Low-tech edition (About)
Home > Sports > Running Blog
Running Home | Weather Forecast | What is Redwood Empire
Track All-Time | Cross Country All-Time
Schedule | Archives | Links
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Ursuline senior pole vaulter Michelle Stone broke her own Empire record and defended her section title Friday on the first day of the North Coast Section’s Meet of Champions at Cal’s Edwards Stadium. Stone cleared 12 feet, 3 inches, breaking her old standard by two inches. Stone, who finished seventh in the state last year, qualified for the CIF Track and Field Championships next week in Clovis. The top four in each event qualify for state. The finals in six events were held Friday. The remaining finals will be held today. In addition to Stone, three other Empire athletes qualified for state. Analy senior Kellan O’Donnell, whose unique style in the high jump has been a source of some controversy this season, finished third in the event with a leap of 6-5. Willits senior Ceara Snyder finished fourth in the shot put, and Ukiah senior Brett Bowers placed fourth in the discus. O’Donnell, who performs a front flip over the bar instead of employing the traditional Fosbury Flop, nearly matched his personal-best leap of 6-6. It was just the second time in his career that he’d cleared 6-5. O’Donnell briefly had his jump declared illegal this season by CIF rules interpreter Hal Harkness. But Harkness reconsidered his position and deemed the jump legal because O’Donnell leaps off one foot, as specified by the rules. Whether the jump is legal is subject to the interpretation of the official at each meet. “The official (Friday) told me that in order for me to help him out he wanted me to make it absolutely clear that I was taking my left foot off the ground at the last second,” O’Donnell said. “In the long run, focusing on that really helped me. I jumped really well today.” Snyder advanced to state with a toss of 38-3˝, 7˝ inches shy of her personal-best mark. Bowers advanced with a throw of 157-6, about three feet short of his personal-best.
|
Email story | Print story | Subscribe to paper
|