The glare of local gold provided plenty of warmth for the hometown faithful during the finals of the California Interscholastic Federation State Track and Field Championships June 4 at Buchanan’s Veterans Memorial Stadium.

On a chilly day sprinkled with sporadic rain, Clovis High’s Jenna Prandini electrified the crowd with a Central Section-record trifecta – wins in the 100 meters, 200 and long jump – and Clovis West’s Anginae Monteverde soared to a decisive victory in the pole vault.

For Prandini, a year removed from her double-gold (long jump and triple jump) and silver-medal (100) 2010 effort, the night capped a brilliant prep career that left the University of Oregon-bound senior tied for fifth all-time in girls state gold medals (five). Her three wins in one state meet are a new girls’ section mark, according to Central Section track historian Ron Blackwood, as are her career golds and eight total state medals. She was fourth in the 2008 long jump and sixth in the 2009 triple jump.

“It makes all the hard work worth it,” said Prandini, who battled a hamstring injury much of the season. “I have been working to get to this point my entire high school career. It’s very cool to be able to look back and see that all of my hard work was worth it.”
 

“I’ve known Jenna since fifth grade. We’re been competing for a long time, so it was exciting to see her take three golds,” Anginae Monteverde said. “I was really excited for her as I’m sure she was excited I won and excited Alyssa took third. We’re all really close and we can’t wait for next year.”

Said Prandini: “When all this recruiting started we said it would be awesome if we could all go to the same school. Then, I picked first, and I was just hoping they’d pick Oregon. We’re all excited to not only be on the same team, but to go to school together.”

The Monteverdes weren’t the only sisters to register points for the Golden Eagles.

Senior Nonny Okwelogu picked up another medal for the Clovis West girls, taking sixth in the discus (137-0), and younger sister Nikki Okwelogu, a sophomore, just missed the podium with an eighth-place toss (125-10), still good enough to earn team points.

“It’s nice having someone I can joke with on the bench,” said Nonny of her sister. “This is the state meet and everyone is uptight. It keeps us both relaxed.”

The quartet powered Clovis West to a tie for third (20 points) in the girls’ team standings, the highest finish in school history. Medals are awarded to the top-six spots in each event, and points are earned for top-eight finishes.

Poly won both the girls’ and boys’ titles. It was the fourth consecutive win for the Poly girls.

Seven other Clovis Unified School District student-athletes garnered state medals to run the district’s total to 13, four more than a year ago, in this the 93^rd edition of the state event. Joining Prandini, Okwelogu and the Monteverdes on the medal stand were: the Buchanan team of junior Jared Cape, senior Chris Brusenback, sophomore Billy East and junior Tyler Wonnell (third place in the 4x100 relay); Clovis High junior Scott Greenman (fourth, pole vault); Buchanan senior Macy Bricks (fifth, 3,200); and Clovis East sophomore Brad Beekman (sixth, pole vault).

“For the local track community, it is huge,” said Clovis High co-head Coach Bill Buettner of this year’s medalists. “Once we, as local coaches and athletes, get to the state meet, rivalries are put aside and we root for our own, as well as the other section athletes, to succeed against the state. … Every successful performance from our section athletes sets the standard for future athletes. It makes success at the state level possible in the minds of the up-and-coming local track and field athlete.

“The bigger impact is what it does for the sport as a whole,” he continued. “It is wonderful to speak with parents and coaches of the elementary kids who are now saying, ‘I want to be like Jenna Prandini’ or ‘I want to hurdle or vault like Alyssa and Anginae.’ It is athletes like these girls that reach out to the community to promote the sport that truly have an impact.”

The Buchanan relay team not only placed but also clocked the section’s seventh-fastest time (41.37) during the preliminaries, 0.27 seconds ahead of the team’s finals time.

“It’s just great to medal with these guys,” said East, who ran the third leg. “They’re the perfect team.”

Added Bears’ anchor leg Wonnell, “It was awesome, especially seeing [Coach Brian Weaver] jumping up and down at the end.”

Bricks, who Weaver called, “One of the best female distance athletes ever in the Valley,” finished the 3,200 in 10:22.67.

As for Greenman and Beekman, the duo showed the section’s boys were no slouches. Greenman went 15-6. Beekman topped 14-6.

“It was unbelievable,” Beekman said. “I had no idea I was going to place up until they called my name.”

Clovis North junior Sharessa Archie became the first Bronco to score state points with an eighth-place finish in the triple jump (37-11).

The state finals return to Veterans Memorial Stadium.

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