South Placer Track and Field roundup: Chamberlain wins 1,600 and 3,200 meter races, Kopec sets two school records for Whitney

The 2022 track and field season is underway with league competition starting earlier this week for area schools. Multiple squads also had a number of great individual performances last weekend at the Dublin Distance Fiesta at Dublin High School. Here is a look into how area teams have done as of late. Del Oro High Senior Riley Chamberlain won in both the one-mile and two-mile races at the Dublin Distance Fiesta with times of 4:46 and 10:30, respectively. The one-mile race had 515 runners and Del Oro also had sophomore Karissa Chamberlain finish well in 20th-place at 5:08 while Isabel Anglero finished 37th. The Golden Eagles also performed at the Zebra Invitational on Saturday where Peter Strohm and Isabella Zaro came first in the 110-meter hurdles and second in the 300-meter hurdles races for the boys and girls. Avery Macktinger came second in the pole vault at nine feet and Thomas Graham finished fourth in both the 100-meter and 400-meter races. Sebastian Lichti was second in the 800-meter race and finished third in the one-mile. Del Oro will compete at the Thunder Invitational at Rocklin High on Saturday. Whitney High Wildcats junior Katie Kopec set two school records at the Dublin Distance Fiesta in both the one-mile and two-mile races. "It means the world that I was able to pull off earning two school records and I'm extremely proud of the way I ran, especially because it was the first time I could prove to myself of my fitness and earn an individual time for the season," Kopec said. "Some of my biggest goals are to help my team earn a league championship to advance to the section and hopefully even the state meet." Kopec came in ninth in the one-mile race at 4:59, becoming the first Whitney High School girl to ever break the five-minute mark and was third in the two-mile race at 10:44. "I can tell you after working with Katie every day for almost three years, there is no higher character athlete out there," Whitney High distance coach and cross-country coach Jerry Dodge said. Kopec also won the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship in cross-country at Willow Hills Reservoir in November. She wasn't the only Wildcat to have a solid performance last weekend. Her sister, Ava, was 22nd in the two-mile race. Whitney High also competed at the Husky Invitational on Saturday where Ashanti Elie came first in the high jump and finished third in the 200-meter race. Julia Roberson was first in the triple jump at 36 feet, five inches. On the boys' side, John Dailey was second in the 400-meter race while Jackson Floyd came third in both the long jump and triple jump. "Going into the meet, I had an injured foot and didn't think I would be able to compete how I did," Floyd said. "I got a personal record in both of my events and was very happy." The Wildcats are currently competing at the Simi Valley Invitational and will face Folsom in a dual meet on Thursday. Rocklin High Thunder junior Devin Pereira also raced at Dublin High School and came in with an impressive one-mile time of 4:27, which was a personal record and put him in 24th-place out of 906 runners. Pereira also competed in the two-mile race, finishing 31st at 9:27. "I went out a little slower than I wanted so it made the race become a sit and kick, which I didn't want but I still got a good time," Pereira said. "This was my first time racing with a lot of people at my speed, so it was a great learning experience in how to really race. I just need to keep working hard like I have been and keep pushing myself to get better." Rocklin High also performed at the Zebra Invitational where junior Christopher Franco came first in the 200-meter and 400-meter races. On the girls' side, Giselle Kirchner and Brooke Baptista finished second and third, respectively, in the 100-meter race. Both Kirchner and Baptista were also on the 4x100 relay team that won with a time of 51.62 seconds. After hosting the Thunder Invitational on Saturday, Rocklin High will face Granite Bay High in a dual meet on Tuesday. Granite Bay High The Lady Grizzlies had a great showing at Dublin High School, including Grace Baxter and Grace McGuckin, who finished 28th and 30th, respectively, out of 424 runners in the 800-meter race. Lizzy Hansen finished in 38th-place with a time of 2:30. Senior Carly Foster came in 12th out of 515 runners in the one-mile race with a time of five minutes flat, good for a personal record. On the boys' side, Benjamin Asche had the best placement in the 800-meter race, coming in 117th at 2:09 while Moses Cho was in 134th at just one second behind. Roseville High The Tigers began league competition on March 16 at Antelope High School and had great performances, especially on the boys' side from Joel Bradley, who was first in both the 200-meter race and the long jump. Bradley, along with Ian Peterson, tied for first in the 110-meter hurdles. Peterson was also second in the high jump and long jump. On the girls' side, Kyley Hunter was third in the shot put and fourth in the discus throw. Roseville High will compete at the Thunder Invitational on Saturday. Woodcreek High The Timberwolves had their first league meet of the season on March 16 and the varsity boys and frosh/soph boys came in first-place over Inderkum and River Valley. Woodcreek was led by solid individual performances, such as from senior Myles Miller, who was second in the 100-meter and 200-meter races. On the girls' side, Alanna Laveety competed at the Dublin Distance Fiesta, finishing 33rd out of 424 runners in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:29. Woodcreek will have their second league meet of the season on Wednesday against Inderkum, Antelope and Yuba City. Oakmont High The Vikings had their first Foothill Valley League meet of the season on Tuesday against Lincoln and the women's varsity team came away with a 122-69 win. Junior Eleanor Champlin-Wilson came away with wins in both the shot put and discus throws, including a personal best in the discus. Senior Amelia Bella finished first in the 100-meter race while Lily Harline came first in the pole vault. On the boys' side, Oakmont High came away with a win in the 4x400-meter relay and senior Lawsen Fuller was first in the 300-meter hurdles. The Vikings will compete at the Thunder Invitational on Saturday before facing Nevada Union in a dual meet on Tuesday. Western Sierra Collegiate Academy The Wolves competed at the Black Butte Invitational on March 18 at Orland High School where Graham Martin finished first in the 800-meter race and Shriya Radhakrishnan was first in the 300-meter hurdles. Western Sierra Collegiate Academy also had solid performances from Ryan Trieu, who was third in the one-mile race, John LaChappell who came in eighth in the boys' 200-meter race and Ruchika Sekar, who was eighth in the girls' 200-meter race. The Wolves will travel to Pacific Grove High School for an invitational next Saturday.