All SJ Mercury News Track Team - 2016
The Central Coast Section has never seen a thrower quite like Valley Christian's Elena Bruckner. The Texas-bound standout followed up a sensational junior season with a dominant senior year, breaking Central Coast Section records in the shot put and discus along the way. Only five U.S. high school throwers in history have better marks than Bruckner's 54 feet, 7 inches in the shot put and only three have superior throws than her 186-10 in the discus. For this, she was an easy choice to repeat as Mercury News girls track and field athlete of the year. Bruckner did not have the perfect finish, falling short of a double victory at the California Interscholastic Federation state championships this month in Clovis. But she overcame her runner-up performance in the discus to win the state shot put title for the second consecutive year. It was 104 degrees when the discus finals began, and the heat affected Bruckner. "As I was warming up for discus, I honestly felt like I was about to pass out," she said. "I couldn't feel any pushing off on my legs." Bruckner took second in the discus in 160-9 and then came back to win the shot put in 49-5?3/4. "Obviously it was frustrating and really disappointing that I couldn't come out for the win for discus," she said. "But I knew that shot put was the thing that I had been the most consistent in recently, and I was feeling really good about shot put." In the final event of her Valley Christian career. Bruckner went out on top. Asked what she will remember most about the experience, she said, "Probably the team itself, just the camaraderie with the rest of the throwers." Advertisement Look for all-Mercury News girls track and field team at mercurynews.com/high-school-sports. All-Mercury News girls track and field 4x100 -- Branham 4x400 -- Los Gatos 100 -- Rachael Estell, Mountain View 200, 400 -- Jade Harrison, Cupertino 1,600 -- Gillian Meeks, Gunn 3,200 -- Niki Iyer, Harker 100 hurdles -- Jazlynn Shearer, Silver Creek 300 hurdles, LJ -- Caice Lanovaz, Los Gatos TJ -- Arianna Fisher, Silver Creek SP, discus -- Elena Bruckner, Valley Christian What a senior year it was for Mt. Pleasant's Darius Carbin. He was a double winner in the high jump and the triple jump (with a personal-best 48-1?3/4) at the Central Coast Section finals and a state champion in the high jump. A prolific point scorer for his team, the University of Georgia-bound Carbin also ranked No. 4 in the CCS in the long jump (22-6?1/2) and fifth in the 110 high hurdles (14.78 seconds). So it's not any kind of a surprise that Carbin repeats as Mercury News boys track and field athlete of the year. Carbin said it was a thrill to win a state title. "Especially after last year when I tied for second,'' he said. "I finally got one by myself." Carbin is the No. 2 high jumper in CCS history. And even though the high school season is over, the Mt. Pleasant star is not done in his quest for the CCS record. Carbin, who won the state high jump title when he cleared 7-0 at the state meet, will compete at the Junior Nationals in Clovis on June 26 and -- if he qualifies -- at the World Junior championships in Poland in July. Any improvements on his personal best of 7-1?3/4 will count on the all-time CCS list. The CCS high jump standard of 7-3, set by Overfelt's Jeff Rogers in 1985, is in his sights. The Junior Nationals are an under-20 competition. Carbin is seeded second among entrants, thus far, behind a college jumper. The top two placers make the World team. Advertisement "My first goal is to make the team," Carbin said. "After that, get a PR and hopefully break the CCS record. We'll see. One step at a time. I've had some good practices. I think I can get it." Look for all-Mercury News boys track and field team at mercurynews.com/high-school-sports All-Mercury News boys track and field 4x100 -- Bellarmine 4x400 -- Serra 100 -- Jared Geredes, Los Gatos 200 -- Eli Givens, Palo Alto 800 -- Ben Micallef, Bellarmine 1,600 -- Matthew Richardson, Bellarmine 3,200 -- Justin Robison, Lynbrook 300 IH -- Andrew Cenidoza, Mt. Pleasant LJ -- Jason Smith, Archbishop Riordan TJ, HJ -- Darius Carbin, Mt. Pleasant PV -- Talon Galvez-Bennett, Serra SP -- Ngahe Mapa, Mills Discus -- Jake Kenney, Wilcox