FOLSOM, Calif. – Freshman Alyssa Gutierrez took part in a school record in the 4x800-meter relay then later broke another program benchmark in the 3,200, earning a trip to the state championship meet and highlighting St. Francis at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters track & field championship finals at Prairie City Stadium Saturday.

Gutierrez ran the second leg of the long relay, following sophomore Sophia Kadel and preceding Miya Menza and anchor Bianka Bagatelos to a time of nine minutes, 15.75 seconds. This surpassed the previous standard of 9:20.33 by the foursome of Grace Dunham, Ryann Strawn, Kelsey Sutch and Kayla Towne at the 2024 state meet.

However, the record time was "only" good for third place in the lone event in which the SJS sends the top two finishers. All other events advance the top three to the state championship. Furthermore, all other events except the 4x800 relay has an at-large qualifying standard in which an entrant may compete at the state meet regardless of finish. Still, this marked almost a seven-second improvement over the team's previous 2026 best of 9:22.16, set at the SJS Div. I Championships two weeks prior.

Gutierrez later won the 3,200 with a 10:18.86, beating her nearest competitor – Patterson's Natalie Arriaza – by more than 10 full seconds. In fact, she never trailed at any point in the race: 2.5 seconds in the lead after the first lap, more than four seconds ahead of Arriaza after 800. The Tiger senior did make up a little ground during the final two laps, covering the last 800 in approximately 2:34.4 to Gutierrez' 2:37.5 but the deficit was insurmountable by that point. The winning 10:18.86 final time not only punched the Troubie freshman phenom's ticket to the state meet, but also eclipsed Cate Joaquin's previous record of 10:20.97, set at the 2022 Arcadia Invitational.

Additionally, Gutierrez becomes the first Troubadour to win the SJS Masters 3,200 since Lauren LaRocco outran Davis' Fiona O'Keeffe at the 2014 edition. LaRocco, who went on to compete at Portland, crossed the line with a then-SF record 10:32.72. LaRocco went on the reset the school benchmark to 10:23.10 at that year's state meet.

Entering Saturday's meet, only five runners in California had covered eight laps in less time this season: Santiago's Braelyn Combe (9:44.19), La Jolla's Chiara Dailey (9:53.38), Palo Alto's Amaya Bharadwaj (10:01.93), Irvine's Summer Wilson (10:14.45) and Christian's Elliana Patterson (10:14.60). Gutierrez is by far the fastest freshman in the 31st state, with Westlake's Anais Cruz a distant second (10:31.83 at Saturday's Southern Section Masters).

Whitney won the girls' 4x800 title at 9:11.16, outrunning Davis and its 9:11.87. St. Francis actually held a minuscule lead over the Blue Devils going into the last lap: the Troubies' 8:03.318 was a mere 74 thousandths of a second separated Davis' 8:03.392 with 400 to go. However, Blue Devil senior Kailee Mallow stormed to a 1:08.5 split in her final lap to nearly catch Wildcat sophomore Kaylee Smith at the finish line.

All four members of the 4x800 competed in another event after the relay. Kadel went on to place 17th in the 1,600 at 5:17.63. Bagatelos took eighth in the 800 with a 2:18.31. Then St. Francis had five representatives in the 3,200. Besides Gutierrez in front, Menza placed 21st (11:14.52), senior Chloe Harrison in 22nd (11:16.51), sophomore Emily Colonnello in 23rd (11:21.59) and freshman Rebecca Dickson follwed in 28th (11:39.38).

The 106th CIF State Championships runs at Buchanan High on May 29 and 30. The girls' 3,200 takes place at 9:20 p.m. in Saturday's session.

2026 SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION TRACK & FIELD MASTERS FINALS
Prairie City Stadium (Folsom, Calif.)
Events with SF entrants only • Winner plus SF finishers listed

GIRLS' 4x800 RELAY - 1. Whitney (Soto, Hutchinson, Ewers, Smith), 9:11.16... 3. St. Francis (Kadel, Gutierrez, Menza, Bagatelos), 9:15.75.

GIRLS' 1,600 METERS - 1. Norah Feldt, Davis, 4:50.59... 17. Sophia Kadel, 5:17.63.

GIRLS' 800 METERS - 1. Kaylee Smith, Whitney, 2:11.92... 8. Bianka Bagatelos, 2:18.31.

GIRLS 3,200 METERS - 1. Alyssa Gutierrez, St. Francis, 10:18.86... 21. Miya Menza, 11:14.52; 22. Chloe Harrison, 11:16.51; 23. Emily Colonnello, 11:21.59; 28. Rebecca Dickson, 11:39.38.