Sacramento MOC: Male sprinters, Gabby Williams headline night of stars.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Pick a star, any star.

There were a more than a handful of shooting and jumping stars in the Sacramento Meet of Champions Saturday night at American River College.

Twenty new top-10 California season state marks were set - according to dyestatcal.com - including three surprises at the top in the boys sprints.

One of the few Southern California schools to make the long trek to Sacramento was Colony (Ontario, Calif.) and sprinter Kyree King showed no travel lag, winning the 100 meters in 10.54 seconds to tie Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) junior Khalfani Muhammad for the top spot in the state this season.

About 90 minutes later, King faced off with San Leandro (Calif.) senior Andre McBride in the 200 and the two put on a remarkable duel. McBride won in a photo finish though both recorded the same time of 21.21, the best mark in the state this season.

"Wasn't even planning or thinking about that time at all," said McBride, whose previous best was 21.90. "I'm still not satisfied because it was so hard to believe. I'm not going to give myself credit until I do it again."

McBride, who has a top 100 mark of 10.63, was not entered in the short sprint because, according to McBride, the San Leandro coaching staff didn't think there would be enough competition.

"We didn't know Colony (and King) was coming," McBride said. "I was really mad when I saw (King) run (in the 100). I think that made me run harder in the 200. Maybe that's why I improved so much."

Reed (Sparks, Nev.) sophomore Gabby Williams didn't even PR in the high jump, yet set the longest standing meet record in Sacramento MOC history, winning the high jump in 5-11. The old mark was 5-10 set in 1989 by Woodland's J.C. Broughton.

The ultra talented 10th-grader  also took third place in both hurdle races and ran a key leg in Reed's winning 1,600 relay team. She was the Girls Female Field Athlete of the Meet.

Williams, who said her No. 1 sport is basketball, won the high jump at Sacramento of Champions as a freshman (5-8).

"I love coming to California," Williams said. "Breaking that record was very cool and hopefully I can do it again and again."

She shared Female Athlete of the Meet honors with Holy Names (Oakland, Calif.) junior Sasha Wallace, who won the 100 hurdles in a ever-so-slightly wind-aided 13.62 after she took the triple jump in 41-8¾. She is already the national leader in the triple jump at 42-4.75. 

Other top stars included:

* Monterey Trail (Elk Grove, Calif.) senior Esther Higgwe ran the fifth-fastest 100 in the state this season, winning in 11.86 followed by a win in the 200 (24.50).

* Kennedy (Richmond, Calif.) senior Kenneth Walker III put on a remarkable show winning the 110 high hurdles in a slightly-windy (2.1 meters per second) 13.75 seconds. He followed that up with a shocking win in the 300 hurdles in 38.14. Shocking because he hasn't run in the race since he was a freshman. His time is eighth best time in California this season and he's already the state leader in the 110s at 14:05. He also ran the second leg of the winning 400 relay time that went a season-best 42.27 seconds.

Walker is a Division I wide receiver in football and has signed to go to UCLA. He was the Boys Track Athlete of the Meet.

"My dad (and coach) just told me today to go run it," Williams said of his 300 hurdle race. "I never felt quite right, especially the last 100. But I got threw it. I'm gonna keep running it the rest of the year."

* Fairfield (Fairfield, Calif.) senior Daje Pugh ran the second fastest 300 hurdles time in California this season, while winning in 42.54. This was shortly after she placed second in the 100 hurdles. (13.73).

* Cal-bound middle distance star and Colony senior Xochitl Navarrete won the 1,600 in the fourth fastest time in California this season (4:50.74). Remarkably, she came back less than an hour later and placed second in the 800 (2:11.95), behind Chico standout Kody Atkins (2:11.41).

See much more on this meet with quotes and color tomorrow.

Sacramento Meet of Champions
At American River College
BOYS
100 – Kyree King (Colony) 10.54, Austin Mitsch (Jesuit) 10.76, McKinley Takkartist (Kennedy) 10.78.

200 – Andre McBride (San Leandro) 21.21, Kyree King (Colony) 21.21, Austin Mitsch (Jesuit) 21.53.

400 – Frank Kurtz (Heritage) 48.25, Willie Latin (Logan) 48.68, Daveon Overton (Vallejo) 48.79.

800 – Dylan Chamberlen (Paradise) 1:52.79, Joel Schierer (Livermore) 1:54.03, Trevor Fuhriman (Monte Vista) 1:54.04.

1,600 – Jack Scranton (Davis) 4:16.53, Jordon Rushington (Del Campo) 4:17.51, Parker Deuel (San Ramon Valley) 4:18.53.

3,200 – William Reyes (Monterey Trail) 9:24.73, Matthew Schumann (De La Salle) 9:29.63, John Whelan (Etna) 9:30.57.

*110 HH – Kenneth Walker III (Kennedy-Richmond) 13.75, Austin Cramer (Argonaut) 14.58, Marquis Morris (De La Salle) 14.66.

300 IH – Kenneth Walker III (Kennedy-Richmond) 38.14, Kevin Kutchera (Granada) 38.37, Casey Wheeler (Del Oro) 38.90.

400 relay – Kennedy-Richmond 42.27, San Leandro 42.52, Heritage 42.72.

1,600 relay – Logan 3:20.01, Heritage 3:20.84, Vallejo 3:21.27.

HJ – Manny Hernandez (Oakdale) 6-9, Londeen McCovery (Cosumnes Oakes) 6-9, Noel Frazier (California) 6-9.

PV – Patrick Hughes (Los Gatos) 15-8, Reed White (Vacaville) 15-8, Colin Barber (San Ramon Valley) 15-8.

LJ – Shawn Simms (Deer Valley) 24-6*, Nathaniel Moore (Bishop O'Dowd) 23-8½, Jordan Monteiro-Williams (McClatchy) 23-5*.

TJ – Jeff Prothro (Logan) 48-0½, Nathaniel Moore (Bishop O'Dowd) 46-3¼*, David Booker (Tulare Western) 46.6¼.

SP – Ryan Donnahoe (Gridley) 57-7, Curtis Bleasdale (Vacaville) 57-6½, Matt Esparza (Amador Valley) 55-2¾.

Discus – Curtis Bleasdale (Vacaville) 172-1, Brian Hamilton ((Stagg) 163-5, Matt Esparza (Amador Valley) 157-1.

GIRLS
100 – Esther Higgwe (Monterey Trail) 11.86, Natsumi McGee (Cosumnes Oaks) 11.97, Dakota Docket (Tulare Western) 12.12.

200 – Esther Higgwe (Monterey Trail) 24.50, Dakota Docket (Tulare Western) 24.63, Marie Veale (Hercules) 24.63.

400 – Adriana Newell (Reed) 56.61, Lauren Remer (Piedmont) 58.04, A'Jah (Monterey Trail) 58.37.

800 – Kody Atkins (Chico) 2:11.41, Xochitl Navarrete (Colony) 2:11.95, Nijae Jones (San Leandro) 2:12.80.

1,600 – Xochitl Navarrete (Colony) 4:50.74, Madeline Ankhleyi (Vista del Lago) 4:55.96, Carrie Verdon (Campolindo) 4:59.40.

3,200 – Clare Carroll (Vista del Lago) 10:45.90, Sophie Meads (Davis) 10:49.49, Anna Welsh (Monterey) 10:58.73.

*100 H – Sasha Wallace (Holy Names) 13.62, Daje Pugh (Fairfield) 13.73, Gabby Williams (Reed) 14.14.

300 IH – Daje Pugh (Fairfield) 42.54, Daria Cook (Vacaville) 44.23, Gabby Williams (Reed) 44.83.

400 relay – Monterey Trail 47.43, Cosumnes Oaks 47.53, Fairfield 48.53.

1,600 relay – Reed 3:55.62, Cosumnes Oakes 3:58.26, San Leandro 3:59.91.
 
HJ – Gabby Williams (Reed) 5-11, Leah Carter (Rocklin) 5-7, Jannell Hadnot (Tokay) 5-3.

PV – Jaques Taylore (Presentation) 12-7, Rachel Bolton (Homestead) 12-7, Cimran Virdi (Las Lomas) 12-1.

LJ – Kendal Nielsen (Bear River) 19-1¼*, Shea Taylor (Grace Davis) 18-7½, McKenzie Arnold (River Valley) 18-4¼.

TJ – Sasha Wallace (Holy Names) 41-8¾, Jannell Hadnot (Tokay) 39-1½, Kendal Nielsen (Bear River) 38-5¾.

SP – Alison Ryan (Ponderosa) 41-9, angel Soutsavang (Vacaville) 40-11½, Mandy Coleman (McNair) 40-2½.

Discus – Praise Adesida (Alhambra) 132-5, Cheyenne Tony (Nevada Union) 128-6, Rachel Picknell (Roseburg, Ore.) 128-2.

* - wind aided