San Diegans prepare to shine on final day of state track meet

CLOVIS—

The theme of the day for the athletes of the San Diego section at 104^th Friday’s state track and field championships at Buchanan High could be summed up in one word: qualify.

For runners like Brandon Arrington of Mt. Miguel, Chiara Dailey of La Jolla, Shon Martin of Helix, Amirah Shaheed of Madison and Anisa Bowen-Fontenot of San Diego, it was business as usual.

For a new relay team like Steele Canyon, it was a little more special.

Dailey ran at the front of a 14-person field for much of the 1,600-meter preliminaries, easing the four-lap final to finish third with a time of 4 minutes, 53.66 seconds. The top four automatically advanced, meaning Dailey, who will also run the 3,200 (there were no preliminaries in the event Friday), was not rushed.

“I wanted to qualify with as little effort as possible,” the junior from La Jolla said. “I didn’t give it my all today. I know who is in the final, but I hope to beat 4:40.

Ventura’s Sadie Engelhardt, who clocked 4:50.52 to win the second heat, is the one to beat and Dailey knows it. But a time under 4:40 would erase the single-week sectional record of 4:40.29 set by Eastlake’s Jaelyn Williams.

Williams dropped out of the 1,600, just as Dailey decided not to run the 800, to focus on the 3,200.

“I really didn’t care about my time,” said Dailey, who spent the next few minutes cheering on her friend Ayanna Hickey, of Bishop’s, who also qualified for today’s 1,600m championship in 4 :54.28, finishing sixth.

“I was a little worried at first because I was locked in and I knew I either had to go out wide or wait,” said Hickey, a sophomore like Dailey and Williams. “I knew I had the speed, so I waited.”

Arrington shocked the Buchanan crowd, winning the 100 in 10.27 seconds with a late surge. Again, the wind, measured at 2.3 mps – anything above 2.0 is wind aided – prevented him from erasing the 10:30 section record held by Kenan Christian of Madison (2019 ) and Riley Washington of Southwest in 1992.

Both runners won state titles.

Shaheed, who won the 100 section last week and leads the state in the 200, captured his 100 run in 11.50, but the wind was above the allowable limit for the record at 2.2 MP.

Martin won his 110-meter hurdles heat in 14.20, the slowest time of the day and well off his section record of 13.84.

“It was terrible,” the Scotties senior said. “I won and the winners all advanced, but I cleared eight hurdles with my thigh and I know that slowed me down.”

The fastest qualifier, Myles Mcfarland of Cosumnes Oaks, ran 13.71 with the help of a huge wind, but Martin, who led the state early with his record, said he would be ready .

As for Bowen-Fontenot, she also won her heat in 13.74 seconds, the best time of the day.

“It’s almost a PR,” said the Cavers, whose best is 13.67. “I prefer the 100 hurdles to the 3,200 meters, but I consider myself versatile by running over 100 meters this year. I just want to run faster in the final.

Elsewhere, the Steele Canyon girls finished third in their first heat of the 4×100 in 47.00 and then had to wait the other three heats before the announcer read their name as the No. 9 qualifier. This time is No. 11 all-time in section history.

Westview’s McKenna Herbst and Westview’s Kaitlyn Arciaga both won their heats in the 800 and will join Poway’s Tessa Buswell in the finals.

Brand is a freelance writer.