Cate’s Joshua Yaro breaks away down the stretch of the 200 meters. Yaro won two events.
A new crop of champions was crowned on Saturday at Carpinteria Valley Memorial Stadium as Dos Pueblos’ girls and boys teams swept the varsity titles at the Santa Barbara County Track & Field Championships.
Overall, San Marcos won the team sweepstakes with strong showings from the Royals’ frosh/soph teams.
Lompoc’s Nikko Hayes on the podium
Lompoc’s Nikko Hayes broke meet records in the 110 and 300-meter hurdles. The 300 win in a sub-39 time of 38.47 was a personal best for Hayes and a goal going into the meet.
“That was the hardest I’ve ever ran, Hayes said. “Because I’ve had races where I’ve ran good, and I’ve had races where I’ve hurdled good. Today I kind of just put them both together.”
Cate’s Joshua Yaro also claimed multiple events, winning the 200 and triple jump for the Rams. Yaro also placed second in the long jump to Righetti’s Eric Grant.
Grant added a victory in the 100-meter sprint, joining Hayes, Yaro, and Dos Pueblos’ Bryan Fernandez as the day’s double-event winners.
The distance races were key to DP’s team victory as the Chargers claimed three of the top four places in the 1600 and 3200.
The host Warriors picked up a win in the 400 by junior Bryson Frazer. It was the first individual county title for the Warriors since 2006. Frazer’s winning time was 50.36.
Emma Redick and Niema Poindexter were the top point-getters for the Chargers. Redick won the 200 and 400-meter races and was a member of DP’s winning 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams. Both the relay performances were in season-bests for the Chargers.
“We all worked really well together today,” Redick said. “We were vibing really well today so that was really fun.”
Running the anchor leg of the 4×400, Redick came from behind to beat Charlotte Garratt and San Marcos by less than a second.
The boys 4×400 relay was equally close, with Dos Pueblos edging San Marcos in another race decided by less than a second.
Poindexter edged San Marcos’ Jill Fisher to win the 100 in a time of 12.98. Poindexter won three events total, adding the triple jump and long jump. Poindexter’s distances were 17’1.5″ in the long and 36’1/2″ in the triple.
The Charger girls collected a bevy of titles as Addi Zerrenner became the back-to-back champion in both the 1600 and 3200.
Even without junior thrower Stamatia Scarvelis, who holds the frosh/soph County Meet records in the shotput and discus and was competing at the Mt. SAC Relays, the Chargers won 10 of 16 events.
San Marcos placed second in the girls varsity competition with 128 points and third in the boys.
Anavi Karandikar and Anastasia Kunz swept the hurdle events for the Royals girls, who had a top-three placer in every event except pole vault.
The standout of the frosh/soph competition was Cate School’s Joel Serugo, who claimed victories in the 100, 200, long jump and triple jump. San Marcos’ Courtney Clyde won the long jump, triple jump, and was second in the high jump.
