ELK GROVE, Calif. – Junior Maddie Pelfrey broke and re-broke the school pole vault record twice over to win the individual championship in that event, while senior Cate Joaquin led a 1-2-3 finish in the 3,200-meter run for another varsity title, to lead St. Francis in the varsity portion of the Delta League track & field championships at Sheldon-Pleasant Grove Community Stadium Saturday.
The Troubadours finished the day with 51 points in the varsity standings, with four event finals now complete. Davis holds second place with 38 points, just ahead of Pleasant Grove's 35
Additionally, sophomores Ava Forte and Kendal Graham finished 1-2 atop the junior varsity pole vault standings, helping SFHS lead Davis in the JV standings, 44-28.
Pelfrey chased Meghan Ladd's 2018 pole vault record of 12 feet, 0 inches throughout the season, hitting a then-personal record of 11-10 in the first month of the year. She hit vaults of 11 feet or better in seven subsequent meets, but a 10-7 at the Arcadia Invitational and a no height at the Sacramento Meet of Champions loomed as more recent frustrations.
Pelfrey matched her old personal best on the first effort, then broke Ladd's record with a 12-2 mark, also on the first attempt. She took all three tries to surpass her minutes-old benchmark with a 12-6, and nearly improve to 12-10 with a near miss on her second attempt at that height. Pelfrey now ranks second in the Sac-Joaquin Section, with only Oak Ridge's Alison Sahaida (13-9) in front of her.
Joaquin dominated a 3.200 race that was, in turn, dominated by St. Francis. She crossed the finish line in 11 minutes, 8.01 seconds, more than 33 seconds faster than teammate and runner-up Grace Dunham, who posted a 11:41.27. Junior Daphne Witherell completed the Troubie trifecta at 11:52.97, while Paige Quigley placed in fifth (12:10.28) and Ryann Strawn in sixth (12:10.68). With six scoring finishers, Joaquin and company totaled a whopping 31 points in the team standings.
Pelfrey's win in the varsity pole vault was accompanied by a third-place showing by Donna Valizadeh, who beat her old PR by four inches with a 10-4 leap on Saturday.
The pole vaulters were the Troubadours' largest scoring contributors in the JV standings as well. Forte and Graham finished 1-2 with marks of 8-0 and 7-6, respectively. Both were personal bests, as was Nayeli Kojima's 7-0 vault for fifth. Alex Karlshoej defeated teammate Anastacia Maruccia in a jump-off for eighth place (6-0).
St. Francis added another 20 points in the JV shot put, with Elise Blomquist's runner-up throw of 28-1.5 leading four Troubies in the top eight. Mackenzie Santos placed fourth (26-2.5), Magdalena Becerril finished fifth (25-7) and Jaylyn Solano followed in sixth (25-1). Saturday's meet marked the first competition in almost a full month for the future heptathlete Becerril, who was mostly sidelined by an injury sustained at the Bella Vista Speed Festival earlier this year.
Junior Lauren Riley accounted for the remaining St. Francis varsity points, as her 29-4.5 push in the shot put was good for fifth place.
The majority of Saturday's events were preliminary heats and sections for the finals, held in one week at Sheldon-CO Stadium. Senior Grace Heisinger dominated the field in the 300-meter hurdles with a 47.20 time, better than four seconds faster than the nearest competitor, Katie Knowles of Pleasant Grove (51.36).
Heisinger also advanced in the 100 hurdles, placing third overall with a 17.52 time despite a headwind of 2.5 meters per second. Impressively, this was her season debut in the short hurdles and her first appearance in the event since the Sacramento State HS Track Classic back in March of 2020.
The top eight competitors from a running event advance to the May 7 finals, with the exception of the 800 meters, from which 12 move on. The 1,600 and 3,200 races, plus the two relays, compete as finals only. All field events run both trials and finals in the same day. The ninth-place finishers are alternates to the Sac-Joaquin Section meet unless the advanced by an automatic qualifying mark.
Thus, St. Francis will be represented well in the 800 meters final next Saturday, with Kayla Towne (2:20.68), Grace Dunham (2:29.73), Tatiana Cornejo (2:30.35), Kelsey Sutch (2:35.17) and Pamela Vargas (2:36.33) each moving on.
Besides the 800 crew and Heisinger in the two hurdles events, Kenna DeLemos earned a second race in the 100 meters, thanks to her season-best 12.93 in the prelims. She actually run the No. 3 time in a tough third heat, but she nabbed one of the three at-large qualifying times.
Advancing to next week's JV finals for St. Francis were Amaya Pangilinan, who won her 100 hurdles heat with a 19.75; and Kojima, who took third in the first heat and fifth overall with a 1:06.43 in the 400 meters. This was the first official running event of the year for Kojima, who was sidelined due to injury for most of the year and had only appeared recently as a JV pole vaulter.
The conclusion of the Delta League championships starts at 10 a.m. for field events, 11 a.m. for running events next Saturday. For St. Francis, Day 2 comprises the finals plus the entirety of the high jump, long jump, discus, 1600 meters and relays.
2022 DELTA LEAGUE TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS, DAY 1
Sheldon-Pleasant Grove Stadium (Elk Grove, Calif.)
Girls results only • Winners/leaders plus SFHS finishers listed
TEAM SCORING VARSITY - 1. St. Francis, 51; 2. Davis, 38; 3. Pleasant Grove, 35; 4. Franklin, 20; 5. Cosumnes Oaks, 7; 6. Sheldon 5.
TEAM SCORING JV - 1. St. Francis, 44; 2. Davis, 28; 3. Pleasant Grove, 26. Franklin, 21; 5. Cosumnes Oaks, 20; 6. Elk Grove, 6.
3200 METERS VARSITY FINAL - 1. Cate Joaquin, St. Francis, 11:08.01… 2. Grace Dunham, 11.41.27; 3. Daphne Witherell, 11:52.97; 5. Paige Quigley, 12:10.28; 6. Ryann Strawn, 12:10.68; 10. Emma Dobson, 12:55.21
3200 METERS JV FINAL - 1. Kylie Monson, PG, 12:39.49… 8. Stella Davenport, 13:46.77.
100 HURDLES VARSITY PRELIM - 1. Faith Jones, Sheldon, 16.27 (w: -2.5)… 3. Grace Heisinger, 17.52 (w: -2.5).
100 HURDLES JV PRELIM - 1. Izzy Cherry, Davis, 18.22 (w: -0.9)… 2. Amaya Pangilinan, 19.75 (w: -0.3)
400 METERS VARSITY PRELIM - 1. Janae Hefffernan, EG, 58.27… 9. Peyton Carson, 1:02.98; 10. Sarah Charles, 1:03.23.
400 METERS JV PRELIM - 1. Addison Vicochea, PG, 1:02.79… 5. Nayeli Kojima, 1:06.43.
100 METERS VARSITY PRELIM - 1. Aniaya Bishop, CO, 12.55 (w: -2.8)… 7. Kenna DeLemos, 12.93 (w: -0.6); 11. Caitlin Hafenstein, 13.20 (w: -1.8); 13. Kyah Pickett, 13.27 (w: -1.8)
100 METERS JV PRELIM - 1. Londynn Miller, CO, 13.16 (w: -1.5).
800 METERS VARSITY PRELIM - 1. Norah Dulaney, Davis, 2:18.66… 2. Kayla Towne, 2:20.68; 4. Grace Dunham, 2:29.73; 5. Tatiana Cornejo, 2:30.35; 8. Kelsey Sutch, 2:35.17; 10. Pamela Vargas, 2:36.33; 14. Magdalena Becerril, 2:42.51; 21. Emma Dobson, 2:48.91; 26. Amelia Bell, 2:51.61; 28. Kayla Hussey, 2:52.81; 33. Anita White, 3:03.01.
800 METERS JV PRELIM - 1. Addison Vicochea, PG, 2:35.41… 13. Chloe Hickey, 2:48.36; 25. Stella Davenport, 3:02.10; 31. Tatum Brown, 3:11.99.
300 HURDLES VARSITY PRELIM - 1. Grace Heisinger, St. Francis, 47.20.
300 HURDLES JV PRELIM - 1. Senai Rogers, Franklin, 50.31.
200 METERS VARSITY PRELIM - 1. Aniaya Bishop, 25.96 (w: -0.4)… 11. Caitlin Hafenstein, 27.83 (w: -1.3); 16. Sarah Charles, 28.94 (w: -4.1)
200 METERS JV PRELIM - 1. Sierra Baptiste, Davis, 27.27 (w: -1.0)… 18. Anastacia Maruccia, 30.87 (w: -1.0).
SHOT PUT VARSITY FINAL - 1. Hailey Hernandez, PG, 35-0… 5. Lauren Riley, 29-4.5; 15. Khalen Chiddick, 22-7; 18. Sophie Harris, 17-6.
SHOT PUT JV FINAL - 1. Kymberly Hartman, CO, 30-4.5… 2. Elise Blomquist, 28-1.5; 4. Mackenzie Santos, 26-2.5; 5. Magdalena Becerril, 25-7; 6. Jaylyn Solano, 25-1; 10. Emika Garcia, 21-1.
POLE VAULT VARSITY FINAL - 1. Maddie Pelfrey, St. Francis, 12-6… 3. Donna Valizadeh, 10-4.
POLE VAULT JV FINAL - 1. Ava Forte, St. Francis, 8-0… 2. Kendal Graham, 7-6; 5. Nayeli Kojima, 7-0; 8. Alex Karlshoej, 6-0; 9. Anastacia Maruccia, 6-0; 10. Lauren Grindstaff, 6-0.
TRIPLE JUMP VARSITY FINAL - 1. Shemi Brown-Dawson, PG, 36-3.5 (w: +1.5).
TRIPLE JUMP JV FINAL - 1. Lydia Boughton, Davis, 30-6.5 (w: +1.0).
