Top-tier track and field talent runs all throughout Ventura County.
It jumps, too.
At the CIF-Southern Section Track and Field Championships on Saturday, May 16, at Moorpark High, local high jumpers soared to top clearances, securing four out of eight possible titles.
The first CIF-SS champion of the day was Thacher’s Rafa Kelliher, who won the Division 4 boys high jump title with a clearance of 6 feet, six inches. A slow start couldn’t stop the senior from Chicago, who saved his best jumps for when they mattered most.
“It is everything,” Kelliher said of winning a section title. “I started jumping last year. Just to be able to be at this level so quickly, it just means everything. I am so grateful to be able to perform so well.”
He was joined by three more local jumpers, including Camarillo’s Nieve Oliver in Division 2 (5-6), Oak Park’s Gwyneth Mureika in Division 3 (5-6 ) and Foothill Tech’s Bennett Rodman in Division 4 (5-2).
“One at a time,” Mureika said of her attempts. “That is always how I think.”
In addition to the winners, Moorpark teammates Davis Benson and Dean Guzman shared a runner-up finish in the Division 3 competition after both cleared 6-6 then called it a day after punching their tickets to next weekend’s CIF-SS Masters.
“It’s awesome that Ventura County is doing so well,” Kelliher said. “They are pushing me to be a better jumper.”
The success carried into the horizontal jumps as well, with Moorpark long jumpers Gianna Gonzalez and Benson defending their home track in the Division 3 competitions.
On his final attempt of the competition, Benson jumped 23-5.75 to surge back into first place and win the title. Pacifica’s Douglas King was third in the Division 1 boys triple jump in 45-10 and Thousand Oaks jumper Christopher Toppe was third in the Division 2 long jump with a leap of 21-6.5 inches.
Gonzalez leapt out to a mark of 19-0.25 to finish behind Jurupa Valley’s AB Hernandez, a transgender athlete who jumped 20-4.75.
Under section rules, Gonzalez and Hernandez were both named champions. Hernandez also defeated Mureika in the Division 3 girls high jump.
“For me, I am just competing against myself and the bar. Yeah, the competition is there, of course, but I am more focused on myself,” Mureika said. “It is fun to see everyone and compete with everyone. It is more about what I can do, not what other people are doing — hate doesn’t get us anywhere.”
Benson’s big day continued in the high hurdles, where he ran 14.05 seconds to take the title in the Division 3 boys race. Agoura’s Albert Bellingrath was seventh in 15.07 seconds.
Newbury Park blazed to a CIF-SS Division 2 record in the boys 4×100 meter relay, running 40.68 to win the section title and dip under the old record by nearly a quarter of a second.
Oaks Christian senior Vin Krueger ran the eighth-fastest time in area history to win the Division 3 boys 1,600. He closed in 4:06.90 — the fastest time run in the area by an athlete who didn’t wear either a Ventura or Newbury Park singlet.
It looked like business as usual for Krueger, who crossed the finish line, caught his breath and congratulated his competitors calmly at the finish line.
“I didn’t know I was capable of 4:06, but I have been training for this,” Krueger said. “I have a lot of confidence in myself. I didn’t even put a time on it today. My goal was just to go and compete very smart and I think I accomplished that today.
“I stayed conservative the first three laps. The guys took it out perfectly and I trust myself enough to put myself in a situation where if it came down to a kick, I was going to win. I didn’t have a doubt.”
Teammate Arize Nwosu placed fifth in a personal-best time of 4:11.75.
Derek Luna of Rio Mesa won the title in the Division 2 boys 3,200 meters, running 9:01.79 to defeat the next-fastest runner by six seconds. Luna also finished fourth in the 1.600, running 4:12.63.
Moorpark freshman Camilla Peltonen had to work for her first CIF-SS title, winning the Division 3 girls 400 in 55.17 with a strong second 200 meters and a lean at the line to defeat Ava McGovern of Palos Verdes by just 0.02 seconds.
“I just told myself in the last 100 meters, ‘Stay strong, good form,’ ” Peltonen said. “I saw her and I was like, ‘Nuh-uh. We have got to push. Pump your arms.’ I saw I was kind of in the back of the pack, so I told myself to lean into the curve, good form, stride out my long legs and push it until the end.”
Rayah Rodriguez of Oaks Christian placed fourth in the race in 55.62 and teammate Savannah Williams was fifth in 56.08.
Lucas Schneider of Thousand Oaks placed third in the Division 2 110-meter hurdles race in 14.59, while Nordhoff’s Thomas Eckert ran 15.38 in the boys 110-meter hurdles to place third in Division 4.
Schneider was runner-up in the Division 2 boys 300-meter hurdles in 38.06. Rio Mesa’s Jodie Conyers (38.71) took fourth.
Caleb Romeo of Thousand Oaks finished third in the Division 2 boys 400 meters, running 48.55, while Calabasas’ Ryan Quinn placed fourth in the Division 3 boys 400 meters in 48.49.
In the Division 3 girls 4×100 relay, Calabasas botched the exchange between its second and third legs, dropping the baton onto the track. The Coyotes picked it up and ran it in, but the damage was done. Anchor Olivia Kirk caught two teams and closed to seventh place, with the Coyotes finishing in 49.60.
The group bounced back hard, with all four relay team members sweeping the top four places in the Division 3 girls 100 meters, with all four dipping under the previous CIF-SS Division 3 record time.
Malia Rainey won the race in 11.41, Marley Scoggins was second in 11.43 , Olivia Kirk placed third in 11.44, and Devyn Sproles ran 11.69 to place fourth.
Scoggins came back to win the Division 3 girls 200 in 23.27, ahead of Kirk (23.47), Rainey (23.61) and Peltonen (23.84).
“I know what I want and have really big goals for myself,” Scoggins said. “I wanted to come out here and show everybody that I am still here. Don’t forget about me.”
Kingston Celifie of Calabasas ran 10.40, wind-aided, to finish runner-up in the Division 3 boys 100 meters ahead of Moorpark’s Jalen Aguilar-Carnes in ninth (10.61). In Division 2, Newbury Park’s Jaden Griffin was also second in a wind-aided 10.39, just edging out Westlake’s Demare Dezeurn in 10.44.
Keera Wallace of Foothill Tech placed second in the Division 4 girls 1,600 meters in 5:07.66, and so did Oaks Christian’s Delaney Napierala (4:50.61) in the Division 3 race. Wallace (11:31.65) and Napierela (10:35.79) both settled for second place in the 3,200 meters.
Oaks Christian (3:49.88) narrowly edged Moorpark (3:50.36) in the Division 3 girls 4×400 meter relay, while Thousand Oaks (3:17.52) won the Division 2 boys relay title.
Newbury Park’s Sophia Grant was third in the Division 2 girls 800 meters in 2:13.20. Krueger, coming back from his 1,600-meter title, placed second in the Division 3 boys 800 meters in 1:52.76 seconds.
Foothill Tech won the inaugural Division 4 boys 4×800 meter relay title in 8:06.24.
Taya Frodis of Thousand Oaks was runner-up in the girls pole vault with a clearance of 11-7.
Dominic Massimino is a staff writer for The Star. He can be reached at dominic.massimino@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcsdominic on Twitter and Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Local track athletes set records, earn top marks at CIF-SS finals
Reporting by Dominic Massimino, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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