Placer girls hurdle to FVL title; boys place second

Placer High School turned its home track into a championship showcase last Thursday, as the Hillmen hosted the Foothill Valley League Championships at LeFebvre Stadium. The Placer girls edged a strong field to claim the championship ahead of Twelve Bridges and Nevada Union, while the boys put together an impressive performance to place second behind Del Campo and ahead of Twelve Bridges. Individually, Logan Moore delivered one of the defining performances of the meet, setting a school record in the 110-meter hurdles at 14.76 seconds to win the event. Moore also won the 300 hurdles. The Hillmen dominated the hurdles across both divisions. Makenna Sipherd won the 100-meter hurdles and placed second in the 300, while Gracey Nordby claimed the 300-meter hurdles title and was runner-up in the 100, giving Placer a 1-2 finish in both events. Placer's distance team also played a major role. Micah Redding captured the girls 1600 meters and Elise Bergqvist won the 800. That strength carried into the relays, where the girls 4x800 team of Farrah Rudy, Redding, Bergqvist and Luca Bourgault earned a league championship. The boys matched that performance with Gabe Dressen, Cooper Barr, Aston Towne and Clive Tilly winning the 4x800 relay. Beyond the event winners, Placer showcased its depth by qualifying a large group of athletes for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III Championships. Field event qualifiers included Ernesto Morales, Lumina Lewis and Amelia Gompert in the discus, Korben Moon and Ashlyn Sullivan in the pole vault, Evan Sharples in the long and triple jumps, Brooke Dunkle in the high jump and Kaia Davis in the triple jump. Luke Paiva advanced in the boys 300 hurdles and as part of the 4x400 relay, and Rudy qualified in the girls 3200. Danny Sanchez moved on in the boys 100 and 200. Placer also advanced multiple relay teams, including the girls 4x100 of Lilli Fjelstad, Giorgia Carletti, Nordby and Sullivan and the 4x400 team of Carletti, Bergqvist, Bourgault and Redding. Bourgault, Barr and Dressen each qualified in multiple distance events, while Carletti added a berth in the 400. Hillmen who qualified for the Division III section trials will compete Wednesday at Manteca High School. The finals will be Saturday at Sacramento City College with the top finishers advancing to the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters meet.