Track and field: School records fall on a warm day at CCS Top 8 meet
Recap and photos: Leland hurdler Miles Roberts, Christopher jumper Kingsley Okoronkwo, St. Ignatius sprinter Ellie McCuskey-Hay among many standouts.
LOS GATOS — Miles Roberts was a bored sixth grader when his parents decided he needed something to do. So they had him try track and field and burn off some energy if nothing else.
Six years later the Leland senior is one of the top high hurdlers in the state.
Roberts won the 110-meter high hurdles Friday at the Central Coast Section Top 8 meet at Los Gatos High in a time of 14.13 seconds, just off his season-best, 14.11, which is the second-fastest time in the state.
Roberts placed fourth at the state meet last year as a junior in 14.18, so he’s been in the low 14s for a while. Cracking the 14-flat barrier, getting down in the 13s — elite territory for any high hurdler at any level — is the obvious goal.
“It’s all I can think about,” Roberts said. “I see 13.99 in my dreams.’
Roberts also placed third in the long jump Friday with a mark of 22-6.
Friday’s Top 8 meet took place on the warmest day of the year so far, around 80 degrees in Los Gatos. New school records were set and personal bests were achieved, right and left.
Christopher’s Kingsley Okoronkwo took first place in the long jump at 23-2, a mark that broke the school record of 22-9, set the day before by Okoronkwo. He also placed second in the triple jump (44-9) behind Bellarmine’s Kenneth Tucker, who went 45-9 ¼, more than a foot further than his previous best this season.
St. Ignatius freshman Ellie McCuskey-Hay has been a revelation this season, entering Friday’s meet with the fastest girls 100 time in the CCS by nearly a half second. McCuskey-Hay, who has a track coach for a father, has been competing in track and field since she was 7 years old.
She won the 100 Friday in 11.86, just off her season-best time of 11.81, won the long jump by nearly a foot at 18-9 ½, and took second in the 200, behind Mountain View’s Hannah Rutherford, with a time of 24.89. Rutherford’s winning time was 24.55.
Santa Clara’s Liam Brennan won the discus with a personal-best and school-record heave of 176-5.
“Last year I fouled out because I wasn’t in the right head space,” Brennan said. “I was shaky. This year with my mentality I was able to zone in and focus on how I needed to perform.”
Levi Romero won the 400 in 48.20 and led a 1-3-4 finish for Los Gatos in the event. Wil Brennan took third (48.79) and Brady Kamali, who also won the high jump at 6-2, placed fourth (49.74). Serra’s Parker Harrison was second in 48.78.
Those three 400 runners helped Los Gatos set a meet record in the 4×400 relay at 3:17.94. That time is the fastest by any Northern California school and fifth-best in the state.
“We are chasing a medal,” Los Gatos sprints coach Steve Neubauer said of the goal of breaking up the SoCal cluster and finishing in the top three at the state meet. “I think we can go 3:15.”
The Los Altos team of Ata Sen, Zachary Fagin, Leonard Goebel and Nathaniel Guillory broke a 50-year-old school record in winning the 4×100 relay in a time of 41.89.
Other individual winners on the boys side of the meet included Harker’s Andrew Fu in the 100 (10.50), Leland’s Ryan Teeple in the 200 (21.42), Homestead sophomore Evan Gardner in the 800 (1:56.67), Los Gatos’ Aydon Stefanopoulos in the 3,200 (9:08.99) and Aragon’s Jarod Nunnemaker in the pole vault (14-6).
Bellarmine took the team title with 58 points, to edge Los Gatos (55).
Archbishop Mitty utilized its strength in the sprints and hurdles to win the girls team title with 84 points, St. Ignatius was second with 68.5.
The Monarchs won both relays (48.51 in the 4×100, 4:00.62 in the 4×400) and went 1-2-3 with Tiana Osuna, Laniah Simpson and Taylor Oden in the 100 hurdles. Osuna (14.90) and Simpson (14.99) both got under 15 seconds for the first time.
“They’ve been training so hard, ever since the first week in October,” Mitty girls coach Ryan Oden said.
Osuna also placed second in the 300 hurdles with a time of 44.89, behind Christopher’s Melia Middleton (44.35).
Sophomore Nicole Steiner, also a standout on the Los Gatos basketball team and a club volleyball player, won the shot put with a personal-best mark of 41-11 ½, the top mark in Northern California and No. 6 in the state.
“It’s not my main sport, but I want to keep improving,” Steiner said “Since I’m already almost at 42, I’d like to get up to 43, maybe 43-5 by the end of the season. By my senior year, I’d like to break the school record, which is 45.”
Gunn’s Avery Adelman won the 400 in 57.48 and came back to place third in the 300 hurdles (45.74).
Homestead’s Ningning O’Brien won the discus at 132-9. She has a best of 144-1 this season, which ranks in the top eight in the state.
Hannah Slover of Los Gatos won the high jump (5-4) and Mariel Rocca of St. Ignatius took first place in the triple jump with a mark of 37-9 ¼.
