Girls track: Tam wins MCAL Meet; Redwood, Branson enjoy big day
Tam High’s Johanna Friedrichsdorf had the kind of day she’d been dreaming of, with a record-setting win the 400 meter at the MCAL Championship Meet, hosted by San Marin High. The day was all the sweeter for the Tam sophomore, however, as the Red-tailed Hawks clinched the pennant.
Friedrichsdorf ran a personal best to win the 400 (57.03) ahead of Branson senior Imogen Brown (58.88).
“Freshman Johanna would never have thought this would happen,” said the Hawks sophomore, who didn’t run the event last year. “I never dreamed I could run like that. But I’ve been running cross country because my coach said it might help with my endurance. Looks like it works.”
A very deep Tam squad edged regular-season champion Redwood, 131-128, to win the MCAL meet. Branson placed third with 75 points. Saturday’s top placers and qualifiers advance to next week’s North Coast Section Redwood Empire Meet in Fortuna.
Tam didn’t have to win every event, the Red-tailed Hawks just had to be good enough to stay in the points race to the end. In the last girls event of the day, the 4×400 relay, Tam senior Plum Lee took the baton from Friedrichsdorf and passed Archie Williams’ Taryn Creedon on the anchor leg. The Hawks placed third behind Branson and Redwood, but it was enough to push the Hawks past Redwood in the overall points.
Redwood’s Jaden Vangorder won the 300 hurdles with personal-best 47.96 seconds, and also ran with the Giants’ winning 4×100 relay team and the second-place 4×400 team.
“I felt we did good,” Vangorder said after the 4×100. “We were fast. Tam is full of great athletes, fast athletes. We all ran hard and Julia Bayon is so fast. She adds a lot to this 4×100 relay team.”
Bayon’s day was just warming up as the Redwood sophomore won the 100 (12.28), outpacing Terra Linda’s Milena Taschian and San Marin’s Sicily Grasso by less than a second. Bayon was looking like the new “Queen B” of the sprints in the 200 with a winning 25.66-second mark in a tightly clustered finish. Grasso, the Trojans’ Chloe Madrid and Tam’s Johanna Friedrichsdorf finished 2-3-4, all within a second of Bayon.
“I’m so exhausted after running four events,” Bayon said at the end of the day after collecting a lot of hardware. “In the 4×100, I felt confident in our team. All the handoffs were steady. In the 100, I got off slow, but pulled it out. I finally got going in the 200, that was so fantastic.”
Branson’s distance runners were at the top of the leaderboard. Bulls sophomore Farah Allen ran a personal-best 4:48.13 to win the 1,600 ahead of Archie Williams’ Ani Stieg, who ran a PR 4:52.98. Allen was at her best again with a PR in the 3,200 (10:59.20), just ahead of Stieg (11:01.40).
Allen let the jackrabbits battle for the lead through the first two laps in the 3,200 before making her move on the backstretch during the third lap. By the time the runners came around again, Allen was in front ahead of Stieg and both opened their strides as they headed around the final turn.
“It took a lot not to collapse,” said an exhausted but jubilant Allen. “I knew (Stieg) was behind me and I had to find that extra kick.”
Sophomore Hailey Sellers, who set a PR to finish third in the 1,600, won the 800 (2:19.23), a split-second ahead of Tam senior Emma Gardner. Marin Catholic’s Molly Stewart and Terra Linda’s Annie Carmona were just over a second behind in third and fourth place, respectively.
Branson’s foursome of Brooke Davis, Lauren Wood, Sellers and Brown won the 4×400 relay. Redwood’s Kate Kozubik, Marley Nacco, Sydney Middleton and Allison Corvi won the 4×800.
Falcons sophomore Nola Miller set a PR to win the 100 hurdles (17.08). Novato’s Emerson Erving and Tam’s Natalie Popper finished second and third, respectively, in both the 100 and 300 hurdles.
Novato senior Audrey Kobayashi electrified the field to win the discus with a throw of 105 feet, 10.5 inches. Tam’s Ayla Koch-Bergen took second (102’1.5”).
“It was nice to have the competition today. Ayla always pushes me,” Kobayashi said. “The wind was tough, but it was a good day. I think we’re both looking for PRs now.”
Koch-Bergen won the shot put (31’3”), ahead of Terra Linda senior Leah Mathewson (28’1.5”).
Redwood sophomore Annalise Horn won the long jump (18’1.5”) and the triple jump (36’8”), despite a tender left ankle that was heavily wrapped.
“I had to take off on my right foot, so that was different,” said Horn, who was 2 inches off a qualifying mark for state. “I sprained my ankle last month, but it’s getting better.”
Tam senior Kendra Evans cleared the bar at 9 feet, 3 inches to win the pole vault, 6 inches better than Falcons senior Arya Shakya. Marin Catholic freshman Yasmin Walcroft won the high jump at 5 feet, ahead of a logjam at 4’8” that included Koch-Bergen, Tam’s Maja Karolak, Branson’s Lily Gross, Archie Williams’ Dempsey Boone and Redwood’s Arlie Peterson.