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Panthers win boys’ title at NCS meet; girls just miss

By Jared Green Daily Planet Staff
Monday May 21, 2001

On a brutally hot day in Stockton, several members of the St. Mary’s track & field team didn’t have a chance to take a break at the Bayshore Regional championships. With qualifying spots for the Northern California Meet of Champions next week on the line, the Panthers’ top performers had to be at their bests. 

Eleven different Panthers qualified for multiple spots at the Meet of Champions by placing in the top seven spots in at least two events, and the boys won the team title with 135 1/2 points. The girls just missed the team title, scoring 109 points to James Logan’s 124 1/2. Berkeley High came in fourth with 38 1/2 points. 

Saturday at Diablo Valley College was another banner day for Halihl Guy, as the senior won both hurdles races and helped the Panthers’ 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams to victories. The trio of Asokah Muhammed, Solomon Welch and Trestin George qualified in both the long jump and triple jump, with Muhammed also finishing second in the 100-meter dash and Welch coming in just behind Guy in the 110-meter high hurdles.  

Courtney Brown won the 200-meter dash, finished third in the 400-meter and ran legs in both relays. Throw in qualifying spots in both hurdles races for Jason Bolden-Anderson and both throwing events for Phil Weatheroy, and the Panthers are headed to the Meet of Champions with a good shot at the boys’ team title. 

On the girls’ side, the Panthers were carried by Tiffany Johnson and Bridget Duffy. Johnson, who won her spots in a run-off on Tuesday because she missed the BSAL league meet with an injury, won the 100-meter dash by nipping favorite Cheri Craddock of James Logan by .01 seconds. She followed that with a school-record 38-11 in the triple jump, but scratched in the long jump when she had trouble hitting her marks in warm-ups. 

Duffy had possibly the most impressive double, winning both the 1,600 and the 3,200 despite the stifling heat, running the final lap of each race unchallenged. Also qualifying in both long-distance events was Berkeley’s Grace Nielsen. 

Danielle Stokes qualified in three events, winning the 300-meter low hurdles and taking third in both the 100-meter hurdles and the long jump. Kamaiya Warren, who was favored to win both throwing events, finished a disappointing second in the shot put, and wasn’t in the discus after scratching on all three attempts in the league meet. 

Berkeley’s Katrina Keith qualified in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes, and both of the ’Jackets’ relay teams qualified as well. 

The Northern California Meet of Champions will take place at Cal’s Edwards Stadium on Friday and Saturday.