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Clovis
High's Prandini Electrifies Crowd at CIF
State Track and Field Championship Meet
By
Pete Boele, CUSD
Today*
Posted on November 4, 2011 |
CW's
Monteverde wins decisive victory in pole vault
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, 2011, 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.”
She
became the first Central Section sprinter to win either
the 100 or 200, and single-handedly accounted for all 30
team points as the Cougar girls placed second in the
team standings.
Prandini’s quest for
three golds was nearly derailed in the 100. After going
19 feet, 11¾ inches to easily win – by seven inches –
the long jump, she was forced to overcome a poor start
out of the blocks in the sprint. Eyeing the backs of
most of her competitors, Prandini powered to the front
of the pack as the finish line approached, edging Kylie
Price of Bishop Amat (La Puente) in the closing meters
for a 0.03-second victory (11.69 seconds to 11.72).
“I got out and I saw I
was in last place at the start,” Prandini said. “And I
saw Kylie out to a great start. She really got out of
the blocks well. There was nothing going through my head
except how much I wanted to win this race and in the
last few steps I caught her.”
Said Greg Friesen,
Clovis High’s co-head coach: “One of her
greatest strengths as an athlete is her competitiveness.
She not only hates to lose – she refuses to lose. If you
saw her 100 meters, you know what I mean. She should
have lost that race. Kylie Price ran the greatest race
of her life with one of the best starts I have ever seen
in high school track, but it wasn’t enough. It may have
taken the full 100 meters, but Jenna was not going to be
denied. The goal of winning that race was one of the
things that motivated her and kept her going this spring
when she was rehabilitating her leg.”
With two
medals in hand, Prandini left little doubt in the 200,
taking an early lead she never relinquished, finishing
in a time of 23.81 seconds as the crowd of 7,115 erupted
in appreciation.
“I didn’t want it to be
like the 100, so I got out as strong as I could,” she
said. “I knew if I didn’t, Akawkaw [Ndipagbor of Poly
(Long Beach)] would have caught me. She is an amazing
runner.”
Of the fans, she said
the pro-Clovis Unified crowd was a great benefit.
“They definitely helped
me out,” Prandini said. “There were so many people out
there cheering me on. The crowd pushed me and really
helped me get through the day.”
While Prandini was
concluding her historic night, Monteverde was closing in
on her own golden performance. The senior,
sixth at state in the same event a year ago (11-9),
left the field in her
wake, topping 13-6, which was 14 inches
higher than her closest competitor.
“This was
the perfect way, by far, that I could have ever imagined
ending my senior season,” she said.
Monteverde
eclipsed her previous best of 12-9 in grabbing the top
mark in the state and third-highest total in the nation
this season. Her 13-6 ranks second all-time in the
section (Kira Costa, Memorial, 13-8½, 2003). Monteverde
missed three times at 13-9 in her attempt to surpass the
section mark.
“She was
ecstatic,” said Clovis West Coach Martin Palavicini.
“It was
part of a natural, planned progression,” he added. “It
did not happen in one season. Her event coach, Vincent
Gagliardi, worked with her and the other pole-vaulters
meticulously for four years. She did 9-0 as a freshman,
10-0 as a sophomore and 12-2 as a junior. It was her
senior year and she wanted to do whatever it took to
achieve her goal.”
Anginae
wasn’t the only Monteverde to finish the night with
state hardware as twin sister Alyssa, a four-time state
qualifier, repeated her 2010 showing with a bronze in
the 300 hurdles (42.49).
“She
finished before I was done and before I won,” said
Anginae, the younger of the two siblings. “It made me
push myself more to want to win.”
Like
Prandini, both Monteverdes are heading to Oregon in the
fall, giving the Ducks a distinct Clovis flair.
“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 93rd 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.
*This article was originally
published in CUSD Today, May 2011, and is
published on
ExperienceClovis.com
with permission. All rights reserved.
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