CCS track and field championships: St. Francis' Micha Auzenne wins three events
By Glenn Reeves greeves@bayareanewsgroup.com Posted: 05/25/2012 10:40:47 PM PDT Updated: 05/25/2012 11:55:34 PM PDT Triple winner Micha Auzenne of St. Francis was the top individual performer at the Central Coast Section track and field championships Friday at Gilroy High. But the Piedmont Hills girls, with their outstanding group of sprinters, won the first team championship in school history. The Pirates trailed St. Francis 57-51 going into the final event, the 1,600-meter relay. They set a new meet record in taking first place in 3 minutes, 48.98 seconds, giving them 61 points for the team title. E.J. Floreal was a double winner in the 100 and 200 and also anchored Palo Alto's 400 relay to victory to lead the Vikings to the first boys team title in school history. Not bad for someone whose focus has always been on basketball, even someone whose father, Edrick Floreal, is the head track and field coach at Stanford. "Basketball is my love," Floreal said. "I didn't think I'd do this well at track at all." Auzenne was expected to win the 100 hurdles and she did in 14.26 seconds. But her first-place finishes in the long jump and 100 were a bit of a surprise."I didn't really expect myself to win," Auzenne said after winning the 100 in 12.08. "But it feels really great (to win three events). I never won anything at CCS last year, so this year I had to step it up." Auzenne won the long jump by the narrowest of margins. She jumped 18-5?1/2, but so did Valley Christian's Kristin Sato. So it went to their second-best jumps. Advertisement Auzenne's was 18-0?1/2, Sato's 18-0. Many of the favorites prevailed, but not so in the boys 1,600. Menlo-Atherton's George Baier put on a big kick down the final straightaway to come from behind and win in a personal-best time of 4:20.77. Baier placed 13th at the CCS trials. The top 12 advance to the finals. The only reason Baier was even in the race was because Milpitas' Yohaness Estifanos dropped the 1,600 to focus on the 3,200. Monta Vista's Kevin Bishop ran a blistering 59-second last lap to win the 3,200. Estifanos was second. Prospect junior Kamara Biawogi won the 110 high hurdles in 14.42. Archbishop Mitty's Cameron Vaca came back to win the 300 intermediate hurdles in 37.98. Piedmont Hills freshman Timarya Baynard edged teammate Elissa Bryant to win the girls 400 in 56.47. Bryant was clocked in 56.62 and Maddy Price of Menlo School was third in 56.68. Carlmont's Elliott Surovell held on to win the boys 400 in 48.98. Wilcox's Ricky Strehlow has been the top triple jumper in the CCS all season. So it was no surprise that he won the triple jump Friday as expected at 46 feet, 7?1/2 inches. But Strehlow, who has a best of 47-10, will have to wait until next week at the state meet for the big breakthrough mark he's looking for. "My goal is to break 50," the Cal Poly-bound senior said. "Mostly what he needs is real competition," Wilcox coach Mike Buncic said. "It's tough to compete against a measuring tape. He's ready to go." Serra shot putters Jonathan Beering and Luke Longinotti both threw personal-bests and were on the verge of a surprise 1-2 finish when Carmel's Stephen Leach uncorked a throw of 57-9 on his final attempt to take first place. Beering was second (56-9?1/2) and Longinotti third (55-10?1/4). Mountain View's Brielle Rowe came through on her final throws to defend the title she won last year and win the discus. Rowe, who has a best over 140, threw 131-4 on her final throw to go from third to first. "I did not think when I was in the ring," Rowe said to explain her sudden improvement. "I hope to get on the podium (finish in the top six) at state." Homestead senior Rachel Bolton won the pole vault by clearing 12-4. Mountain View's Samantha Sinclair won the girls shot put for the second consecutive year with a mark of 40-9?1/2. Cody Bickham of St. Francis won the boys discus at 168-7. St. Francis junior Marc Toney won the boys pole vault with a personal-best mark of 15-9.
1st CCS track title for Paly boys
By Gordon Kass Daily News Correspondent Posted: 05/26/2012 12:32:51 AM PDT E.J. Floreal captured the 100 meters and 200 meters and anchored the winning 4x100 relay team to lead Palo Alto to its first-ever boys track title in the Central Coast Section track and field championships at Gilroy on Friday. But the crown was not decided until the final event of the night. Paly led St. Francis by just 1.5 points and Bellarmine by four points as the 4x400 relay began. The Viking team of Morris Gates-Mouton, Nikolai Solgaard, Jonathan Alee and Nick Sullivan brought the baton around fastest and the Vikings were champions. Paly's quartet was timed in 3:21.16, with San Lorenzo Valley close behind in 3:21.41. St. Francis finished farther back but was disqualified when its final runner threw the baton down just after finishing. Bellarmine, in fourth place midway through the final lap, did not finish as its runner went down injured. The final tally had Paly with 53 points and St. Francis second with 41.5 points. "It feels good to be the CCS champs for the first time in school history," Alee said. Earlier, on a windy and cold night, Paly's Tremaine Kirkman, Jayshawn Gates-Mouton, Morris Gates-Mouton and Floreal opened the track portion of the night's proceedings with a school-record time of 41.56 in the 4x100. The previous school mark of 42.07 was set last year, slightly ahead of this group's previous best of 42.13. Morris Gates-Mouton edged the Vikes past Bellarmine on the third leg and, as Floreal rocketed away, the Bells mishandled the last baton handoff. St. Francis finished second in 43.13. "I saw him (the Bellarmine runner) in front of me when I started the leg," Morris Gates-Mouton said. "I tried to pick it up for my team." "It's great to get the record, but we just wanted to win," Floreal said. Floreal, ranked second in the state in the 100 meters, won the short sprint in 10.81, bolting away from Bellarmine's Joey Sanfilippo (10.93) and Gilroy's Jourdan Soares (10.97). "I got a pretty bad start," Floreal said. "At 50 meters, I caught up. My turnaround was pretty good and I just tried to hold my top speed." Floreal won the 200 in 21.84, with Soares behind at 22.07. Two Peninsula runners nabbed spectacular victories in the middle part of the meet. Menlo-Atherton's George Baier won the 1600 meters with perhaps the most amazing story of the meet. At last week's CCS trials, Baier finished 13th. With only the top 12 participating in the finals, it appeared Baier would not be at the starting line. However, another runner decided against doubling in both distance races and declined a spot in the 1600, opening a slot for Baier, who made the most of his opportunity. Baier outraced a pack down the final straight, taking the event in a furious finish as the top four runners were all within 0.68 seconds. "My coach told me to stay in the middle of the pack for three laps and then give it all I got," Baier said. "I had a lot of gas left. With 300 meters left, I decided to go for it. I passed a couple guys and at 200, I just went. I could see the leader and I thought I might be able to reel him in." Baier won in a PR of 4:20.77. Carlmont's Elliot Surovell won the 400 meters in 48.98, edging Geoffrey Westerfield of Overfelt-San Jose by just .09. "I didn't get out of the blocks fast enough," Surovell said. "But I made up the stagger by the 200. I felt my last 200 was strong and my strong point is the last 100." St. Francis' performance was best in the field events. Marc Toney won the pole vault at 15'9" and Cody Bickham rolled to the discus crown with a toss of 168'7". Toney trailed Patrick Hughes of Los Gatos for much of the competition. "He had me on attempts," Toney said, referring to the potential tie-breaker going to the athlete who clears a height on an earlier attempt. Only at the final moment, after both had cleared 15'6" and missed their first two at 15'9", did Toney launch himself into the top spot, soaring over the bar (to a PR) on his final attempt while Hughes did not clear it. "My coach wanted me to go to a longer pole but I was comfortable with this one," Toney said. "I just tried to get my feet back as far as I could." Other state meet qualifiers included Solgaard, third in the 800 meters; the Serra duo of Jonathan Beering and Luke Longinotti, which finished second and third in the shot put; Mountain View's Ken Hampel, third in the discus; and Daniel Yeager of Los Altos, third in the high jump.