Top-4 sweep in 1,600, Halsted’s meet record help DHS boys win first section title
In the past year, the Mondavi Center has played host to the Alexander Quartet. Local rock bands with four members, like Downhill From Here and Uncle Tony, have been gaining citywide recognition.
But on Friday night at Elk Grove Stadium, the Davis High male distance runners made their pitch for the greatest foursome of them all.
Seniors Trevor Halsted, Brian De La Mora, Mac Harvey and Braeden Van Deynze finished 1-2-3-4 in the 1,600 meters to help the Blue Devil boys win their first Sac-Joaquin Section title. DHS tallied 76 points to dust rival Jesuit, who was a far-off second place with 52.
Though Halsted set a new meet record in the mile, his most exciting performance came when the length of the race was doubled. Halsted played coy in the 3,200, running alongside other leaders until the final lap. Then he whipped out his ace in hole: a pair of sprinter’s legs quicker than any other distance runner at the meet.
Halsted blazed through the final lap in 58.2 seconds to claim a section record with his time of 9:16.25, and gain enough points to clinch DHS’ section championship. De La Mora finished third, at 9:22.31, while Van Deynze finished ninth and Harvey 14th.
Halsted’s time broke the Division I record that was previously held by Davis graduate Brendan Gregg, now at Stanford, who blazed home in 9:19.91 in 2007.
“My main goal in the two-mile was just to get the 10 points (for first place) to win,” said Halsted, who will run for UC Davis next year. “Most of the second mile I was just sitting behind and kind of waiting, and then … I felt like it was time.”
The Devil runners weren’t the only ones finishing ahead of the competition, however. Ian Rock sprang to first place in the pole vault on Wednesday, clearing the bar at 14-07. Rock — who also finished fifth in the high jump with teammate Nate Stenson in 10th — got another event win Wednesday when he long jumped 22-04.
On Friday, sophomore Nick Denton left a dent in the ground 49 feet away, where he tossed the shot put to earn fifth place.
Davis’ four-headed monster of Vinny Herthel, Lee LeVerrier, Spencer Bowen and Alec Zavala came up on the wrong end of a neck-and-neck 4×400 relay. Zavala’s 48.5-second sprint as the anchor leg wasn’t enough to make up for a slow handoff after the first lap, and the Blue Devils were edged by Beyer High by .05 seconds to take second.
Courtney Williams and Paul Mohr both crossed the finish line in fourth place for DHS in the 100 and 800, respectively. Zavala was fifth in the 400, and Stenson was 10th in the triple jump.
The Davis girls battled a lack of experience but still saw a few highlights. Seniors like Maddie Trost (eighth in high jump) and Rachel Brooks (12th in discus) did their best to carry the young squad, but the championship banner was hoisted by Vacaville.
Devil freshman Sophie Meads finished fifth in the 3,200, ahead of 24 other competitors, as well as taking fifth in the 1,600. Juniors Hannah Krovetz and Laney Teaford were fifth and sixth in the 800-meter dash.
All the athletes who finished in the top 10 in their respective events will go on to compete in the Sac-Joaquin Masters meet at Sacramento City College later this week, where winners will advance to the state tournament at Clovis High.
While coach Spencer Elliot was overjoyed with his athletes on Friday, he’s well aware that a greater challenge is just around the corner.
“(Not performing well at the Masters would mean) we would have accomplished some of the goals we set out to accomplish, and didn’t accomplish our other goals,” Elliott said.
“It wouldn’t make this day any less special, but at the same time our season’s not over. We’ll be right back to business again on Monday at practice.”
— Reach Benjy Egel at begel@davisenterprise.net
Short URL: http://www.davisenterprise.com/?p=47373
Posted by Benjy Egel
on May 21 2011.
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