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By HOWARD SENZELL
FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Eight more Redwood Empire athletes, including two freshmen girls and senior long distance specialists 
Jacque Taylor and Reesey Byers, qualified for the state meet by finishing among the top four in Saturday’s 
final day of the Meet of Champions in Berkeley.

On Friday, four area competitors qualified in field events for the CIF meet which will be held Friday and 
Saturday in Clovis.

While Casa Grande’s Taylor and Santa Rosa High’s Byers were expected to move on, freshmen Kathleen Durand 
(Maria Carrillo) and Courtney Tuck (Petaluma) came up with top efforts in the biggest meet of their young careers.

Durand finished third in the discus with a throw of 118 feet, 2 inches while Tuck took bronze in the high jump 
with a leap of 5-3.

Taylor, the 2009 MOC winner in the 1600 meters, finished fourth this year. Byers qualfied by finishing second 
to Novato’s Erik Olson in the 3200.

In that same race, Piner sophomore Luis Luna grabbed third with a personal best 9:16.19. Olson won the race in 
9:05.07 with Byers more than eight seconds back.

Others from Empire schools qualifying on Saturday were: Petaluma’s Hugh Dowdy (second in the 1600), Healdsburg’s 
Thomas Kozel (fourth in the 200) and Santa Rosa’s Kyle Hauser (fourth in the 300 hurdles).

Hauser’s time of 38.80 was a school record, bettering the mark of 39.14 set by John Gash in 1984.

In the first day of competition, Ursuline’s Michelle Stone picked up the only blue ribbon by an Empire athlete. 
The senior had a career best 12-3 in the pole vault. Analy’s Kellan O’Donnell finished third in the high jump 
while Ukiah’s Brett Bowers advanced in the discus and Willits’ Ceara Snyder was fourth in the shot put.

Taylor, who along with Stone is the thought to have the best chance to win gold at the state meet, knows she’ll 
have to be smarter than she was on Saturday.

“I didn’t use my head,” Taylor said. “I went to the lead from the start and I do my best when I run in the pack 
early and then kick in the final lap. I took the lead when no one wanted it and then kicked too soon. I got tired 
and three girls went past me in the final 100 meters.”

Taylor finished in 4:57.82, which was seven seconds slower than her winning MOC time last year.

Byers, who earlier in the season became the first Empire runner to shade nine minutes in the 3200, finished in 
9:13.90 Saturday. With Byers graduating, it appears Piner’s Luna will become the North Bay League’s premier 
distance runner.

Only 5-foot-6 and weighing 100 pounds, Luna shown vast improvement this year. He beat his personal best by two seconds.

“He ran the first half of the race in 4:37 and the second half just a little bit slower,” his coach Luis Rosales 
said. “He ran smart because up until now, he’d drop way back early and then close. He was among the top three all 
the way in Berkeley.”

Jim Lynch of Petaluma liked what he saw from Dowdy, runner-up in the 1,600. “He ran the last lap in 57 seconds and 
that’s what we were looking for going into the state meet,” Lynch said. “He didn’t have to go all out to qualify and 
his best race is still in front of him.”

Lynch also praised freshman Tuck for her performance in the high jump.

“She came into the meet ranked fifth,” Lynch said, “so moving on to state is quite an accomplishment.”

Kozel, the area’s fastest high school sprinter, made a move through the field on the curve and was able to get 
fourth in a blanket finish.

“Handling the curve so well got him fourth,” coach Jenean Bingham said. “It was just sheer determination that got 
him through the final 50 meters.”

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