Pickering, Vaulters Lead RB Boys Team to Track Title

Star power and depth carried Rancho Bernardo and El Camino high schools to the pinnacle of prep track and field Saturday at the CIF San Diego Section Championships.

Rancho Bernardo won the boys Division I title for the fourth time, ending a two-year run by Torrey Pines. Senior sprinter Jared Pickering won both the 100- and 200-meter dashes, and junior pole vaulter Ryan Zachilli led a Broncos charge that saw three RB vaulters place among the top five finishers.

With a final total of 76 points, Rancho Bernardo had enough for a 12-point margin over boys runner-up Scripps Ranch, which finished with 64 points.

El Camino won its second straight girls section title and fifth overall, totaling 95 points to easily outdistance runner-up Torrey Pines (66 points). Junior sprinter Jasmine Gibbs won both the 100- and 200-meter dashes, placed second in the long jump to teammate Mishe Scott, and ran the anchor led for the Wildcats’ winning 4x100 relay team.

Another individual double winner on the girls’ side was Torrey Pines distance specialist Alli Billmeyer. A senior, Billmeyer won the 1,600 meters in 4:47.86 and the 3,200 meters in 10:30.89. The 3,200 was an especially riveting race, with defending state champion Molly Grabill of Rancho Bernardo finishing second in 10:37.53, followed closely by Aimee Trujillo of Poway (10:37.83) and Shanoah Souza of La Costa Canyon (10:41.61).

“It’s a great opportunity to have such good competition close to home,” said Grabill. “We really push each other.”

The boys 3,200 was also a thriller, with three lead changes on the final lap. La Costa Canyon junior Darren Fahy made the last pass with 200 meters to edge Torrey Pines senior Matt Carpowich.

“I haven’t been running that fast lately, but today I felt good,” said Fahy, whose time of 9:12.46 was enough to hold off Carpowich’s 9:14.50 on the Mt. Carmel High track.

Zachilli cleared 14-8 to win the boys pole vault for Rancho Bernardo, and teammates Zack Logan and Pierre Pelletier each cleared 14-2 to place third and fifth, respectively, based on fewer misses.

“We were kind of lucky because there is usually a headwind at Mt. Carmel in the morning, but today we had a little tailwind,” said Zachilli, who also cleared 14-8 last week at the CIF prelims.

Helix Charter High School will send its boys 4x100 relay team to state after barely edging El Camino High 42.22 to 42.23 seconds. Mount Miguel and Poway were third and fourth, respectively, in 42.63 and 42.74.

Carlsbad High had a strong showing in the girls weight events, where Breana Jemison won the shot put and placed third in the discus. Her winning shot put mark was 43-2¼, which was just short of her personal best of 45-4½ that she set last week at the section prelims.

“I’ve just been going over my technique over and over and over,” said Jemison, a junior who has been putting the shot since her freshman year. “I want to get it to perfection. I’m very excited about going to state again, and I hope to place in the top three.”

In the Division II team scoring, University City edged defending champion Ramona, 64½ to 62, for the boys crown; and Valley Center earned its first section title in girls track by scoring 59 points to hold off Clairemont (53 points).

The top qualifiers from the section championships advance to the state competition next weekend at Buchanon High School in Clovis. The CIF state prelims are slated for Friday, followed by the finals on Saturday.