Presentation Vaulter Wins



CLOVIS -- Her goal at the start of the season was to reach 13 feet, 4 inches in 
the pole vault. Saturday, Presentation sophomore Taylore Jaques did even better 
and walked away with a state championship.

Jaques' winning mark at Buchanan High School was 13-4?1/4.

Jaques had a miss at the opening height of 11-4 and because of that was in third 
place when the bar was raised to 13-4?1/4.

But Jaques made up for that early miss when she cleared 13-4¼ on her second attempt.

"She put it together today with a (personal best)," said Warren Jaques, her coach 
and father. "She knew that's what she would have to do to win it. It was a great 
day with good competition to the end."

Jaques became the first vaulter in the state to clear 13-4?1/4 and moved into 
second place nationally.

Only a sophomore, where does she go from here?

"I think 14 feet would be great for next year," said Jaques, who missed three 
attempts at 13-6. "But I'd be OK with 13-10."

Homestead's Rachel Bolton placed sixth at 12-4.

Piedmont Hills junior Ellisa Bryant placed fourth in the girls 400 in 55.38 and 
freshman teammate Timyara Baynard took fifth (55.50). Baynard and Bryant also ran 
well on the team's 1,600 relay. But the Pirates -- without Bianca Bryant, who 
suffered an injury Friday night in the trials -- finished seventh in 3:53.18.

Palo Alto's E.J. Floreal placed third in the boys 200 in 21.38, fourth in the 100
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in 10.70 and anchored the 400 relay team to an eighth-place finish in 41.72.

Wilcox's Ricky Strehlow capped a season marked by his consistency when he exceeded 
47 feet in the triple jump for the 11th time and took fifth at 47-8?1/4.

"You couldn't find a better guy to work with," Wilcox coach Mike Buncic said. 
"He was a hard worker and it paid off."

Strehlow's achievement capped an eventful couple of days for Strehlow, who had a 
birthday Thursday and his high school graduation Friday (which he skipped to take 
part in the state meet trials). He also received a fourth-degree black belt in karate, 
a discipline he has practiced since he was 5 years old.

"I'm happy I made it on the podium at state," Strehlow said. "I'm happy I jumped 
what I jumped. I'm still looking for that big one. One day."

Mt. Pleasant's Cydney Leath, who will compete at Cal State Northridge next year, 
made her fourth appearance at the state meet and placed in the finals of the girls 
triple jump for the third consecutive year, taking fifth at 38-11?3/4. Leath fouled 
on her first two jumps in Saturday's prelims and had to have a legal jump on her 
third jump to get three more attempts in the finals. That's when she got off her 
best mark of the day, the one that stood up for a fifth-place finish.

Milpitas' Yohaness Estifanos placed sixth in the boys 3,200 at 9:09.12.

Cody Bickham of St. Francis uncorked a throw of 176-11, but only took seventh in the 
boys discus. Ethan Cochran of Newport Harbor took first at 196-4.

Mountain View's Brielle Rowe placed eighth in the girls discus at 134-9.

Another top performance by a CCS athlete was turned in by Aptos' Nikki Hiltz, who ran 
4:42.25 to win the girls 1,600, the third-fastest time in the U.S.

Carlmont's Elliott Surovell was eighth in the boys 400 and Westmoor's Kylie Goo was 
eighth in the girls 800 (2:12.52). St. Francis' Micha Auzenne was disqualified in 
the 100 hurdles when she hit the next to last hurdle and veered into the adjacent lane.