalanes Deonte Littlejohn was sixth at - San Mateo s Emmanuel Fitzgerald also advanced finishing with the th-best mark at - Crystal Springs Upland s Benjamin Bouie Los Gatos Aydon Stefanopoulos Dougherty Valley s Arrin Sagiraju Pioneer s Carson Hedlund and Sacred Heart Cathedral s Miles Cook reached the final in the boys The top qualifiers were Grant Miller of La Serna who won Heat in and Lancaster s Issaiah McCorvey who won Heat in Two Palo Alto runners Amaya Bharadwaj and Kinga Czajkowska advanced to the final in the girls Bharadwaj finished second in Heat in Czajkowska took third in Heat in The Southern Section s Braelyn Combe of Santiago-Corona had the day s top time in La Jolla s Chiara Dailey qualified in well off her state-leading season time of set at Arcadia on April In the boys hurdles Bellarmine s Joshua Haven won Heat in to reach the final Check back for updates
