Boys Sprints & Hurdles
David Phillips Jr (Dixon) is the top returner in the 100 Dash and also has the fastest returning time in the 200 (where he also leads the early 2019 section rankings). He will be in the hunt for a double title after winning the 100 title but fading to 4th in last May's 200 final. He is not the only athlete in the section with a sense of unfinished business, either. Jamar Marshall (St. Mary's Stockton, above) suffered from a horribly-timed false start at the 2018 section final in the 110 Hurdles, where he was heavily favored and could have been a finalist in the state meet. He did win the 300 Hurdles to advance to the state meet, but struggled in the preliminaries. You can bet the junior is looking to win both races in the section, and to make a much bigger splash at the state meet. There is also a third heavy favorite in the section: Zachary Larrier (Monterey Trail) is the defending 400 champion, with a PR that is over a second faster than the nearest challenger.
While those three have the potential to dominate the sprints and hurdles in 2019, the competition behind them for the remaining state meet berths will be intense. Larrier finished third in the 200 last May, just behind Ryan Mulholland (Del Oro), and Myles Leopold (Kimball) took bronze in the 100. Joseph Fontes and Donovan Jordan, both teammates of Marshall at St. Mary's, showed the potential to contend in the 100 (and Fontes in the 200, as well). Camden Wheeler clocked 48.42 as a freshman, and he could follow in the footsteps of his teammate at Monterey Trail in going to the state meet this spring. Behind him are three 49-second returners that will be vying for a trip to Clovis, led by Joe Blakely (Pleasant Grove), who was fourth in the SJS Masters meet last spring. Warren Williams (Merrill West) took advantage of the opening in the 110 Hurdles to finish third, making him the top challenger to Marshall in that event, while Nicolas Stanley (Sierra) is the only 300 Hurdler other than Marshall to return with a sub-40 time (but keep an eye on his little brother Jadyn).