Davis High distance specialist Trevor Halsted will take his ever-growing talent across town to UC Davis next year — and judging from the way he’s running, he’s in a hurry to get to college.

“It’s all coming together very nicely,” Blue Devil cross country and spring distance coach Bill Gregg said after Halsted was named Top Male Track Athlete at the Sacramento Meet of Champions at Hughes Stadium on Saturday.

Halsted, the defending section cross country champ, ran a school-record 4:14 in the 1,600-meter race — then came back with 9:21.93 in the 3,200 (good for fourth, behind teammate Brian De La Mora, who finished a strong second).

The winning effort in the 1,600 erases the DHS record of 4:15.9, run by Greg Phister in 1995. Phister is back in Davis, making a career as an insurance agent.

Halsted was part of a large Devil contingent that raced in the open and invitational elements of the Sacramento meet, both in varsity and freshman/sophomore events.

The top marks in the Northern California prep competition earn berths in the invitational division, the next set of qualifiers headed to the open grouping.

“We ended up with a pretty good group of kids there,” DHS head track coach Spencer Elliott explained.

Ian Rock’s 22-01.5 won the long jump in what was called the boys (open) division. His best distance would have finished second at the men’s (invitational) level — won by Galt’s Haran Piggee (22-11).

De La Mora was nipped in the final 100 yards of his 3,200 by Del Campo’s Robert Pflasterer (9:15.37 to 9:15.63). The two exchanged leads a number of times in what DyeSatCal timing rep Mike Kennedy called “one of the more exciting races of the day.”

Blue Devil fans will recall it was Pflasterer who was chased down by Halsted in the recent Halden Invitational 1,600 in Davis. De La Mora ran third in that race.

“(Brian) was knocked around a lot in those last two laps,” Gregg said of De La Mora’s effort. “It was a great run. He likes to see the race set up and choose his spot.”

Gregg felt his senior was unlucky to lose.

In another sharp invitational performance, Davis freshman Sophie Meads ran seventh in the 3,200 (11:09.58). Campolindo’s nationally ranked Carrie Verdon came home in 10:29.76.

“The strong competition at this meet is important for our varsity athletes who are physically and mentally preparing for sections (May 18-20 at Elk Grove High),” Elliott pointed out. “Many of our section’s top athletes were there … and we also got to see some great athletes from other sections.”

Elliott was especially excited about his two male 4×400 relay teams. The open crew finished in 3:21.80, barely two seconds off last year’s record of 3:19.61. Rock — who was on that standard-setting team a year ago — joined Vinnie Herthel, Alec Zavala and Spencer Bowen last Saturday.

The frosh/soph relayers won, led by the quartet of Spencer LaHaye, Paul Mohr, Kevin Sorensen and Lee Leverrier in 3:32.97.

But the focus kept coming back to Halsted and his top honor …

When the senior harrier won the 1,600 at Ron & Mary Brown Stadium in Davis two weeks ago, he went out to an early lead. Halsted fell back to fifth and eventually rallied on the bell lap to edge Pflasterer.

Gregg said Saturday was different.

“He’s thought about his racing tactics after learning the hard way at Arcadia (a loss) and the Halden Invitationals. In (this meet), he did a great job of putting everything together,” Gregg said.

Saturday, Halsted let other runners take the lead, protected his space well despite a tightly bunched pack and prevailed at the end.

In girls open events, 800-meter Devils Laney Teaford (2:23.85) and Hannah Krovetz (2:24.43) finished 13th and 17th, respectively.

Freshman Jordan Banwarth (48.45) was eighth in the 300 varsity hurdles.

In the boys open varsity events, DHS shot putter Nick Denton’s 50-09.5 was good for second (behind Whitney’s Zack Post at 52-50).

Braeden Van Deynze went 4:32.89 for seventh in the 1,600 meter open and 10:03.18 in the 3,200 (12th).

Nate Stenson (5-11) tied for sixth in the high jump. Courtney Williams — the DHS 100-meter record-holder at 10.7 — was eighth in that sprint (11.70). Zavala went 50.18 to finish fourth in the 400-meter open race.

Blue Devil Paul Mohr’s 2:02:91 was third in the frosh/soph 800 and Leverrier (51.84) took eighth in the frosh/soph 400. Tim Wright, at 5-11, was second in the same division’s high jump.

Notes: Halsted’s accomplishments come less than a year after he suffered a tibial stress fracture. “He wasn’t feeling 100 percent when track started,” Gregg recalled. “So we were pretty conservative with mileage. He’s seems to be feeling really good these days, but we still monitor his mileage.” … Davis hosts Elk Grove on Wednesday as it readies for the DVC trials and finals at Cosumnes Oaks (May 11-13). After the D-1 event, the Sac-Joaquin Masters meet is May 24-26 at Hughes Stadium and the California State Meet runs June 3-4 in Fresno. … Speaking of “getting to see some great athletes from other sections,” Ciarra Brewer of James Logan (Union City) went 41-5.25 in the triple jump. Her national-best mark is 41-9.75. … The Davis Community Track and Field Club is looking for new members to join its three-year-old Board of Directors. The position is voluntary and involves hands-on board work but is not time consuming. Anyone with a love of track and field should contact [email protected] for more information.

— Reach Bruce Gallaudet at [email protected] or (530) 747-8047.

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DHS’ Trevor Halsted (101) runs the 1,600-meter race at last month’s Halden Invitational. On Saturday, Halsted broke a school record that was set in 1995 with his time of 4:14 in the same event at the Sacramento Meet of Champions. Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise file photo

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