GILROY — Unbeknownst to Rachael Estell, the four-year track and field standout at Mountain View had earned a spot atop the podium one last time at the Central Coast Section championships on Friday night at Gilroy High.
Except, the senior found herself miles away.
Estell was already on her way home when the Spartans were announced as the team champion for the first time in school history.
“I just heard about it, actually, like two seconds ago,” said Estell, after answering her cellphone. “One of my friends texted me and I couldn’t believe it.”
The only person left to accept the trophy as the parking lot emptied was second-year head coach Scott Ishizaki.
“I’m going to be texting them and telling them and emailing it out,” said Ishizaki, who expected a runner-up finish after coming in third the previous year. “I thought we had a shot, but this is so awesome. What a way to end the season.”
Mountain View was enthralled in a four-team race, with its 42 points good enough to hold off runner-up Silver Creek (39), third-place Branham (38.5) and last year’s champion St. Francis (37).
Estell accounted for 24 points almost by herself, as the second leg of the 400-meter relay, winner of the long jump, third in the 200 meters and fifth in the 100 dash.
The rest of the scoring came courtesy of fellow senior Sinai Fatafehi, who out-threw the competition in the shot put and courageously took second in the discus.
“They are definitely our heavy hitters,” Ishizaki said. “They carried us on their backs to this first-place trophy. It’s fantastic to have them and it’s sad to see them leave, also.”
Estell, who won the long jump as a sophomore, left no doubt this time by outdistancing herself from the rest. Her mark of 18 feet, 9½ inches fell shy of being a foot longer than the runner-up by a quarter of an inch.
She hoped to repeat as CCS champ in the 100 meters by breaking her personal record of 11.94 set last year, but ran more than a half of a second slower.
While Estell failed to qualify for the state meet in that event as a top-three finisher, it was a moot point because she won’t make the trip next week to Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis.
Instead, the plan is for the Harvard-bound senior to walk rather than run next Friday.
“It was a hard decision, but I missed my eighth-grade graduation because unfortunately I got pneumonia,” Estell said. “And I’ve been to states all three years, so I feel like it was due for a graduation.”
Fatafehi, who will compete next year at Cal State Fullerton, didn’t waste time in the shot put, with her first attempt of 41-4 enough to claim the CCS title.
It’s a good thing, because on her second try Fatafehi injured her left foot as she attempted to glide.
“Smiling through the pain,” said Fatafehi, who had her foot taped up, then took second in the discus. “I can’t tell you how much (pain), but just ready to put on ice and cry.”
The pair of runners to stand atop the podium twice could only be described as polar opposites.
Branham senior Maya Cook crowned herself as the fastest girl at CCS, while Pacific Collegiate junior Alex Stout proved to be the most durable.
Cook displayed consistency by matching her top qualifying of 12.16 in the 100 dash to cross the finish line first in the finals.
She doubled down by also sprinting past everyone in the 200 meters with a time of 24.73.
“It’s crazy, because this is my last year doing this,” said Cook, who is considering running at Cal Poly Pomona or San Francisco State. “I’ve wanted to be CCS champion since my freshman year, so it’s cool that my last year is the one I get to be one.”
Stout, a transfer from Castilleja, proved resolute when it came to the distance events.
After never previously qualifying for the state meet, she swept the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. What changed, besides her zip code?
“I have no idea,” Stout said. “I didn’t train much over this summer and then I came out for cross country and I was ready to go, I guess.”
She won the 1,600 meters with a time of 4:57.47, then found enough energy to run eight laps in 10:38.79 to double up in the 3,200 meters.
“After this mile today, I was pretty hyped up today,” Stout said. “So I was kind of ready to go. It was definitely tiring, but the adrenaline kind of carries through.”
Silver Creek will be represented next week by a self-professed “dynamic duo.”
That’s how junior Arianna Fisher described herself and teammate Jazlynn Shearer, who is only a sophomore.
A state contender in the triple jump, Fisher defended her CCS title with a 40-7 leap, while Shearer was the runner-up at 39-0.
“Definitely more pressure (this year),” said Fisher, who was hoping to jump 41 feet. “I was going for marks, because I’m No. 4 in the state right now. But I still got first.”
Shearer got her turn to stand atop the podium after the 100 hurdles.
It’s an event she won as a freshman, but Shearer wasn’t the fastest in qualifying. That was Santa Clara senior Cynthia Smith, who finished as the runner-up in the long jump.
Smith also missed out on first place after clipping a hurdle down the stretch, allowing Shearer to edge her out 14.69 to 14.84.
“She slapped me on the arm,” said Shearer, who thinks that’s why Smith knocked herself off balance. “So that just made me have to focus on my race more. And I was like, ‘I can’t let that slow me down.’ I really wanted it.”
In another display of sheer will, Homestead senior Miranda Zinola kept Fatafehi from stealing gold in the discus.
“The girls were within five feet of each other (after prelims), so it’s going to be whoever is on their game,” Zinola said.
Even with her injured foot, Fatafehi managed to take the lead with her last throw of 126-11.
The South Dakota State-bound Zinola, whose main event is the hammer throw, which is not a CCS sanctioned event, dug deep to deploy her 5-foot-4, 130-pound frame for a winning mark of 127-10.
“I do a lot of weight lifting, so maybe the muscle helps,” Zinola said. “But I’m still pretty small, so mostly technique, definitely.”
Even shorter at 5 feet tall, Presentation senior Gabrielle Avila won a six-way tiebreaker at 11 feet in the pole vault to claim the third and final spot for the state meet.
“I’m glad I made it,” said Avila, who’s been pole vaulting for four years. “I was scared I didn’t at first.”
The top-three spots atop the podium were coveted as automatic qualifiers for the state meet.
For example, Notre Dame-Belmont sophomore Krissy Smoot was the only other qualifier in the shot put to clear 40 feet, setting a PR with a mark of 40-5¼.
“I’m happy with it,” Smoot said. “My goal at the beginning of the year was to just get as close at CCS, or ranking-wise close to state, as possible.”
No one was going to catch either Cook or Stout, but that didn’t stop the competition from trying.
In the 200 meters, Menlo-Atherton sophomore Maggie Hall surprised even herself with a PR of 24.95 for runner-up status — something she never expected.
“Not at all,” Hall said. “I was just trying to keep up with all the really fast, great people on my heat. … And then with about 10 meters left I realized that I actually think I’m qualifying.”
Stout got some stiff competition from St. Francis senior Emily Skahill in the 1,600 meters.
Injured during the cross country season, Skahill fought to find her form after qualifying for state in both the 1,600 and 3,200 as a junior.
“I had a lot of issues that just kept spiraling into something new,” said Skahill, who missed most of the track season with an ailing Achilles’ heel. “The injuries this season have just taught me that you have to have a lot of mental strength to keep going, even when your body isn’t pulling through for you.”
Her time last year at CCS in the 1,600 would’ve put her atop the podium by eight-hundredths of a second this time around.
Instead, she had to settle for second in 4:59.84.
“It wasn’t a PR, but I’m really happy with it because it’s been kind of just a battle trying to work my way back to 4:57,” said the Brown-bound Skahill, who led most of the way and was ecstatic to break five minutes. “So this is on the path, for sure.”
In the 3,200, an emotional Sarah Gayer of Mills couldn’t hold back the tears after the podium ceremony.
“I’m sorry, I’m going to cry,” said Gayer, the runner-up in 10:40.02 to book her first trip to state. “It’s been my goal since sophomore year to go. And I got injured earlier in the season for about two months, so I didn’t know if I was going to be able to make it. But I did and I’m so grateful to be able to go.”
The Amherst-bound senior finished more than 10 seconds ahead of third place.
“My goal was to stay with the front pack and then have my best kick at the end,” Gayer said.
In the 800 meters, Santa Cruz junior Mari Friedman was a heavy favorite and prevailed in 2:12.58.
Castilleja senior Claire Traum kept things interesting, though. Her time of 2:12.97 was a PR by over two seconds.
“I didn’t think it was real for a while,” said Traum, who wasn’t aware of her runner-up time until it was announced while on the podium. “But it felt really comfortable. And I felt people were on my back the whole time, which was a good feeling because it made me run faster. And it was nice to chase someone in front of me, too.”
She will move on to compete at Bowdoin College in Maine after crossing one item off her bucket list — qualifying for the state meet.
“It’s been a post-it on my mirror for a long time,” Traum said.
Leland junior Chae Eun Kim wasn’t satisfied with a third-place finish in the 100 hurdles, so she repeated the feat in the 300 hurdles.
“It’s so rewarding,” said Kim, who advanced to the state meet for the first time. “I never would’ve thought I would get to state, but after working hard this year it became more of a reality for me.”
So, which event does she prefer?
“Last year I definitely would’ve said the 100 hurdles,” Kim said. “But this year I started dropping time on the 300, so both are pretty even, I think.”
In the 400 dash, a trio cracked 57 seconds.
Santa Catalina senior Mikayla Revera won the event in 56.31, with Leigh junior Hawa Kamara in close pursuit in 56.49.
“I’ve been trying to break 57 all season,” Kamara said. “And it’s just great to know that I got a PR and that I’m going to state right now.”
What was her motivation?
“Honestly, I wanted to catch her so bad,” Kamara said of Revera. “I was just like, ‘Stay with her the whole entire time.’ And then she started getting away from me and I’m like, ‘No, no, no … I’m going to get you.’ ”
Palo Alto senior Titilola Bolarinwa, who hopes to walk on at Santa Clara University, claimed the third spot to state in 56.83.
“It’s just a culmination of everything I’ve been working hard for,” Bolarinwa said. “It’s just like the grand finale my senior year. It feels amazing right now.”
Bolarinwa crushed her PR of 58.42 after dealing with a hamstring injury the past few weeks.
But she wasn’t done.
In the last event of the night, the 1,600 relay, she helped Paly to a runner-up finish. The Vikings broke the school record in the prelims, then again in the finals with a time of 3:55.24, while San Lorenzo set the pace in 3:53.00.
Bolarinwa ran the second leg, with freshman Brianna Miller at the starting line.
“My main goal was just to stay strong, because I know I have get a good mindset for the rest of my fellow teammates,” Miller said.
The third lap belonged to junior Maya Reuven, with freshman Ella Ball as the anchor.
“If I’m being honest right here, I’m putting in those last 100 meters and all I can think about is just hold the baton out,” Reuven said. “And I trust Ella, I know she can catch it and get it back around the field.”
“Basically,” Ball added, “my job as the anchor was to maintain that lead which was already achieved by the three amazing runners that had gone before me.”
The track events at CCS began with the 400 relay, which saw Mitty junior Maya Shaw streak her way to the title as the anchor in 47.87.
The goal for the Monarchs the entire season was to crack 48 seconds.
“I was thinking, ‘You’ve got to take this home,’ ” Shaw said. “I don’t know what to say. I’m so speechless. It was a great accomplishment for all of us.”
Other winners included:
• 400: Soquel junior Chloes Kimes (44.76);
• Pole vault: Santa Catalina sophomore Laurel Wong;
• High jump: San Lorenzo Valley senior Cassie Ackemann (5-9).
GILROY — Alex Scales brought the state’s fastest time this season in the 800 to the Central Coast Section track and field championships Friday night.
But victory — or even a top three finish — didn’t seem so certain for the Bellarmine College Prep star with a half lap left in his signature event.
It took a strong finishing kick for the big guy to start passing runners, finally catching the last one — Westmont’s Jason Gomez — at the tape.
Less than an hour after Scales used a strong finish to win the 1,600, he charged back again to grab the 800, winning in 1 minute, 52.34 seconds, a mere three-one-hundredths of a second ahead of Gomez.
Scales’ two wins helped Bellarmine easily repeat as team champion with 72.5 points. Serra took second with 48 points, followed by Valley Christian with 42.
“I didn’t expect such a fight,” Scales said about the 800. “First from being so far back in the last even 200. I was like, ‘Shoot, what am I doing?’ But I knew I’d have the kick at the end. But I didn’t know it would be matched by Jason. His kick was amazing. I was scared the whole time. It was coming down to the last few meters. I was like, ‘Do I have this? Do I have this?'”
He had it.
Barely.
“I was thinking do what I do in practice,” Gomez said, “and just hold on for dear life that last 100 and give it everything you’ve got. I think I could have done a little bit better maybe, gotten Alex at the tape. But I still think I did my best.”
Gomez’s time of 1:52.37 was a personal best by more than two seconds. Scales’ time was a little less than two seconds off the 1:50.64 he ran at the Arcadia Invitational this season.
Carlmont’s Ryan Wilson took third in 1:52.92 to qualify for next weekend’s state meet as a top-three finisher.
Scales had earlier won the 1,600 in 4:13.49, finishing more than a second in front of Andrew Hill’s Jorge Estrella (4:14.76).
St. Francis senior Brandon Bains was the only double individual winner among the boys as he took first in the 100 in 10.75 and the 200 in 22.00.
Bains also ran the anchor leg on a winning 4×100 relay, passing a handful of runners to help St. Francis finish in a season-best 42.01.
“My team, that’s why they put me last,” Bains said. “They expect me to make up the deficit or open up the lead and make it even bigger.”
Milpitas’ Andy Buchanan was brought to tears thinking about his win in the 400.
A year earlier, the senior had the 68th-best time in the CCS — a far cry from the finals.
Now he is going to the state meet at Buchanan High in Clovis — yes, he mentioned the coincidence in his name and the school’s name — as a CCS champion after taking first in a personal-best 49.29.
“It took a lot of dedication,” Buchanan said, choking up at times. “My parents are kind of strict with me. I don’t hang out with friends as often as I usually would. That paid off in the end. It got me my CCS title.
“I told myself I was going to win it. I brought all my friends. Had my family come out. I told myself I can’t let them down. I am going to win this for them. It was such a big day for me. I really wanted to win it.”
The King’s Academy sophomore Kamau Carlisle, younger brother of former TKA star and ex-Notre Dame football player Amir Carlisle, won the long jump in 22-2 1/4, the first time he had ever cleared 22 feet.
“I felt like it was a pretty good jump,” Carlisle said. “I got a good pop off the board. But I feel like it still could be better. My run up was a little iffy.”
Lynbrook senior Tarab Ansari won the discus in a personal-best 169-10.
“We trained as hard as we could this season,” Ansari said. “I was ninth last year and sophomore year I was 13th. Coach and I just trained as hard as we possibly could for everything. I think this was just something in the making this year.”
Palo Alto senior Michel-Ange Siaba also topped his previous best mark to finish first in the triple jump with a leap of 45-2 1/2.
“This is where I had to pull it off,” Siaba said. “Honestly, the jump just felt kind of normal. I think it’s true when you listen to professional triple jumpers, they say your best jump feels like nothing at all. That’s what it felt like.”
Los Gatos’ Thomas Johnstone needed to clear only 15 feet to take first in the pole vault that included a jump off for the third state qualifier.
“It was a little bit of a rough day,” said Johnstone, who vaulted a personal-best 15-9 at his league meet. “We had a little bit of a head wind and we kind of had an ironic circumstance with the jump off. That made the competition go on a little longer than expected, so we all had to re-warm-up again. But I just got back on top and went for the win. That is it.”
Archbishop Mitty’s Blake Rose won the 110 high hurdles in 14.75, and Los Gatos’ Isaki Wada-Law placed first in the 300 hurdles in 38.67.
“It’s just like every other race,” said Rose, who finished second in the 300 hurdles in 38.80. “You’ve just got to get off fast and keep your head in the game. Don’t think that just because someone gets out faster than you, you’re going to lose.”
Other winners:
— Serra’s Parker McDonald, high jump, 6-7.
— St. Ignatius’ Jaedon Roberts, shot put, 52-10.
— Menlo’s Robert Miranda, 3,200, 9:10.26.
— Serra’s 4×400 relay team, 3:20.66.