By Leonard COUTIN

Celebrating its 100th anniversary, the CIF State Track and Field Championship held at Buchanan High School’s Veterans Memorial Stadium produced some exceptional marks by athletes from across the state. Competition was tough on Friday for athletes to make qualifying marks for Saturday’s finals with even the most elite athletes being eliminated during the afternoon trials. Unfortunately, Crescenta Valley High School senior Colin FitzGerald, who has had many distinguishing marks this year, came up short to place 13th in the 1600m running 4:15.77. Only the top 12 competitors moved forward. The strenuous weeks of competition seemed to finally take their toll on FitzGerald as he saw his final race of the season.
Familiar names were found, though, among those who qualified for the Pacific League Saturday night finals. Burroughs’ Jagdeep Chahal, who has consistently been a driving force this year both in cross-country and on the track, qualified for the finals with a placement of seventh in the 1600m running 4:14.09. West Torrance senior Rory Abberton ran the best time of the day (Friday) with a time of 4:12.00. Teammate Elizabeth Switzer pole vaulted to 11-06.00 and placed 16th, but did not make the opening height needed for Saturday.
The Arcadia girls’ relay 4×100 placed fourth in the prelims with Junipero Serra High School posting the best time of the evening at 45.74. Arcadia’s Stephanie Yen also moved forward with her jump of 18-01.25 in the long jump and Muir’s Micah Fulton, who stood on the podium last year to accept fourth place in the triple jump with a 44-4.75 jump, qualified third in the prelims in the same event with a jump of 40-08.00. However, she did not post a qualifying long jump.
Despite a later start time on Saturday for the CIF State Track and Field Championship, athletes and spectators couldn’t escape high temperatures, which climbed high into the 90s. Opened umbrellas dotted the areas where spectators were found, eager to seek refuge from the direct sunlight.
The first running event of the meet was the 4×100 relays. The Great Oak boys clocked a win (40.99) and the girls from Junipero Serra earned their win with a time of 45.69.
After the dust settled, local athletes Jagdeep Chahal of Burroughs and Micah Fulton of Muir earned places at the podium. Chahal finished the season with a mark of 4:12.6 to score fourth and Fulton bettered her position from last year to place second by jumping 41-04.50 in the triple jump.
In the last race of the evening, CVHS senior Artin Allahverdian raced his final 3200m with great poise and air of satisfaction. He finished 22nd with a time of 9:17.48 behind Chahal who placed 14th running 9:09.05.
“It was a great achievement for Colin and Artin to reach the state meet,” said CV head Coach Mark Evans. “They did not have the races they wanted but they got there and gave it their best efforts. They had great seasons and accomplished many great things. Both Artin and Colin are poised to do great things at the next stage of their academic and athletic careers.”