Sacramento Meet of Champions
Girls top track athlete: Ashton Purvis (St.. Elizabeth, Oakland) against stiff headwinds, won the 100 (11.94) and 200 (24.00).
Girls top field athlete: Brianna Stewart (Logan, Union City) won triple jump with slightly wind-aided mark of 40 feet, 7 inches. Earlier Stewart placed second in 100 hurdles in 13.87 behind 2006 state champion Julian Purvis (13.78).
Boys top track athlete: Garrett Seawell (Woodcreek) won 3,200 in 9:12.21.
Boys top field athlete: California senior Justin Miller won the pole vault at lifetime best of 16-8.
Complete meet results: SEE RESULTS.
By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Two giant Gatorade barrels were low on water and Lauren Chetelat wasn’t real happy about it.
The Davis High senior, one of the nation’s top distance runners, had just cruised to a 1,600-meter victory in 4 minutes, 53.37 seconds under sweltering conditions at the Sacramento Meet of Champions on Saturday late afternoon.
Once water arrived, Chetelat quickly dispersed several small cups – then handed them to her 13 competitors. Her thirst threshold was impressive and secondary. She failed to gulp down some water herself.
“That’s Lauren,” Davis coach Bill Gregg said. “She always puts others ahead of her own needs.”
Well, that’s not exactly true. Not on the track anyway. She puts almost all of her Northern Californian competitors well behind.
She won Saturday’s race by almost eight seconds over runner-up Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) sophomore Hayley Scott (5:01.22). Less than an hour later she set a season best while taking third in the 800 at 2:17.88.
And these weren’t even her top events.
Chetelat entered both races to work on her speed in preparation for next month’s California Interscholastic Federation 3,200 finals at Cerritos College in Norwalk.
There, she’ll likely meet up with arguably two of the state’s top all-time distance runners in Jordan Hasay (Mission Prep, San Luis Obispo) and Christine Babcock (Irvine).
Hasay, a junior, has already won a national cross-country title and last season took the state 3,200 title in 10:06.76. At the same meet, the Washington-bound Babcock set a state-meet record by winning the 1,600 in 4:38.85.
Two weeks ago at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational, Hasay (10:03.07) sprinted past Babcock (10:04.03) in the final 100 meters to win what many considered the state’s finest 3,200 race ever.
Chetelat finished a distant third in the event with a career best 10:15.17 after placing second behind Hasay at state last year in 10:25.86.
It’s not clear whether Chetelat will face both runners in the 3,200 next month at Cerritos College, but Hasay is almost a certainty. Chetelat said Saturday she’ll certainly won’t double.
“If I can race both of them that would be awesome,” Chetelat said. “That would be a great opportunity.”
That’s how the Stanford-bound standout sees her connection to Hasay and Babcock.
She could be envious or bent on upstaging her prime rivals, but Chetelat is far too mature and intelligent for that.
Even though in every other state her name would be household among prep track fans; Chetelat is quite comfortable in her own Nikes. She’s grateful and humble.
She sees the nearly-empty water barrel as half full … and available for competitors first.
“I’m always grateful when I can run against Jordan or Christine,” Chetelat said. “It’s an opportunity to learn more about competition and push myself to greater extremes. It’s very difficult to get better simply running on your own.
“Besides that they are just really nice girls.”
Chetelat experienced a more cut-throat attitude at her previous job/sport/passion – the soccer field.
She started kicking the ball around at age 6 and was highly competitive star on club teams and in high school. She dabbled in running in the eighth grade and was immediately successful, but felt pressured to always prevail.
So she continued back to her track on the soccer pitch before she was talked into running on the Davis cross-country team during her junior season.
“There’s a whole social aspect of cross country, especially at Davis, that I was drawn to,” she said. “I can’t put into words how thankful I am that I made the switch. There are so many rewards. And I’ve really learned about the camaraderie between runners. It’s a special relationship.”
It was obvious from the start Chetelat was a special runner. She placed 10th in the highly competitive state Division I race as a junior and the following season won it by a whopping 15 seconds in 17:18, the third fastest time of the day.
She later placed seventh nationally at the USA Cross County Championships in San Diego two months ago but 1:19 behind winner Hasay, who appears unbeatable at the 3,200.
Chetelat knows it’s unrealistic to beat Hasay at Cerritos, though she did defeat her in the 2007 Sacramento Meet of Champions after Hasay ran the 1,600.
The tanned, 5-foot-8 senior rather looks at her race with Hasay, Babcock and other elite runners as indeed long distance.
“Who knows what will happen down the road,” she said. “I’m very new at this sport and two years from now when we’re all in college and training differently anything is possible. I’m just trying to get better and thankful I have competitors like Jordan to help push me there.”
With another high school year ahead of her, Hasay hasn’t committed to college. Chetelat hopes secretly that Hasay picks Palo Alto.
“That would be the best,” she said.
MILLER’S LANDING: With defending state pole vault champion and current national leader Nico Weiler (Los Gatos) on hiatus, this was Justin Miller’s time to pump and punch.
The California (San Ramon) senior, like Chetelat behind Hasay and Babcock, gets lost often behind the rather large shadow of Weiler, who is a second-year foreign exchange student from Germany.
On Saturday, after clearing his first attempt at 16 feet, 8 inches, the fun-loving, jovial and personable Miller let loose. This was a lifetime best and guaranteed him first place over a very capable Blair Wallingford (Roseville), who was second at 16-2.
Miller pumped his fists like Tiger Woods, punched his pole vault pole and then raised his arms into the air. He looked into the stands and met eyes with his pole vault coach KC Cook, who rubbed his arms incessantly as if he had a severe case of goose bumps.
“That’s exactly what I had,” Cook said. “The kid is amazing. I don’t look at him as one of my athletes but as a little brother. I love the kid.”
There’s nothing not to like.
The 6-foot, 150-pounder is the life of pole vault alley, a cultural Hodge-podge of no name, athletic, free-thinking daredevils. There’s a special camaraderie among athletes in the event, and the upbeat Miller is the king of his court. He laughs. Slaps hands. Encourages. And his 16-8 mark landed him sixth nationally in the event.
Three attempts at 17-0 weren’t really that close, but no matter.
“That was ridiculous,” said Miller, meaning ridiculously good. “I’m so amped. I went 16-4 at a dual meet on Thursday so I was expecting big things. I’m not sure if I expected this. I just wanted to PR and win and I did that.”
When asked if he was trying to send Weiler a message, Miller said. “I hope so. I hope he knows I’m coming after him. Of course, then he’ll probably go 18-0 at state.”
Miller likes Weiler personally and greatly admires his talent. “He’s great at what he does and he really pushes me.”
But after being pushed, he finally admitted he wasn’t so thrilled when Weiler was awarded another school year in the United States.
Weiler who broke meet records while winning at the Arcadia Invitational two weeks ago (17-4) and at the state meet last June (17-2) learned he could come back to the United State three days before the fall semester.
“I was kind of a poor sport about it,” he said. “I was mad. But I realize now he’s totally helped push me to new heights. He inspires me to get better.”
Besides that, more than any other event, nothing is given in the pole vault.
Bad days lead to no heights which lead to utter disappointments (see decathletes Dan O’Brien and Trey Hardee and last year’s national leader Casey Roach, who no-heighted at his league meet).
Miller is well aware of such failures after no-heighting at last season’s North Coast Section Meet of Champions in Berkeley. He seemed a shoe-in to place at the state meet.
Then again, this is the pole vault.
“That was tough for him to swallow,” Cook said of last year’s performance at NCS MOC. “He’s got some demons to conquer in Berkeley but this is a strong indicator he can do that.”
VALENTINE’S DAY: At 6-2 and 175 pounds, Castro Valley junior Maurice Valentine Jr. is a physical specimen. But it’s his mechanics that keyed his clearance at 6-10 to easily win the boys high jump.
His father, a former decathlete at Long Beach State, taught his gifted son the highly-technical event as a youth and in the last 12 months it has really translated. Valentine Jr. was second at state last year and during the summer he cleared 7-0¼.
He’s one of the favorites to win next week in Cerritos.
“To go 7 feet and win state would be tremendous,” he said. “But the state title is the main goal.”
Valentine had two good attempts at 7-0 on Saturday, just missing on his final attempt. He said mechanics, not stamina, failed him in the end.
“I needed more speed at takeoff,” he said. “But they were good attempts and a good day. I have no complaints.”
PURVIS, PURVIS, PURVIS, PURVIS: Gusting winds didn’t help the Purvis sisters score any amazing marks. But it also didn’t deny them bouquets of flowers awarded every first-place finisher.
Ashton Purvis, the top sophomore sprinter in the country from St. Elizabeth (Oakland), breezed to easy wins in the 100 and 200 but her times of 11.94 and 24.00 were well off her season bests of 11.74 (11.54 wind-aided) and 23.43, the latter being the No. 1 time in the country.
Ashton faced head winds of 1.6 and 1.1 meters per second.
“It was hard to really get it going,” Ashton Purvis said. “I’ll take the wins but not the times.”
Julian Purvis edged NCS nemesis and long-time rival Briana Stewart while winning the 100 hurdles, 13.78 to 13.87. Julian, the 2006 state champion and Michigan-signee, has the country’s third best time of 13.59.
Amber Purvis (Benicia), the half sister of Ashton and Julian and 2006 state long jump champion, won the long jump at 18-8, ½-inch better than Moreau (Hayward) junior Alitta Boyd.
OTHER NOTABLES: Logan’s girls 1,600 relay team went 3:44.97 to win by almost five seconds over defending state champion Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland). … Vacaville junior Kyler Martin (38.59) edged teammate Marcus McMillan (38.90) in the 300 hurdles. … Chase Wheeler (De La Salle) won long jump in lifetime best of 22-10¾.. … Damonte Ranch junior Josh Butler went an even 47-0 to take the boys triple jump.
E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com.
