Boys track: Tam edges Redwood in neck-and-neck championship
Redwood High’s Antonio Bayon’s finish-line celebration after winning the 110 hurdles was muted as the Tam High runners mobbed teammate Shea Sorcher, who finished three-tenths of a second behind Bayon for second in the final event of the MCAL Track & Field Championship.
The Red-tailed Hawks and Giants entered the 110 hurdles deadlocked for the boys team championship. Sorcher backed up by a fourth-place finish from teammate Kiernan Connolly, helped clinch the championship for the Tam boys, who took a victory lap around San Rafael High’s Miller Field with the pennant in the rain after edging Redwood by two points.
Bayon won the 110 hurdles in 15.87 seconds, just a step slower than the personal record (15.62) he set in Thursday’s preliminaries. He had a big day on Thursday in the field events, setting new PRs in the pole vault (14’8”) and triple jump (43’3”) to win both events, and was second in the long jump (20’7”).
Sorcher set new PRs in the 110 hurdles (16.10) and 300 hurdles (40.56). He finished on top of the podium in the 300 hurdles, ahead of Archie Williams’ Nick Ferguson, who set a new personal best of 41.75. Ferguson was third in the 110 hurdles Saturday and in the triple jump on Thursday.
The cold wind was biting the athletes and spectators all day, adding to the nailbiting action, record-breaking runs and nose-to-nose finishes on the rain-soaked track.
In the sprints, Marin Catholic’s Jarred Geissberger won the 100 (11.47), just a toe’s length ahead of the San Marin duo of Matthew Goodin (11.47) and Leo Mattiuzzo (11.77) in a near-photo finish as close as anything seen at the Kentucky Derby.
Redwood senior William Ghalam (22.77) won the 200 as he was faster than the PR set by Tam junior Nate Wanger.
Wanger was at his best again in the 400 (50.24), this time edging Ghalam (50.30) for the win.
“It’s always fun to run with William Ghalam,” Wanger said. “He’s been kind of a motivator for me this year. He’s very fast in the 200 and 400 and this was my chance to get him. I wanted to come out fast and I just wanted to go for that PR.”
The 800 saw new PRs from all three top finishers, with Tam’s Caeden Gardner (1:57.55) leading wire to wire to take gold, followed by the Peregrine Falcons’ William Mulliken (1:58.46) and Tam’s Jack Turner (1:58.66).
Mulliken raised his index finger in victory as he kicked past Tam’s Max Dunmire and Redwood’s Ethan Werner to win the 1,600 (4:22.80). San Marin’s Justin Catanach placed fourth, ahead of Novato’s Nick McAuley’s PR of 4:30.05.
“I have no issue with the rain,” Mulliken said after he punched his ticket to next weekend’s North Coast Section Redwood Empire Meet in Santa Rosa. “I played soccer for years and played in the rain and mud. I’m used to it and, honestly, I enjoy it. I think I did better with the rain.”
Mulliken’s teammate Ian Sharp stepped on the gas on the last lap of the 3,200 to clip Werner and Tam’s Dylan Collister with a new PR of 9:36.15. Sharp idled in fifth place for much of the first half of the race, while Werner led the first five laps. Sharp made his strategic move in the sixth lap as he picked off the runners ahead of him until he was at the head of the pack. But he still had to go full tilt to the finish to hold off a hard-charging Werner (9:36.72).
Marin Catholic (43.84) won the 4×100 relay ahead of Redwood (43.91) as Greer Arthur IV edged Ghalam at the line to start a competitive day on the track. The day’s penultimate event, the 4×400 relay, was just as competitive, as Wanger pulled ahead of the Falcons’ William Finley coming into the home stretch on the anchor leg as the Hawks (3:28.11) finished a half-second ahead of the Falcons (3:28.61).
Several events were completed on Thursday in anticipation of the rain that pelted Marin County on Saturday. Redwood won the boys 4×800 relay with Jonah Momsen, Gabriel Cavanagh, Werner and Calvin Tudor. The Giants’ foursome finished in 8:28.00, 14 seconds ahead of second-place Archie Williams
The Giants’ Holden Turner won the shot put (47’6.75”) and finished second to San Marin’s Trenton Jepma (136’) in the discus. Marin Catholic’s Kyree Marshall edged San Marin’s Cody Urban in a showdown at the high jump after they both cleared 5’10”. San Marin sophomore Jack Golan’s PR of 21’2.5” was enough to win the long jump ahead of Bayon.