CA Winter Championship Results

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/619322/results/all

Top NorCal returners in every Track and Field event

GIRLS
100 Naiaja Sizemore Vanden 12 11.33 (defending state champ)
200 Naiaja Sizemore Vanden 12 23.18 (defending state champ)
400 Lael Brown Christian Brothers 10 55.27
800 Josie Hill Sonoma Academy 11 2:09.12
1600 Giselle Fernandez Riverbank 12 4:43.80
3200 Ani Stieg Archie Williams 12 10:34.50
100m Hurdles Brooke White River City 12 13.59
300m Hurdles Soleil Warner Bay School 12 42.29 (reportedly transferred to St. Ignatius)
Long Jump Javelin Mills Hercules 11 19'8"
Triple Jump Kira Gant Hatcher St. Mary's College 12 40'10.5"
High Jump Lelani Laruelle Monta Vista 12 5'8"
Pole Vault Sophia Forst Pleasant Valley 12 12'6"
Shot Put Sidney Johnson Rio Americano 10 43'8"
Discus Gracelynne Duenas Lodi 12 149'7"

BOYS
100 Jaden Jefferson De La Salle 12 10.01 (defending state champ)
200 Prince Najeeb Babalola-Buchango 12 20.79 (defending state champ)
400 Keith Lee Monterey Trail 12 47.22
800 Lucas Alberts Jesuit 11 1:51.27
1600 Drake Hoferer Jesuit 12 4:10.82
3200 Isaac Abbott Jesuit 12 8:57.47
110m Hurdles Prince Najeeb Babalola-Buchango 12 13.59w
300m Hurdles Joshua Haven Bellarmine 12 37.87
Long Jump Kingsley Eneh San Lorenzo 12 23'11"
Triple Jump Trey Joyce Rocklin 12 47'2"
High Jump Naryan Banerjee Jesuit 11 6'9"
Pole Vault Dante Jenkins Pitman 11 14'11"
Pole Vault Ethan Radford Bellarmine 12 15'0"
Shot Put Devon Bertoli Cardinal Newman 12 60'9.5"
Discus Deonte Littlejohn Acalanes 12 176'5"

Results from today's meets

PAUSATF Indoor Championships, 3 Empire Records
Thanks to Jim Crowhurst, check out some of the top marks today at the Reno
https://redwoodempirerunning.com/pausatf-indoor-championships-3-empire-records/

Also...
De Anza College Winter Qualifier thanks to Hank Lawson
https://lynbrooksports.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/TRACK/2026/DeAnzaCollegeWinterQualifier.htm

Weekend Results

The Wildcat Mile results can be found at this LINK.

Los Gatos All-Comers Meet results can be found at this LINK.

New Balance Indoor Grand Prix results can be found at this LINK.

Wildcat Mile at Woodside HS on Saturday, Jan 24th

164 runners have signed up for this event. You can find the schedule at this LINK. The heats with all the competitors can be found at this LINK.

If you haven't heard already, Woodside HS is hosting the Wildcat Mile on Saturday, January 24th from 3pm to 6pm. The event is a fundraiser for the Woodside Athletic booster program. This is an open, all-comers meet that can motivate your runners to continue training during the winter and assess their readiness for the upcoming Track and Field season. 

Here is their registration page: https://www.movemint.cc/events/the-wildcat-mile-2026

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to meet director Nate Bowen at apolloteach@gmail.com.

Please help spread the word!

Lighting The Way From Behind: A Lesson For Coaches And Parents

Worth the share. This was written by Rod Murrow, who is a former coach in Kansas but still very much involved in the running scene in that state. It's about his dad supporting his running passion during high school.

https://ks.milesplit.com/articles/234394/lighting-the-way-from-behind-a-lesson-for-coaches-and-parents

Catching up with Vacaville senior, Khloe DeLaTorre

Today we chat with Vacaville senior distance runner, Khloe DeLaTorre. This past season, DeLaTorre was the Monticello Empire League (M.E.L.) individual champion. She finished in 3rd place at the SJS Division II race and 4th place at the state meet with a new PR of 17:30.6 on the Woodward Park course. Overall, DeLaTorre competed at the state meet all four years. In track and field, DeLaTorre has personal records of 2:12.01, 4:48.95 and 10:51.44. She qualified for the state meet in the 800 as a sophomore and in the 1600 as a junior. (Daily Republic photo)

1) How did you get your start in running? What was your running experience before high school? Highlights? What were your PRs before HS?

Running became a part of my life before I even knew what a PR was or what times were even good. Watching my dad talk about his high school running days made me curious, and that curiosity turn into a passion of mine when I was 11 years old. I was on a club team called the Solano Thunderhawks where I went to the 2019 cross country junior Olympics in Wisconsin and the 2022 Track and Field junior Olympics in Sacramento. In club I ran the 400m PR: 1:05, 800m PR: 2:27, the 1500m PR: 5:18, and the 1600m PR: 5:45. 

2) Who were the runners who helped lead the way for you during your freshman year? What did you learn from them?

Coming into high school my freshman year was already a big change, I had met with Coach Monk and some of my other coaches before the season started so that they could give me a view of what my high school career would look like. I was welcomed into an amazing group of girls and guys where we got closer at our Tahoe team camp. I have learned and grown a lot from the whole girls team, From the girls that have already graduated to the girls I still run with today. we all love to push and grow one another and that’s what I love most about them. 

3) What were some of your proudest accomplishments in both XC and TF as a freshman and sophomore year?

My proudest accomplishments in my freshman year was making it to state in cross country. For my sophomore year, it was making it to state in both track and cross country, and knowing how much I have grown throughout the years. 

4) Where do you feel like you made the biggest jump as a runner in high school, and what do you think led to that jump?

I think the biggest jump I made as a high school runner is my mentality; being able to acknowledge the difficult moments as much as I do the good ones has helped me learn and grow a lot as a runner. Learning how to stay calm under pressure, trust my fitness and training, and compete with confidence even when things start to feel uncomfortable I feel has allowed me to race to my full potential.

5) What do you feel were the best races of this past season? Did you have any goals before the season?

The best race of this past cross country season was state, after a rough season to end in a way that didn’t only show a breakthrough for me but also my teammates (Cooper Stream and Makayla Galvan) and seeing how much the girls team has grown (top 10 in D2) definitely was a huge highlight and a great way to end my high school cross country career. I didn’t have any time goals for the season; my biggest goal was to take all the stress away, focus on doing my best, listen to my coach, and have fun in my final cross country season. (photo courtesy of Vacaville HS)

6) What are you most looking forward to this coming TF season? Who are the runners that you are most excited to race?

Going into track season I’m really looking forward to see what event I’m going to focus on and how well I am going to progress. I am very excited and looking forward to race the girls from my section, they are all super competitive and did really good this past cross country season so I am excited to race them and see what they are going to do in track. 

7) What does a typical week look like for you? About how many miles per week? How many workouts? Longest run? Any morning runs? Strength work? Are there any other things you do that you feel really help you race well?

My training weeks vary throughout the season, I typically run about 45 to 50 miles throughout the season. I feel like the workouts that we do to simulate racing help me the most when it comes to race day. 

8) Tell us a bit about your coach and how he has helped you achieve what you have accomplished during your high school career.

When it comes to coaching I feel like our program is very blessed. We have many coaches that come out and help everyday. Coach Monk has shaped me into the best runner I can possibly be by not only giving me workouts but helping me become an all around athlete. I have a lot of trust in my coaching and I do my best to listen to everything he tells me to do. Also, Coach Monk is really big on team culture and I think that’s what helps us a lot as a team. (DeLaTorre, Vacaville runner on the front left. Photo courtesy of Matt Miller and Daily Republic.)

9) Favorite XC course? Favorite XC invitational? Favorite XC workout? Favorite long run? Favorite TF event? Favorite TF invitational? Favorite track workout? Favorite free time activity?

My favorite cross country course and invitational is definitely Woodbridge. The flat course is so fun to race at night and the atmosphere is amazing. I also love how my whole team gets to go to Disneyland the next morning! My favorite workout overall is hill repeats and speed work. My favorite track event is the 800m or the 1600m. They are both very competitive events and super fun to race once you get your racing strategy down. My favorite track invitational is Dublin Distance Fiesta. I feel like it’s one of the first times in the season where you can find everyone in the SJS section, and it’s super fun to compete against everyone. I don’t have a lot of free time, so when I do, I like to spend it with family, mainly my brothers. 

10) What is most important to you as you decide where you will be competing in college next year?

What’s most important for me as I decide what college I will be attending is looking for a team culture that’s as tight-knit as mine is now. 

11) What is your advice for a talented freshman runner who would like to eventually run in college?

My advice for talented freshman that want to compete in college is to take in every moment whether it’s bad or good because it is all valuable. As you grow you will have challenging moments but that’s what helps you grow not the easy times. And don’t let the college process stress you out or affect you, stay patient and always focus on what’s most important for you in that moment.

Thank you very much for your time. AJC

Catching up with Bellarmine HS senior Stephen Sziebert

Today, we catch up with Bellarmine senior, Stephen Sziebert. Over the past two years, Sziebert has helped Bellarmine secure a 2nd place team finish at the 2024 CA state cross country meet and a 6th place finish in the 4 x 800 relay at the 2025 CA state track and field meet. Individually, Sziebert qualified for the 2025 CA state track and field meet in the 1600m. with a new personal best of 4:12.65 at the CCS final. This past XC season, Sziebert was the CCS individual champion in Division I and finished in 4th place at the state meet with a new personal best of 14:58.0. Sziebert will be attending Columbia University next fall. The photo to the right is courtesy of Malcolm Slaney. 

1) How did you get your start in running? What other sports did you play?

I began running my freshman year during cross country as an opportunity to meet other Bellarmine students. My parents and I thought it would be a good way to become involved in the community since the team had such a large roster and practices started a few weeks before school. My only experience with running prior to joining the team was running around my local 0.8-mile loop in flip-flops. Shortly thereafter, when I joined the team, I met some good friends and fell in love with the sport.

Previously, I practiced martial arts for about 10 years from ages 5 to 15, overlapping slightly with my running career. As I grew, my core of Krav Maga branched out into Muay Thai kickboxing and Jiu-Jitsu to sharpen aspects of my training. I believe the emphasis on technique, discipline, and competition throughout my years of martial arts has significantly shaped how I approach both training and racing now.

2) How did you end up deciding to go to Bellarmine? What stood out to you when you visited the school? 

Academics are very important to me, so I hoped to find a school that would allow and inspire me to become as strong a student as possible. I’m very happy to say that I found this at Bellarmine. To make my decision, I shadowed on campus to get a sense of the community and classroom environment. Specifically, I focused on teacher passion and school culture during my visit. I saw students helping each other study, hanging out, and having fun in a way that I could envision myself being a part of, too. During the visit, I also shadowed in on some very interesting classes, one of which was European history taught by Coach McCrystle (which I am taking now). Overall, the Bellarmine brotherhood and communal drive to become better every day were inspiring and seemed to fit perfectly with what I was looking for.

3) Where do you feel like you made the biggest improvement during your freshman year? What do you feel contributed to that improvement?

The most significant improvement I made during my freshman year was in form. Throughout that track season, I solely ran the 800 and 400, except for an unofficial 1600m time trial at the end of the season. To be exact, I ran the open 800 ten times that season and tried to learn from each race. I eventually landed on improving my technique as the quickest way to PR week over week. Videos of other runners, mostly fast high schoolers and some professionals, helped me further isolate the best mechanics for my racing. So, in my final few races of the season, I PR’d by huge amounts by striding up on my toes and playing “hot potato” with the ground. In this way, repetition and analysis were the largest contributors to my breakout season.

4) During your freshman and sophomore years, who were the leaders on the team that helped you develop as a person and runner? What did you learn from them?

I’m very lucky to say that there were many great leaders who influenced me in my first few years. That being said, I will try to keep my answer brief as I can’t cover everyone. Erik and Anton Matlack (class of 2025) were sophomores during my freshman year who welcomed me into the community and taught me about the intricacies of the sport. They lent me pairs of spikes and explained the importance of proper gear as well as the science behind it. Shrey Chettiar (class of 2025) was a constant example of hard work, dedication, and the results of setting high expectations for oneself. Tyler Craven (class of 2024), a junior during my freshman year, was a model of positivity who always knew how to bring out the best in people and challenge them to be better. I am extremely grateful to everyone who went out of their way to make my experience as a student athlete at Bellarmine so wonderful. Everyone mentioned above and many others continue to inspire me to achieve the standards they set as team and community leaders.

5) You ran a school record 15:00.2 on the Woodward Park course at the Clovis Invitational. What was the race plan going into the race? Did you have a time you were shooting for?

The plan was to go out and compete as well as I could with an emphasis on maintaining contact with my group through the 2nd mile and closing the last mile quickly. More than anything, the race served as a test of my fitness and as an opportunity to gain confidence moving into later races. My goal going into the race was to run 15:10-15:15.

6) What does a typical training week look like for you? How many workouts? Typical mileage? Longest run? How many days a week are you doing strength work?

I run 6 days a week and take Sundays off. Each week my teammates and I do 2 weightroom sessions in the morning before school and typically have our workouts in the afternoons on those days. We tend to have 2-3 workouts per week. Mondays and Wednesdays (during XC) were almost always workout days while Fridays would occasionally be used for speed development, assuming we wouldn’t race on that Saturday. While my weekly mileage varies significantly throughout the season, I max out at 55. My longest run ever (by a good margin) was 14.75 miles during cross country, but most long runs fall between 11 and 13 miles.

7) Tell us about the Bellarmine coaches and how they have helped you develop into the runner you are today.

One of my coach’s favorite lines about his and the other coaches’ roles is that they “mold clay, not polish diamonds.” I feel that this line speaks to a few key facets of the Bellarmine program. The focus of the team is to help produce whole people, according to Jesuit values, who serve their communities as men for and with others. In this way, performance is secondary to personal growth. So, I believe the coaches have most significantly impacted my career as a runner by helping me develop as a person. I am much more intentional in my actions and conscious of their impact now than I was as a freshman. These lessons also inform how I train. This intentionality in combination with my coaches’ knowledge allows me to trust the process and, as a result, improve consistently.

8) Bellarmine has been one of the most successful boys' teams at every level (varsity, JV, F/S, freshmen) for decades. From your perspective, what are the key elements that have led to that success? 

In my experience, community and knowledge are the staples of the Bellarmine program which bring the team consistent success. With such a conversational and supportive culture, the team helps foster a love for the sport which motivates athletes to engage and work hard. Also, members of the team are deeply knowledgeable and willing to share about new shoes, recovery techniques or even their own personal experiences, allowing younger athletes the opportunity to learn beyond their years. In short, the brotherhood makes Bellarmine such a competitive force year over year.

9) Favorite cross country course? Woodward Park

Favorite cross country invitational? Clovis North Twilight Invitational

Favorite cross country workout? The Michigan workout is my favorite because it feels quite dynamic in comparison with traditional repeats or tempos. We do longer intervals at race pace on the track with short, explosive intervals up a hill in succession.

Favorite track event? 1600m

Favorite track invitational? Dublin Distance Fiesta

Favorite track workout? 400m repeats at target 1600 pace with 200m and 300m repeats at 800m pace

Favorite free time activity? I enjoy traveling whenever I get the chance. Otherwise, I enjoy riding my bike, hiking or playing video games as a fun way to entertain myself while recovering between runs.

10) You have committed to Columbia University. What other colleges were considered? What led you to choose Columbia as your future educational institution?

I considered schools with strong academic programs who also have cohesive, competitive teams. I am a student athlete (in that order), so I prioritized the educational opportunities provided at the schools I considered. Luckily for me, I found an amazing balance of world class academics and a great team at Columbia. When I visited campus, I could envision myself both attending the school and being a part of the team, which made the experience quite compelling.

11) What advice do you have for a talented freshman runner with aspirations of competing with the best runners in the state?

There are many experiences that a young runner will encounter throughout their career, so I recommend that they open themselves to change and relentlessly pursue new opportunities as they appear. Improvement does not come overnight; they should trust the process and be patient. There is always something to improve upon, it just needs to be found and, if my own experience is any indicator, form is a great place to start. Most of all though, having fun and enjoying the process are key to getting the most out of running.

12) Last year's senior boys were one of the most successful classes of distance boys we have ever had in CCS. Can you tell us a bit about some of those boys and what you learned from them?

I really enjoyed shadowing on their processes and asking them questions. Miles Cook, as another WCAL runner, was very accessible, and we had some great conversations, especially later in my junior year. Ben Bouie was also a great role model and mentor throughout the season. From the Dublin Distance Fiesta onward, we would warm up and cool down together whenever possible and I really appreciate that he let me tag along. Once CCS came along, lots of the local 1600m guys ran together for cool downs, providing insight into their thoughts and strategies for the day’s race and the larger season. The competitive environment those guys established demanded serious improvement too. I would venture to guess that very few sectional meets in the country had 4:12 in 6th place (and that race was a massive PR), but that’s exactly why the experience was so special. The opportunity to run with the best 1600m class to ever come from the CCS is one of the main reasons why I have been able to improve so much throughout my career. More than anything though, those graduates should be remembered for how encouraging and kind they are. Their actions made the CCS better and uplifted track as a sport.

13) Anything else you would like to add?

Thank you for this opportunity.

Thank you very much for your time, Stephen. AJC

Athletic.net Track and Field SuperClinic Jessup University – Rocklin

This clinic will take place on Saturday, January 24th at Jessup University in Rocklin. You can register at the following link:
https://events.hometownticketing.com/boxoffice/jessup/L2VtYmVkL2V2ZW50LzQzNw==
You can find the clinic info at this link, as well as notes from previous clinics dating back to 2015:
https://www.pausatf.org/coaches/track-field-superclinic/

Project Gold Running Camp

This year, Project Gold Running Camp is launching a new program called Project Golden (ticket), an NIL style partnership designed to support the next generation of endurance athletes. Your team is invited to join the PG 2026 opportunity while slots are still open.

Here are the benefits of signing up before slots are filled:

-$150 off each registration when 15+ runners sign up,

-$100 off each registration when 10-14 runners sign up.

-$50 off each registration when 5-9 runners sign up.

Further benefits include:

-year-round mentorship from high-level collegiate counselors-runners.

-exclusive discounts from selected brand partners, and

-up to 25% off on nutrition products & lab analysis to identify individual needs.

-a welcome package with exclusive gifts throughout the year, and

-a connection to a supportive (high-performance) running community.

*Be sure to book your team for Project Gold 2026 for July 11-17th before the slots are filled.

PG 2026 is held in a runner's haven (Flagstaff, Arizona, @ the Northern Arizona University campus).

Campers will stay in the NAU dorms overlooking the very same track where many Olympians train.

*Note, most years will see Olympians training on the NAU track, and wood chip trails or roads, where the campers will train.

For questions, contact the PG 2026 Camp Director

Megan Ping @ 507-313-4414 (cell).

https://www.projectgoldrunning.com/

Tom "Tinman" Schwartz will be the head coach and will be teaching and training athletes. Any coaches that want to come along with their team, will learn from him as well.