RIVERBANK — The Ripon boys and girls track and field teams won the Sac-Joaquin Division V championships, while the Lathrop boys won the Division IV blue banner Friday at Riverbank High School.
Lathrop’s girls finished as runners-up.
“This is awesome,” Indians coach Jorge Velasco said. “We did this is a few years ago, and this shows our hard work coming together. Marcus (Madoski) really showed up today, and Starla (Skiles) is someone we are going to miss.
“She is one in a million that you hope you get to coach once in a lifetime. She is a leader, a hard worker and she does anything and everything for the team. She is a very unselfish girl.”
Skiles won the 100-meter hurdles (14.18), 300 hurdles (44.84), and was second in 100 (12.33). The first-place 4x400 relay team of Clara Schooland, Kaiya Kroutil, Olivia Ellis and Skiles broke the four-minute mark in 3:59.59.
“It feels so good to break four minutes,” Skiles said. “I love this team so much.
“We have been working so hard all season, and to have that kind of a breakthrough my senior year is just so special.”
On Wednesday, Madoski was third in the triple jump and first in the high jump. He picked up two more golds on Friday, winning the 400 (49.74) and the 4x400 relay with Dru Orlando, Eric Guevara, Logan Lefebvre (3:28.30).
“I feel great,” Madoski said. “Next week, the competition will be huge.
“I am going to meet up with Quentin Mitchell from Antelope, the best high jumper in the state, and I’m gonna try and catch him.”
This was the second Division IV championship in a row for the Spartans boys.
“I feel really good about it,” Lathrop coach Krystle Davis said. “Especially since we didn’t have a home to practice at this year, so we have been practicing at East Union and Manteca.
“It has been hard to put things together, so for them to come out and repeat for the boys and nearly get a three-peat for the girls was awesome.”
Lathrop’s Gavin Miller shattered the field in the boys pole vault with his effort of 14 feet, 6 inches beating second place by more than two feet.
“I feel pretty awesome,” Miller said. “My warm-ups were not that good, but I kicked it in high gear when the bars came up, and I was able to get a good bar on a small pole.
“I am excited to be going to Masters.”
“I’m a little tired,” Gier said. “I think I could have won it today and hope to get him next time.”
Lathrop’s Ava Green qualified for Masters with a second-place finish (50.76) in the girls 4x100 relay with Faith Allen, Ava Green, Melia Lewis and Erin Chunn (50.76) and picked up fourth-place medals in the 100 hurdles (16.62) and long jump (16-7 ½).
“I’m proud that I got to medal today,” Green said. “But I wish I could have done better.”
The winners of the Division IV and V events qualified for the two-day Masters championships at Folsom High school beginning Friday with the next four best marks combined also qualifying.
Ripon boys qualifiers include the first-place 4x100 relay of Nathan Curless, Dru Orlando, Nathan Gaines and Michael Evans (42.80). Finishing second were Orlando (100, 11.07) and Lefebvre (long jump, 21-6 ½), Gaines was third in the 200 (22.97) and Eric Guevara fourth in the pole vault (12-11).
The Lathrop boys 4x400 relay team of Jarren Holloway, Adrian Vaye, Malachi Gonzales and Nathaniel Kusske finished first (3:27.29) and the 4x100 relay team of Sadeon Lungay, Holloway, Amaari Harris and Ramon Rivas finished third (43.85).
For the Ripon girls, Kauya Kroutil (400, 58.30) and Schooland (high jump, 5-2) were second and the 4x100 relay of Rylee Agbayani-Duenas, Olivia Ellis, Emily Paxton, Olivia Maragos was fourth (50.17).
