Multiple area track and field athletes compete at state meet

A number of athletes from Whitney, Rocklin, Del Oro, Granite Bay and Woodcreek High schools competed at last weekend's 2022 California Interscholastic Federation State Track and Field Championships. Here is a look at how everyone performed and placed. Rocklin High Sophomore Giselle Kirchner ended her season strong with a fourth-place finish in the finals of the 100-meter hurdles at 14.15 seconds, just .03 seconds behind second-place. Kirchner was fifth in the preliminary race at 14.1 seconds. Senior Kyran Bell placed ninth in the long jump finals at 22 feet, 6.5 inches, which was his fourth best performance of the season in the event. The boys' 4x400-meter relay team, consisting of Isaac Ja, MacGregor TeSelle, Kyle Hall and Nathan Kent, placed fourth in the finals at 3:15 and was less than two seconds behind Cathedral High School, which won the state title. The Thunder came third in the preliminary race but improved on their time in the finals race by two seconds and broke their school record. Kent ran a split of 45.3 seconds in the event. "With an early hamstring tear and re-injuring halfway through the year, I wasn't supposed to have a senior season at all, so to be able to just run again was a blessing," Kent said. "There is nothing like the atmosphere at state and I was just happy to be there running with people that supported me." TeSelle competed in the 200-meter preliminary race, placing 28th at 24.59 seconds. Whitney High Junior Katie Kopec qualified for the finals in the 3,200-meter event, placing 13th at 10:43, her third best time of the season. The 4x100-meter girls' relay team, consisting of Emily Beasley, Jasmine Beasley, Ashanti Elie and Juliana Roberson, raced in the finals and came in eighth at 48.75 seconds. Roberson also competed in the triple jump, finishing eighth out of 12 participants at 37 feet, 10 inches. It was her second-best performance of the season. "I learned a lot about myself at this meet and I'd say my biggest takeaway was being able to appreciate where I am with my athletic career," Roberson said. "As a 15-year-old sophomore, I was competing against a strong field of upperclassmen, which was an amazing opportunity. I'm still going to be learning and growing over my next two seasons but what I do expect in the long run are big things." In the prelims, junior John Dailey placed 24th in the 400-meter race at 51.07 seconds while Ashanti Elie tied for fifth with nine others in the high jump at five feet, five inches. There was a jump off to determine who would move onto the finals and Elie was unable to qualify. Del Oro High Senior Riley Chamberlain capped off her high school career with a seventh-place finish out of 23 runners in the 3,200-meter race with a time of 10:36. Avery Macktinger competed in the pole vault prelims, placing 18th at 11 feet, nine inches. Woodcreek High Timberwolves senior Isaiah Earls participated in the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles races in the prelims. He placed 20th in the 110-meter event at 15.76 seconds. Granite Bay High Grizzlies junior Carly Foster competed in the 1,600-meter preliminary race, finishing 24th with a time of 5:10.