Lathrop senior Akilah Lesley brought home the area’s only gold medal from Saturday’s Meet of Champions hosted by American River College in Sacramento, which featured some of the best track and field talent from all over Northern California.

Lesley took first in the girls’ triple jump by clearing mark just over 37 feet at Beaver Stadium.

East Union freshman Loretta Kakala recorded a second-place finish in the girls’ shot put with a 37-foot, 4.5-inch toss, which was just short of St. Francis’ Samantha Ruggles (39-4.75).

Sierra’s boys squad attracted some much-deserved attention by clocking five solid finishes, including two from senior Nick Valdes.

Valdes took fourth in the 110-meter hurdles with a 15.51 and also took fourth in the 300 hurdles with a 40.13. Teammate Onix Paredes finished fourth in the pole vault with a 14-foot, 7-inch throw.

Johnnythan Munkholm took third in the boys triple jump with a 42-7.25 leap and senior distance specialist Josh Spooner placed fourth in the boys’ 3,200-meter with a 9:47.24 – which was just off the winning mark by six seconds.

Sierra’s Hailey Silva finished 8th in girls 3,200 with an 11:31.66.

East Union’s Jordan McNeal finished ninth in the 100-meter dash with a 12.89, respectively.