SONOMA COUNTY LEAGUE TRACK: Petaluma girls win again as a team

The Petaluma High School girls again showed that track and field is a team sport, using points from a multitude of different athletes to repeat as Sonoma County League champions.

Competing in the SCL Championship Meet at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa on Saturday, Petaluma totaled 162 points to 108 for Sonoma Valley, followed by Piner (103), Analy (68), El Molino (36), Healdsburg (18) and Elsie Allen (0).

The points were the second most ever posted in a SCL meet by a girls team. No. 1 is also Petaluma.

“I’m very proud of the girls,” said Petaluma coach Doug Johnson. “They performed awfully well.

“I’m also proud of the boys. They were young. It will be interesting to see of they continue to develop.”

Petaluma’s boys were fifth with 68 points behind league champion Analy (148), Piner (79), Healdsburg (77) and El Molino (71). Sonoma Valley (33) and Elsie Allen (19) rounded out the field.

In addition to team honors, at stake were spots in the Redwood Empire Championships that go to the top six athletes in each event. That meet will be Saturday at Santa Rosa High School.

Petaluma received outstanding performances from its season-long mainstays, but also from several athletes who provided valuable points in supporting efforts.

Allison Scranton, who appears to be on her way to a repeat trip to the state meet, was a dominating two-event winner in the throws, winning the shot at 36-7 and the discus at 141-11, the third-best SCL meet performance ever.

Teammate Morgan Giraud was right behind Scranton, finishing second in both events with a shot of 33-3 and a discus throw of 122-6. Clare Pierce was third in the shot at 30-10.

With no winners, the Petaluma girls did well in the jumping events.

Kataya Williges was second in the high jump at 4-10, finishing behind winner Sheena Blackwell of Piner on the basis of more misses. Williges also took third in the pole vault at 9-6 behind teammate Natalie Gilmore, who cleared 10-06, the same height as winner Isabel Garon of Sonoma Valley. Siena Lambert picked up points by finishing fourth in the high jump. The versatile Giraud was fourth in the triple jump at 31-1.

Sophomore Camile Leoni sailed a strong 15-11 to finish second in the long jump behind the 16-4 leaped by Itzel Gonzalez of Piner. Kylie McCorkel was fourth in the event.

Madison Parratt, the reigning SCL cross country champion, transferred her talent to the track, winning the 3200 in 12:16.17 and finishing second in the 1600 in 5:27.44. Petaluma’s Sophie Hospodar was third in the 3200 in 12:21.13 and fourth in the 1600 in 5:32.48. Liza Bernard was fifth in the 1600 in 5:34.09.

In the sprints, Petaluma received fourth-place efforts from Shelby Metten in the 100 (13.16) and Leoni in the 200 (27,11). Mia Martin was fifth in both events. Leoni added a fifth-place finish in the 400 (1:05.95) to her impressive meet. Helena Abbott was fourth in 1:03.46.

Petaluma was second in both relays, timing 51.67 to run behind Analy (51.20) in the 4x100 and 4:27.07 to finish behind Piner (4:18.90) in the 4x400.

Curren PV champ

Dan Curren flew 13-0 to repeat as SCL pole vault champion, leading the Petaluma boys efforts.

Eamon McMahon was sixth in the 200-meter dash in 23.91.

Freshman Will Dunbar did very well in his first league meet, finishing a close second to Gabe Ghirann of Analy in the 800. Ghirann was clocked in 2:01.12, with Dunbar right behind in 2:01.84. The Trojan freshman was also second in the 1600, clocked in 4:33.73, just behind Brian Schultz of El Molino (4:32.95).

Ty Pearson took third in the 300-meter hurdles (42.75).

Petaluma ran second in the 4x100 relay in 46.24.8 behind Analy (44.06.10),

There were some pleasant surprises for Petaluma in the field events.

Dalten Hall (19-9), Brendan O’Neill (19-6) and Jack Chabot (18-7) finished fourth, fifth and sixth in the long jump and Hall was third (41-7) and O’Neill seventh (39-0) in the triple jump.

Travis Plank placed fourth in the shot at 40-10.