El Molino junior Kassidy Sani and Analy senior Sierra Atkins were right at home on May 24 and 25, competing with the best high athletes in California at the prestigious CIF State Track & Field Championships at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
The two-day event featured preliminary events held on Friday and finals contested on Saturday.
Sani, who showed a remarkable improvement in both the shot put and discus in a tremendous 2019 campaign, earned her spot at state by virtue of a second place finish in the discus at the North Coast Section Meet of Champions a week earlier. At state, she placed 17th overall with a best toss of 127 feet, 1 inch.
Atkins, who took third in the MOC 1,600 meter finals to punch her state ticket, employed her signature fast start in Friday’s 1,600-meter prelims to lead the first two laps in a sizzling 2:21 before settling for fourth in 4:53.55. The effort earned her a spot in Saturday’s final, where she finished ninth overall in 4:58.28.
“Sierra started this year with the twin goals of going to the state meet and improving her previous school record time (4:58.6) in the 1,600, as well as trying for the school record in the 800,” Analy coach Mark Grismer said. “She continued to improve through the season with our original tapering target of the NBL finals, where she set the new school record of 4:51.84 in the 1,600. She’ll go on to UC Davis and run both cross country and track, and we’ll miss her at Analy.”
