A total of 22 individuals and four relays will compete across 20 events at the CIF-State Track and Field Championships on Friday-Saturday, May 29-30, in Clovis.
Five questions loom large with state titles on the line.
Can Schneider muster up another special state meet?
Last year’s state championships were a proving ground for The Star’s 2025 Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year, Lucas Schneider of Thousand Oaks. He ran a Ventura County-record 36.94 seconds in last year’s 300-meter hurdles final to place third overall.
Coming off of an offseason marred by injuries, including a torn posterior collateral ligament in his knee, Schneider is rounding back into form at the perfect time.
The senior ran 37.72 to place fifth at the CIF-SS Masters and qualify for a return trip to state, and has improved upon his previous season’s best in nearly every race this spring.
Might he have something special in his legs come the weekend?
Will the freshmen reign supreme?
Flying under the radar at last weekend’s CIF-SS Masters, amidst Ventura County records in the boys 200 meters and 4×100-meter relay, was Oaks Christian freshman Sterling White having a record-breaking run of his own.
The son of Oak Park track coach Steve White became the first freshman not only in Ventura County but in the history of California track and field to run under nine minutes in the 3,200 meters, finishing seventh in 8:59.26 to break a 51-year-old class record.
That’s the fastest time run by any local athlete this season.
White isn’t the only local freshman running their fastest times heading into state.
Westlake twins Anais (second place, 10:31.83) and Sabina Cruz (sixth place, 10:34.98) both qualified for state in the girls 3,200 meters. Those are the second- and third-fastest times run by locals in the event this season behind only Oaks Christian senior Delaney Napierala.
Camilla Peltonen of Moorpark has had perhaps the best season of the bunch, racing to a seventh-place finish in 54.96 in the girls 400 meters and also qualifying in the 200 meters in 23.97.
All four freshmen have a chance to mix it up with the favorites in their respective races this weekend.
How fast can the area’s fastest sprinters go?
The Calabasas girls 4×100 meter relay team’s shot at chasing a state record was dashed with a botched exchange at CIF-SS finals two weeks ago, but all four members of that team still have a chance to do something special.
Sprinters Olivia Kirk, Malia Rainey, Marley Scoggins and Devyn Sproles are all racing the 100 meters and 200 meters this weekend.
We have seen Ventura County short sprinters rewrite the county record books this season, with Newbury Park’s Jaden Griffin and Westlake’s Demare Dezeurn both running 10.39 in the 100 meters to set a county record and Moorpark’s Jalen Aguilar-Carnes racing to a 200-meter record at the CIF-SS Masters in 21.01.
Aguilar-Carnes’ time broke the 12-year-old record of 21.07 held by Camarillo’s Ahmed Obed.
With the right conditions, look out for those sprint records to fall even further this weekend.
Which local team will come out ahead?
Ventura County’s top two boys track and field programs, CIF-SS Division 2 runner-up Thousand Oaks and Moorpark, the third-place finisher in Division 3, will be in a position to vie for a top-10 finish at state.
Thousand Oaks will look for big points from Caleb Romeo, who boasts the second-fastest seed time in his heat of the 400 meters (47.39) and Schneider in the 300-meter hurdles. Both will run a leg of the team’s 4×400-meter relay team which ran the fastest time in the county in 16 years at the Masters in 3:14.99.
For Moorpark, success on the scoreboard will rely on Davis Benson scoring in his three events — the long jump, 110-meter hurdles and the 4×100-meter relay.
Dean Guzman, who cleared seven feet in the high jump to win the Mt. SAC Invitational title, will contest the event at state.
Who wins the county 4×100 crown?
It took just one week for Moorpark to snatch back the Ventura County 4×100-meter relay record from rival Newbury Park, whose team of Zach Soberanis, Jaden Griffin, Matthew Curry and Brandon Curry ran 40.68 at the CIF-SS finals.
The Musketeers’ mark of 40.60 was the third-fastest time in the state this year, with the Panthers close behind in fourth.
Benson will compete in three events including the relay and Aguilar-Carnes will race the 200 meters. For Newbury Park, only Jaden Griffin will be competing in another event. The Panthers will have the edge when it comes to fresh legs.
More qualifiers
Rafa Kelliher of Thacher will compete in the boys high jump while Coastal Canyon League rivals Nieve Oliver of Camarillo and Gwyneth Mureika of Oak Park will contest the girls high jump.
Moorpark senior Gianna Gonzalez, who is No. 7 all-time in the county thanks to a leap of 19-5 at the Masters, will compete in the girls long jump.
The Moorpark girls 4×400 relay, the Thousand Oaks boys 4×400 relay and the Thousand Oaks girls 4×100 relay teams will all compete.
Oaks Christian will send seniors Vin Krueger (boys 1,600 meters) and Napierala (girls 3,200 meters) to state alongside White.
Calabasas sprinter Kingston Celifie will join Griffin and Aguilar-Carnes in the boys 100-meter dash.
Rio Mesa’s Derek Luna will race the boys 3,200 meters.
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: The five biggest questions heading into the state track championships
Reporting by Dominic Massimino, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
