Jasmin Correa’s best race was not quite good enough.
Perhaps the best has yet to come for the former Sierra High standout sprinter as she continues her track career at the NCAA Division I level.
Correa narrowly missed a qualifying spot for the CIF State Track & Field Championships, but there’s no denying the impact she made for her Valley Oak League championship team. She’s the Manteca Bulletin All-Area Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
Bound for Sacramento State, Correa left Sierra as its all-time record holder in the 200- and 400-meter dashes and is also part of the program’s fastest 4x100 and 4x400 relays. She’s a three-time VOL champion in the 400 and two-time champ in the 200.
Missing from her resumé, though, is that elusive state berth. It was almost hers, too.
In the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Finals at Elk Grove High, she was in the lead coming out of the second turn in the 400 before Vista del Lago’s Ceonna Pipion (55.96 seconds) and Emily Costello (56.04) raced to a 1-2 finish. Paige Sefried (56.21) of Lodi edged ahead to steal the third and final spot, as Correa came in fourth in a personal-best 56.41 seconds.
“I was pretty upset I didn’t qualify but I’m looking at the brighter side,” Correa said. “Overall, I’m happy with the results.”
Despite her disappointing end, Correa goes out as one of Sierra’s best female athletes. Also part of the basketball and league champion cross country teams, she earned the school’s 2018 Senior All-Around Athlete Award.
Correa dominated in her final appearance in the VOL Championships, winning all four of her events while setting the program’s 200 record in 25.32. The 4x100 relay record (49.14) was set in the Sacramento Meet of Champions, and the mile relay (4:01.40) in the SJS Masters Finals.
The Timberwolves already had their team title wrapped up by then. The biggest win came early, as Sierra edged out Oakdale 70.5-60.5 by winning the final event of the meet. And it was fittingly Correa who ran the anchor leg on the clinching 4x400.
“We didn’t know the score, but I knew it was close,” Correa said. “The coaches usually don’t tell us the score, they just say, ‘Go out there, run hard and do your thing.’ Everybody ran their race and we came out with the win.”
The two teams shared the crown in 2017, but for the last decade Oakdale had ruled the VOL on the girls side. The Lady T’wolves rolled to their first outright championship since 2004.
“It was awesome to do that my senior year,” Correa said. “We had been working very hard for it since freshman year. Everyone had the ambition to get that title, and everything fell where it was supposed to.”
Among the key pieces was junior Miranda Miller, a newcomer to the sport and former gymnast. With Correa racking up points on the track, Miller did her part in field events as one of the surprise performers for the season.
Miller went on to take third at Masters with a program-record mark of 37 feet, 4 inches in the triple jump and was the lone competitor from the Manteca area to compete in the 100th running of the CIF State Championships.
“She definitely brought some talent to the field side,” Correa said. “We knew she’d be good, just not how good. She broke the record in her first year of doing track, which is amazing. She definitely contributed points as well to get us that VOL title.”
Correa continued her surge in the postseason, advancing to the Masters out of the SJS Division II-III Finals in all four events. She placed fourth overall in the 200 and 400.
She scratched in the 200 and Sierra did not field its 4x100 relay, allowing her to focus on the 400 races. Correa won her heat in the 400 preliminaries and did not attend her graduation ceremony the following day to compete in the final.
“I was prepared for it and knew I was going to miss graduation,” she said. “I really wanted to PR in both the 400 and 4x400 and make it to state. I did get to PR, but I wanted to get to 55 (seconds in the 400) and came up a little short.
“It may not have been the way I wanted it to end but I at least get to continue running track,” Correa added. “I’ll keep improving my times, I just have to be patient. I’m just really excited to see how my freshman year turns out for track.”

ALL-AREA TEAM
Girls track & field
Miranda Miller, jumps, Sierra, Jr.
Jadyn Snaer, sprints, East Union, Jr.
Megan Oblin, distance, Sierra, Jr.
Julia Vezaldenos, hurdles/jumps/sprints, East Union, Jr.
Savannah Clark, throws, Ripon, Sr.