Track and field: Strong times, marks highlight another successful Viking Classic – The Press Democrat

The Bryan Bradley Viking Track Classic went off without a hitch Saturday as some of the top athletes from around the region descended on Montgomery High School for one of the last premier large-scale meets of the 2026 season.

Though maybe lacking some of the star power that the Montgomery girls trio of Hanne Thomsen, Amrie Lacefield and Seelah Kittelstrom, among others, provided over recent years, it was still a strong day of competition for those in attendance — with several exciting races and some impressive personal bests set.

The big highlight of the meet came early in the day during the 1,600-meter race, where Maria Carrillo junior Cameron Jones had an incredible run. He chased down Analy senior Owen Dawson in the final 200 meters to smash his personal best in the event. He crossed the finish line in 4 minutes, 13.81 seconds, a PR by nearly by four seconds and the No. 4 time in the North Coast Section this season.

Jones said he didn’t think halfway through the race he’d be anywhere close to breaking his PR of 4:18.31, which he ran last week at the Santa Rosa Twilight, but found another gear as he locked in on Dawson ahead of him.

“My second lap put me around a 4:20 pace, so I thought, ‘Oh shoot, I’m not going to have it,’ but I’m still going to go ahead and chase Owen. He kept amping up the pace and I had to keep running harder,”: Jones said. “I have no idea what my split was, but it was certainly the race of my life. I mean, to cut down what I thought was going to be a 4:20 to a 4:13 is just way better than what I thought I was going to put forth today.”

Dawson also PR’d with a time of 4:16.51, improving on his school record. In total, the top seven finishers all ran personal bests, including Healdsburg freshman Phoenix De Maria Nall, who placed fifth and set the new Redwood Empire freshman record with an eight-second PR of 4:21.03. That beats the old area record of 4:35.68 set by Sterling Lockert in 2006.

Jones was set entered in the 800 later in the meet but ultimately didn’t run, still recovering from the 1,600. That opened the door for teammate Jonathan Rath, seeded third coming into the meet, to take the spot with a time of 1:56.40.

Another highlight came in the jumps, where Healdsburg sophomore Teague Jasper continued his breakout campaign. He won the high jump by clearing 6 feet, 6 inches, the fifth time this season he’s broken that mark. He also took second in the long jump with a leap of 21-09, a PR by over half a foot.

Jasper started his season by breaking a 60-year-old school record in the high jump and he currently holds the top mark in the North Coast Section of 6-07, which is also tied for fifth-best in the state this season.

“I’m really surprising myself,” Jasper said of this year’s campaign after jumping a season-best 6-04.25 as a freshman last year. “For me, what’s really gotten me to this point is that I really understand high jump a lot more. Just the sport and the physics of it. Working hard in the offseason put me in a great spot and I’m really proud to be doing so good this year.”

He attempted to clear 6-08, his goal this season, on Saturday — but just missed on three of his attempts.

“I can definitely do it,” he said. “I almost got it at (Santa Rosa) Twilight but I’m very, very happy with how I’ve been performing.”

Jay Woodson, a senior from American Canyon who has been battling with Jasper in the jumps all season, placed second in the high jump with a mark of 6-0 and won the long jump with a leap of 22-07. Woodson is currently the NCS leader in the long jump with a mark of 23-07.75 and has cleared 6-06 before in the high jump, which is tied for No. 2 in the section.

It’s entirely possible that he and Jasper will continue their battle in postseason meets in the coming weeks.

Also of note was the performance of Casa Grande sophomore Isaac Fellman in the pole vault. He won the event with a new PR of 14 feet. That’s tied for the area lead this year with Piner junior Keegan Clark, who placed second on Saturday with 13-06, and is tied for No. 6 in the NCS this season.

Windsor also put together a pair of strong runs to win the 4×400 and 4×800 races.

The 4×800 team of Omar Apolinar, Xavier Surgeon, Corbin Post and Kyle Orozco ran to a season-best time of 8:42.32, while the 4×400 team of Domenic Andreacchi, Ian Stanley, Ethan Ponce and Marco Soto Jr. closed out the meet with a time of 3:26.82.

Another standout performer was Cloverdale senior Damian Hamiter, who won the 300 hurdles with a time of 40.77. He set the school record in the event earlier this year with a time of 40.43, which is No. 5 in the NCS this season.

While almost half the events on the girls side were won by athletes and teams from outside the area, a few locals put together some excellent performances that deserve highlighting.

Maria Carrillo had a pair of winners to lead the local schools – Joslyn Tribbey in the 1,600 and Sloane Crocker in the 800.

Tribbey, a junior, had a wire-to-wire win in the 1,600 early in the day, finishing with a time of 5:01.61, a PR by 0.06 seconds.

Meanwhile, Crocker, a senior who is in her first year of track and field, continued her impressive debut season with a win in the 800 with a time of 2:14.12, just off her PR of 2:13.87.

Coming from a soccer background, Crocker was convinced by her sister Quinne to join the team this spring as a fourth runner for relay events and took to it immediately. Her PR at the Santa Twilight last week is just over a second off the school record of 2:12.51. She could have a good shot to break it in at the postseason meets that are fast approaching.

“I’m trying to work on my pacing every 200 because I tend to go out kind of fast,” said Crocker, who is finalizing her commitment to run track at Cal next year. “I’m happier with how I did the pacing today. Hopefully just keep improving on that.”

“I want to be able to qualify for state, hopefully,” she added. “I know NCS is really competitive, so trying to get something like a 2:11 time. Hopefully I can get that because that’d be really cool.”

Another standout was Cardinal Newman senior Kaylin Suacci, who brought home two wins in the throws as she begins her late-season push to return to the state meet. She won the discus by over 10 feet, claiming a win with her throw of 141-01, breaking a 23-year-old meet record, and won the shot put with a throw of 35-05.

While neither is a season best for Suacci, the reigning NCS champion in the discus, she’s still tops in the section in the discus and is third in the shot put heading into postseason meets.

Overall, it was a good day for local athletes in field events. Outside of Suacci, wins were also claimed by locals in the high jump, triple jump and pole vault.

Petaluma junior Lucille Walling won the pole vault, clearing 10-06. While also not her best this season, it was the top mark of the day by a foot. Walling currently is the NCS leader in the event, having cleared 11-08 earlier this week in a dual meet against Casa Grande.

Santa Rosa junior Ada Sloat won the high jump with a mark of 4-08 and Piner sophomore Brisa Cibrian Gomez won the triple jump with a mark of 34-03. Gomez also placed second in the long jump with a leap of 16-07, one inch shy of the winner.

Rounding out the day, Windsor’s 4×400 relay team of Aubrey VanMidde, Ava Zalamea, Darla Jensen and Annaleigh Malsbary had a dominant win in 4:15.99.

Teams in the North Bay League will close out their regular-season dual meets next week before the NBL Championships on May 5 and 7 at Santa Rosa Junior College. After that, it’s the North Coast Section Redwood Empire Meet back at SRJC at May 16, the final qualifier before the NCS Meet of Champions at Dublin from May 22-23.

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