La Sierra senior joins Yucaipa's Hampton and Great Oak's Gould with pair of titles; Murrieta Mesa boys sweep both relays

By Landon Negri for DyeStat

Southern California is already chock full of talented sprinters. Mariah Allain is just determined to join the club.

The Riverside La Sierra High senior proved so Saturday with a breakout performance in the Inland Empire Track and Field Championships at Vista Murrieta High.

Allain was one of three double winners in individual events, holding off Temecula Valley senior Danae Dyer to win the 100 meters, and running 24.39 seconds in the 200, a time that would have tied a meet record had it been wind legal.

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It’s not like Allain has come out of nowhere. In the 100, she had the No. 5 mark in the Inland Empire – a region roughly defined as Riverside and San Bernardino counties – entering Saturday.

She knows she will no longer fly under the radar.

“I’m really ready,” she said. “I’m motivated, and this made me just want to train 100 percent.”

Part of the reason Allain has gone largely unnoticed is that she hasn’t competed in the high-profile invitationals such as Stanford and Arcadia. That’s why Saturday was so important.

“I was actually prepared,” she said. “I’ve been training for a couple of weeks just for this day.”

Allain managed to surge ahead of Dyer to win the 100 in 11.99 seconds. In the 200, she had to push past her own sister, Deja, to win, though the mark came with a plus-2.7 wind reading.

“I was pretty tired,” she said of the 200. “I just used my arms and high knees to finish it.”

The two other double winners were equally as impressive. Like Allain, Yucaipa senior Asani Hampton won the 100 (10.49) and 200 (21.21), the latter of which lowered his own state-leading mark in the event.

Unlike Allain, Hampton has been doing this all season at big meets, even if that meant the NIKE Chandler Rotary meet, Arcadia and Inland Empire in the span of a month. And yes, he’s planning on being at the Mt. SAC Relays next week.

“It’s just hard work with my coach,” Hampton said, “and good recovery in between, with good speed workouts – things like that, and things that we all need.”

Great Oak has been at Stanford and Arcadia, as well, but the Wolfpack did not send a full team north to Vista Murrieta. But they did send their top throwers, and Jaime Navarro and Harrison Gould didn’t disappoint.

Navarro won the shot put with a season-best throw of 58-10 (17.93m) and took the discus with a throw of 180-8 (55.08m). Gould made it a 1-2 sweep, placing second in both events at 54-8 (16.66m) and 167-2 (50.97m), respectively.

“I felt like it was a good throw,” Navarro said. “It really felt like things were clicking. Of course, things could’ve been better, yeah. I was hoping for 60 (feet) because that has been my goal lately. I’m really satisfied with the end.”

Two meet records were set Saturday. Dyer won the 110 hurdles in 13.90, off a bit from her 13.68 at Arcadia, but still better than the old I.E. record of 13.96.

While happy with how she’s running, she did say her starts could use some improvement.

“I’ve been standing straight up instead of driving,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s my height, or the way the blocks are set.”

Either way, she said, it’s a minor issue that should be fixable before the postseason.

In the final girls track event, the Roosevelt team of Jordyn Crutchfield,  Alexys Ford, Chaselyn Amos and Breanna Bernard-Joseph won the 4x400 relay in 3:51.19, nearly three seconds better than the old I.E. meet record.

Both Roosevelt’s boys and girls won the team titles Saturday, as well, on what turned out be a warm – close to 90 degrees – afternoon.

“I think we’re really proud of everything we’ve done,” said Bernard-Joseph, who also won the 300 hurdles in 42.96 – just missing lowering her own meet record – and finished second to Dyer in the 100 hurdles.

“Even though we had a very tough week last week (at Arcadia), we came back, some of us PRd, some of us didn’t, but we did really well considering the conditions.”

Murrieta Mesa had similar results with its standout sprinters. The Rams boys swept both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays in season-best marks of 41.58 and 3:19.58. Included in that sweep were victories over Rancho Verde, which still has the top 4x100 time in the Inland Empire this year, but just barely.

“I don’t think anybody was expecting us to be in this position,” said senior Christian Shakir-Ricks, who was on both relays, and finished third in the 100 behind Hampton and teammate Matthew Okonkwo.

“So it’s a good thing. And I’m new out here, so to be a part of something that nobody expected is even a better feeling.”

Then there was perhaps the lightest moment of the day. With Great Oak’s CJ Stevenson dropping from both jumps, San Jacinto senior Kevin Maria prevailed against Elsinore junior Kamari Maddox to win the long jump in 22-11.50 (7.00m).

Asked if he would have relished the opportunity to jump against Stevenson, the state leader in the triple jump and winner of the long jump last week at Arcadia, Maria offered a blunt answer.

“No,” Maria said. “He would’ve beaten me.”