Track and Field: Foothill, Amador Wrap Up EBAL Championships

Amador Valley had a very strong showing in the boys varsity division Saturday at the East Bay Athletic League Track and Field Championships at California High, finishing in third with 82 points.

The Dons' big showdown against the eventual champion San Ramon Valley (150 points) came in the final event of the day, the boys varsity 1600 meter relay.

Amador Valley's Hakeem Dyson had already won the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.56 seconds.  Anthony Harris, Nick Bayley and Josh Slaton were his running mates against a fearsome Wolves attack that included EBAL 800-meter record-holder Kevin Griffith. The outcome was just about as close as you could get.  San Ramon Valley finished in 3:23.08, with Amador Valley right behind them at 3:23.82.

"I felt like we did very well," Dyson said.  "It's been an up-and-down season for us, a couple of us have had some injuries, but I think that we have a lot more in the tank."

"We have both Anthony and Hakeem," Slaton said.  "With their leadership and expertise, we can go even faster."

The field events was where Amador Valley really excelled. Monica Acton took first on the varsity girls' side with a discus throw of 113-feet, 1-inch.  Her shot-put skills were almost as impressive, with a second place threw of 33-feet, 9-inches.

Scott Esparza was the varsity boys' equivalent, pushing the shot put a whopping 55-feet, 8-inches and whipping the discus 163-feet, 7-inches.  Both were good for first place and kept Amador Valley very close to De La Salle in the final standings.

"I think they did a great job today," Amador coach Carlee Sira-Graham said. "They came to compete today, worked really hard, and brought their game faces. I couldn't ask for more."

Foothill mustered only 21 points to finish in last place in the varsity boys division, but was not without some strong individual performances. 

Davis Rajs set a Foothill record in the 400 meters with a time of 50.13 to win the event.

Jordan Craig took first in the varsity girls' pole vault competition with a winning vault of 10-foot, 6-inches — another Foothill record.  Rose Doyle Mason threw the discus 104 feet 10 inches and took second to Amador's Acton.

"We had lots of season bests today, right when it matters," Foothill coach Scott Kennedy said.  "That's very encouraging."

Keianne Yamada was tops in the frosh/soph division in the girls long jump, flying 15-feet, 9.25-inches before coming back to earth.  Another good young long jumper on the frosh/soph boys side was Cameron Vaughan, winning at 19 feet 9.5 inches.

Vaughan also helped the Falcons boys frosh/soph 4x400 meter relay team take first, along with Jared Shohfi, Seth Niermeyer and Jason Liu.  Foothill's frosh/soph boys accumulated 37 points, fifth overall. All this young talent means Foothill has a lot to look forward to in its future.

Download the movie