Best of the spring: Piedmont Hills' Reonna Collier is Mercury News girls track athlete of year



By Darren Sabedra

On the first day of track practice this season, Piedmont Hills freshman Reonna Collier did a double-take when her coach told her that she could win the state championship in the 300-meter hurdles.

Didn't he know that Collier had never hurdled?

But Chioke Robinson had a vision that came to fruition this month when Collier blew away the field to win the title in 40.90 seconds, the 10th-fastest time in state history.

"Any athlete that comes in I always believe has a shot to do something special," Robinson said. "It's just a matter of the combination of dedication and consistency at whatever it is they are trying to do."

Collier showed both as she became the first freshman to win four events at the Central Coast Section championships and then placed in three events at the state meet. She finished fourth in the 100 hurdles and ran a leg on the 4x400 relay that took second as Piedmont Hills placed only behind Long Beach Poly in the team standings.

For her achievements, Collier is the Mercury News girls track and field athlete of the year.

"She had a great year," Robinson said. "There is no other way to put it. But there is still a lot to go, there is still a lot of learning to do and there is still a mountain to climb. But it was definitely a good season for her."

Back when practice started, Collier remembers telling Robinson that she wasn't sure she could hurdle because, as she put it, "I wasn't really believing in myself."

The transition did not start out smoothly.

"She definitely had those days of hating me," Robinson said. "But it came around."

The turning point came in the fourth meet as Collier set a personal record by more than a second. It got only better as the season moved along.

But as impressive as Collier's results were, Robinson believes she has the potential to do much more -- as in break the all-time state and national mark in the 300 hurdles of 39.98 seconds, set by Long Beach-Wilson's Lashinda Demus in 2001. "But that's way off the future," the coach said.

Maybe it isn't. Asked if reaching the all-time mark was attainable in the next three seasons, Collier, who turns 16 next month, said, "Yes it is. I plan on doing it next year."

Clearly, her confidence has soared as she has gone from unsure about hurdling a few months ago to now aiming to become only the second high school girl to go under 40 seconds.

All-Mercury News Girls track and field

Sprinter of year: Maddy Price, Menlo School, senior
Hurdler of year: Reonna Collier, Piedmont Hills, freshman
Distance runner of year: Sarah Robinson, Gunn, senior
Horizontal jumper of year: Marisa Kwiatkowski, Wilcox, senior
Vertical jumper of year: Greta Wagner, Los Gatos, senior
Thrower of year: Elena Bruckner, Valley Christian, sophomore

Best of the spring: Terra Nova's Jeremy Wright is Mercury News boys track athlete of year



By Glenn Reeves

greeves@bayareanewsgroup.com

Terra Nova junior Jeremy Wright gives no indication of having reached a ceiling, of being anywhere near his personal limits as a 400-meter runner.

And if he does continue to improve next year as a senior, as expected, he will go down as one of the best quarter-milers in Central Coast Section history.

Actually, he's already there.

Wright was clocked in 47.01 seconds in winning the 400 at the CCS finals. That time is seventh in CCS history. The sub-47.0 club is an exclusive one with some pretty good names on that list: Calvin (45.25) and Alvin Harrison (46.25) of North Salinas, Cubberly's Bill Green (45.51), Mt. Pleasant's Richard Dupree (46.72), Overfelt's Lee Evans (46.77) and Los Altos' Rick Brown (46.96).

Wright placed third at the state meet with a time of 47.10 and for his accomplishments has been named the Mercury News boys track and field athlete of the year.

"I want to improve my state ranking, finish better than third," Wright said. "This year I improved by leaps and bounds. I'm hoping to keep that up. I'm looking to drop a full second, run low 46, if not 45."

Wright started running the 400 late in his freshman year. He ran 51 as a freshman, improved to 48.98 as a sophomore and then dropped close to another two full seconds as a junior.

"With my longer legs, I'm able to maintain a faster pace for the whole lap," the 6-foot-4 Wright said. "It's the perfect event for me."

He said he's planning on doing some workouts with the cross country team in the fall to build up endurance and thinks the 800 might be his second-best event in track and field. He has a best of 2:03 in one of the infrequent times he has run the 800, but could surely run sub-2:00 with more of a focus on the event.

Perceived as coming out of nowhere, he's also planning on a more competitive racing schedule next year, one that would include the invitationals at Arcadia and Stanford as well as the CCS Top 8 meet. He didn't take part in the Top 8 meet this year because of a commitment to the Bearcat Invitational at San Mateo High, which took place the next day.

Wright ran 48.52 at the Bearcat to take over the CCS lead in the event, a big improvement over his previous fastest listed season mark of 50.26 in a Peninsula Athletic League dual meet. But even that relative breakthrough gave no indication of what was to come: 47.01 on a windy night at San Jose City College in the CCS finals and 47.10 for third in the state in the heat of Clovis.

"I think he can bring that time down next year," Terra Nova coach Michelle Bokamper said.

All-Mercury News

Boys track and field
Sprinter of year: Kyle Orloff, Serra, senior
Hurdler of year: Aidan Kirwan, Branham, junior
Distance runner of year: Gerardo Castro, El Camino, senior
Horizontal jumper of year: Kurt Felicitas, Mt. Pleasant, junior
Vertical jumper of year: Daniel Onuoha, Santa Teresa, senior
Thrower of year: Luis Maciel, Willow Glen, senior