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Local athletes vie for state titles today
Several local athletes have not only qualified for the 5A Division II state meet but have a realistic shot at bringing home medals.
Of the 10 events that have finals today - the first day of the meet - locals are ranked in the top two in three of them.
The 5A meet begins today at Desert Vista High in Phoenix with field events starting at 4:30 p.m. and track events beginning at 5:15 p.m.
Yuma High's Steven Rojano has the second-best jump in the high jump at 6 feet, 3 inches. Rojano hit that mark in his last meet of the season at the Gila Valley Region meet.
"I saw during basketball that he was a good, fluid athlete and he had jumping potential, but I figured he was a two-year project," Yuma coach Curt Weber said of Rojano, who is a junior in his first year of track. "And then all of a sudden it came together for him at the region meet. He has that right combination of height and athletic ability."
The San Luis 3200 relay team of Christian Vega, Aram Molina, Luis Perez and Francisco Castorena qualified with the fastest time in 5A-II at 8:24.80 - two seconds faster than the next best qualifier.
"If they end up winning, that'll be San Luis' first state championship in anything," San Luis coach Brandon Barker said. "We're hoping for it."
Cibola's Viviana Vizcarra will try to shave a few seconds off her qualifying time in the 800 to have a shot at a medal today, while Hannah Heredia and Nicolette Monroe begin preliminaries for the 100-meter dash and the 200. Heredia has the third fastest time in the state in the 100 at 12.73, while Monroe has the fifth best at 12.83.
"What you're seeing is the benefits of having a quality training partner. They're pushing each other each day," Cibola assistant coach Kris Norton said of Heredia and Monroe. "That ended up translating into some quality workouts, which of course carries over into the meets, and the result being some quality times that have now put both of them in the top tier of the state."
Kofa junior Amanda Nieves is the top seed in the girls shot put finals today. Her state-best qualifying throw was 35 feet, 7.25 inches. Meanwhile, the kings' Roman Hudson will attempt to duplicate or improve upon his silver medal in the boys' discus at last year's state meet.
Gila Ridge is taking two athletes to state in its first year. Tyler Cerka won the region championship in the 100 and qualified with the eighth best time in 5A-II. He'll run his final today.
