Bulldog cindermen post top relay times at CIF meet
Both Ramona High School boys track and field relay teams had the top Division II times at the CIF preliminary meet May 22 at Mount Carmel High School while Ramona senior Tyler Jordan cleared 7’0” in the high jump to post the best performance of a section high jumper in either division.
The Bulldogs qualified nine athletes or relay teams for “A” races or field events in the CIF finals May 29 at Mount Carmel while 10 Ramona athletes earned berths in “B” events. The scoring at the finals is based on times or distances in both competitions among schools within each division, although only “A” race or flight qualifiers are eligible for the state meet which takes the top three finishers for each event.
“We did well. We qualified pretty much everybody we thought was going to qualify,” said Ramona head coach Steve Albanese.
Jordan, who had cleared 6’8” at the Jaguar Invitational meet April 17, broke that school record by four inches at the CIF preliminaries. He is the fourth high jumper in San Diego Section history to clear seven feet, and his mark is the second best in the state this year.
Ramona’s boys 4x100 relay team of Seth Drake, Zach Kovach, Nick Lutu and Ryan Morgan had a time of 42.89 seconds, which was the fastest Division II time and fourth overall. The 4x400 relay team of Kovach, Walker Poortinga, Tim Wertz and Morgan had the top Division II and second-best overall time at 3:22.29.
Kovach and Morgan will both be in the “A” race in the 200-meter dash. During the preliminaries Kovach had a time of 22.25 seconds to place second among Division II runners while Morgan’s time of 22.31 seconds was third among Division II competitors.
Morgan’s time of 49.18 seconds in the 400-meter run was third both among Division II runners and overall. Poortinga’s time of 50.78 seconds in that event placed ninth in Division II and qualified him for the “B” finals.
Logan Peterson threw the discus 169 feet 4 inches to place second among Division II throwers and qualify for the “A” flight.
Quintin Wright earned a berth in the “B” flight with his throw of 130’9”, which was fourth in Division II.
Dylan Blankenbaker earned an “A” lane in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:20.69, which was a personal record by four seconds and the second-fastest time among Division II runners.
Chance Varnado-Richardson’s time of 4:30.13 was worth a “B” lane.
Preston Johnson earned “A” status in the shot put after his throw of 47 feet 10 1/4 inches, which took fourth place among Division II throwers.
Ramona’s only girl to qualify for the CIF finals was Chelsey Cortez, whose time of 11:44.58 in the 3,200-meter run placed her fourth in Division II but relegated her to the “B” finals. No other Ramona girls placed among the top nine Division II athletes in their events.
Ramona will have two 100-meter dash runners in the “B” race; Drake finished fifth among Division II runners at 11:07 seconds while Kovach’s time of 11.14 seconds was seventh in Division II.
Two Ramona pole vaulters earned “B” status at the preliminaries; Jared Engler cleared 12’6” for the fifth-best Division II distance while Evan Bray was eighth among Division II vaulters at 12’0”.
Jordan will be competing in the long jump’s “B” flight after a distance of 21’0” in the preliminaries, which was fifth among Division II jumpers. Varnado-Richardson’s time of 9:44.18 in the boys 3,200-meter run was sixth in Division II and put him into the “B” race.