Holly Barker is running after another CIF championship.
Barker, a junior at Trabuco Hills, was the CIF Southern Section Division 4 champion in the 3,200 meters last year when she was at Laguna Hills. Her time of 10 minutes, 20.90 seconds was the fastest time among all of the girls who ran the 3,200 in the finals that day.
She will run in the Division 1 3,200 on Saturday at the CIF-SS Track and Field Championships at Moorpark High School. Barker qualified for the finals with a time of 10:28.01 in last week’s CIF-SS prelims.
She can, and will, do much better Saturday as her 10:02.52 last month at the Arcadia Invitational verifies. That is the No. 2 time in California this season and the No. 6 time in the nation this season. And that is the second-best time in the 3,200 in Orange County history.
Barker’s time at the prelims was just about right where she wanted it to be.
“I wanted to qualify (for the CIF-SS finals) but not overdo it,” said Barker who was the Orange County girls cross country runner of the year this past fall. “I also ran the 1,600 just to put in the work but not to run it for time or place. In the 3,200 I was comfortably in control.”
Her chief competition Saturday in the 3,200 could be Santiago of Corona junior Rylee Blade. Blade was last year’s 3,200 champion at the CIF State Championships while Barker finished fifth.
Barker, as in every race, wants to win and run a high-quality time Saturday. One is more important than the other this week.
“I think place is more important than time Saturday,” she said. “I can focus more on time at state.”
As for Saturday’s CIF-SS finals, every event will be a good event. There could be upsets because sometimes athletes have the best day of their high school sports lives at this meet.
Here are some events that could be among the more interesting events of the day …
Division 3 girls 100: Orange County’s top two girls sprinters, senior Avery Groves of Santa Margarita and senior Ava Simos of Corona del Mar, will try to catch Oaks Christian senior Niya Clayton in this one.
Division 1 boys 100: Los Alamitos junior Devin Bragg’s time of 10.53 in last week’s CIF-SS prelims shows that he could be set for victory.
Division 1 boys 400: Portola senior Rider Cooper has the state’s third-fastest time in this event, a 47.50 at the Arcadia Invitational. Northwood senior Dheer Patel will be a factor.
Georgia Jeanneret of JSerra finishes fifth with a time of 2:11.33 in the women’s 800 meter run Invitational during the Arcadia Invitational in Arcadia on Saturday, April 6, 2024. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Division 3 girls 800: The competition for JSerra senior Georgia Jeanneret, the county leader with a 2:07.26 she ran in March, could come from teammates Annie Packard and Chloe Elbaz.
Division 2 girls 800: Newport Harbor junior Keaton Robar ran a fine time (2:10.49) in the prelims last week.
Division 3 girls 1,600: JSerra juniors Brynn Garcia and Packard might finish 1-2 in some order.
Division 3 boys 1,600: Dana Hills junior Evan Noonan has the best time in the state in this event, the 4:05.51 he ran at the Mt. SAC Relays last month.
Division 3 boys 3,200: Noonan could be a double winner. His 8:47.17 at Arcadia is second in the county for the 3,200. Beckman senior Ibzan Felix, the county leader at 8:47.06, is a favorite in the Division 1 3,200.
Division 2 boys 4×100 relay: Can one of the Orange County teams – Mater Dei, Tustin or Villa Park – beat Rancho Verde? Some standout O.C. football players are in this event, including Villa Park’s Carter Christie and Tustin’s MacKenzie Alleyne, seniors who were named All-Orange County first team as all-purpose players in the fall.
Mater Dei high jumper Brandon Gorski, at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Division 2 boys high jump: Mater Dei junior Brandon Gorski is the county leader with a mark of 6 feet, 8 inches. He cleared 6-9 last year. El Dorado junior Michael Danna went 6-6 in the Crestview League/North Hills League finals. Gorski also qualified for the Division 2 finals in the long jump.
Division 2 girls shot put: Edison senior Alexa Sheldon could be a double winner, as she is among the favorites for this event and the Division 2 discus.
Division 3 girls discus: Mission Viejo senior Samantha Chang, No. 5 in the state at 147-8, will be going up against state No. 2 Aja Johnson (152-10), who is a junior at Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks.
Division 3 boys discus: Brothers Tyler and Zach Lewis of Pacifica will compete against each other at the finals. Zach is a senior who has been Orange County’s premier thrower all season, with county bests of 181-7 in the discus and 61-4 in the shot put. Tyler qualified for the finals in the Division 3 discus with his 144-2 at prelims.
Saturday’s action starts at 10:30 a.m. with the boys pole vault and girls high jump. The first running event is the girls 4×100 relay at 1 p.m. The final running event is the boys 4×400 relay that is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are available at GoFan.co as they are for all CIF-SS championship events. Prices are $12 for adults and $5 for students with valid student identification and for children of ages 5-13. Parking is $10, and only cash is accepted. …
The top nine performances in most events, regardless of division, qualify for the CIF-SS Masters Meet at Moorpark High on May 18. The top 12 performances Saturday in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 qualify for the Masters Meet. For example, of the nine athletes who will advance to Masters in the girls 100, four of them could be from the Division 1 race, two could be from Division 2 and three could be from Division 4.
The top six finishers in each event at the Masters Meet qualify for the CIF State Championships that will be held at Buchanan High in Clovis on May 24 and 25.
NOTES
• The CIF-SS has completed coin flips that would be required to identify home teams for baseball and softball semifinals. When two teams meet after the first round of the playoffs the team with the fewer playoff home games at that point of the playoffs is the home team. If the two teams have played the same number of playoff home games a coin flip determines the home team. Results of those coin flips are at the CIFSS.org baseball and softball pages. …
• Admission to CIF-SS boys volleyball finals at Cerritos College on Saturday is $12 for adults, $5 for students with valid school identification and for children of ages 5-13. GoFan.co is the place for tickets. Parking is $5 and can be purchased at parking lot kiosks. …
• The boys volleyball season continues after CIF-SS finals with CIF Southern California Regional play that begins May 14 and concludes with the regional finals May 18. There are no CIF State finals in boys volleyball, but there will be next school year. …
• All CIF-SS boys volleyball finalists qualify for the CIF SoCal Regional. Although they did not reach the CIF-SS finals, Division 1 playoff participants Corona del Mar, Huntington Beach and Newport Harbor did well enough in pool play to qualify for the CIF SoCal Regional. The regional brackets will be released Sunday.
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