2009 MANTECA BULLETIN ALL-AREA TRACK TEAM
• Cristina Westover, Sierra: In the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III Finals, Westover broke her personal record in the shot put with a toss of 36-feet, 6-inches. The throw was good for third overall and a trip to the section masters meet.
• Jen Fields, East Union: Fields qualified for her third straight SJS Masters appearance with a second-place finish in the discus at the D-III finals. Her toss, which measured out at 120-3, shattered her personal record.
• Bryce Heckman, Ripon: Heckman finished second in the shot put and third in the discus at the Trans Valley League Championships, qualifying for divisionals in both
• Taylor-Renae Wilson, Sierra: Fresh off the 400-meter dash at the D-III section finals, Wilson bested her personal record in the long jump by over a foot. The leap of 17-2 was good for second overall and a trip to the Masters.
• Ulysses Knapps, Sierra: After being seeded 13th in the long jump at the D-III finals, the sophomore destroyed his personal best mark, turning in a third-place jump of 21-5.
• Julianna Flores, Manteca: Flores finished sixth in the 100 at the D-III Championships with a time of 13.08 seconds, good enough for a trip to the Masters.
• Shanedra Pitts, Sierra: Pitts was a part of Sierra’s masters-qualifying 4x100 relay team and finished third in the D-III 100 (12.80) to qualify in that event as well.
• Eddie Martin, Ripon: Martin finished eighth in both the 100 and 200 at the SJS D-III trials to qualify for the second day of action.
• John Bowers, Sierra: Bowers took second in the 1,600 (4:35.90) and seventh in the 3,200 at the D-III finals, good enough for a trip to the Masters.
• Roberto Alvarez, Weston Ranch: Alvarez finished the 3,200 in 9:55.25 at the D-III finals, and seventh in the 1,600 to qualify for the Masters in both events.
• Jessica Montiel, Sierra: The freshman had a number of highlights, including wins in the 1,600 and 3,200 in a tri-meet against Ceres, as well as qualification to the D-III finals.
Heading into the year, Whitlock made it her goal to break her own Sierra High record in the 300-meter hurdles and qualify for the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Championships in an individual event.
Done and done (and then some).
For Mayfield, the goals were less defined, but in the end, the results were remarkable, as the junior finished sixth in the state of California in the 110-meter hurdles.
Sierra head coach Anthony Chapman called Whitlock the “workhorse” of the Timberwolves highly-touted girls squad, because the UCLA-bound senior not only competed in the 300 and 110 hurdles, but also the 4x100 and 4x400 relay events.
“The hard thing was I had four events, more than anyone on the team,” Whitlock said. “You can’t let it get it to you though, because if you tell yourself you’re tired, you’re going to run that way.”
Although the stress of participating in so many events was difficult to deal with mentally, it also came with a sense of pride.
“Being a captain, I felt like a leader,” she said. “It makes you got out to practice every day wanting to do your best.”
On May 2 at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, Whitlock made history for the second time in her career when she bested her own Sierra record in the 300 hurdles, turning in a 47.66-second finish, nearly half a second better than her previous mark.
Whitlock also finished first in every hurdle event she ran during the Valley Oak League season, save for one, a split-second runner-up finish to Oakdale’s Taya Sebring in the 110.
At divisionals, Whitlock finished fourth overall in the 300 and fifth in the 110 – beating Sebring in both events – to qualify for the Masters in each. Whitlock’s 4x100 relay squad also qualified for the Masters, finishing third with a 51.16-second finish.
“I just want to thank my coaches. They’re amazing,” she said. “The last four years with them has been a life-changing experience. If anyone out there wants to play a sport, go run track, because it’s great.”
“Great” is a word that Mayfield is becoming more and more accustomed to hearing about himself.
After Weston Ranch head coach Rick Cuevas brought in coach Alvin Pickettay to school Mayfield in the 300 and 110 this season, both went straight to work in taking the junior hurdler to unprecedented heights.
Mayfield, who will compete at the University of Oregon this weekend as part of the U.S. Junior Nationals, became only the third Manteca Unified School District track athlete ever to medal at the California Interscholastic Federation State Championships, June 6 in Clovis.
Mayfield, who broke his personal record at state trials a day earlier with a 14.15-second finish, took sixth overall at finals, finishing in 14.32 seconds.
“That was crazy, that was crazy,” Mayfield said with a smile. “There were a lot of fast people there. I got off (the blocks) fairly well, but I was making up ground during the race. Over the last hurdle, instead of focusing on the race, I looked to the side and I lost a couple of spots.”
Mayfield ran most of the race in third position and came within two hundredths of a second from finishing fourth overall.
“We knew Angell was good,” Cuevas said. “But we didn’t know how good he was going to be. But after taking him to Skyline, and seeing him run a great race there, I knew he was going to do well this season.”
Mayfield suffered a hamstring injury towards the end of the season, forcing him to concentrate solely on the 110. But once the injury started to heal, the times started to drop in a hurry.
“He was shocking all of us,” Cuevas said. “If we expected a 14.8, he would run a 14.5. If we expected a 14.4, he would run a 14.2. Then he ran a 14.15 at state.
“It was just amazing.”
Mayfield says his goal next season is to break 14 seconds in the 110 and work his way into the low 36s in the 300, as well as pick up where he left off at the state meet.
“With the talent he’s got, the sky’s the limit,” Cuevas said.
