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The preliminary day of North Coast Section Meet of Champions competition is intended to act as a sort of centrifuge. With so many competitors in so many heats, the hectic pace at the section finals can leave less serious athletes spinning – but the best will always rise to the top. 

Friday’s prelims, hosted at Cal’s Edwards Track Stadium, were appropriately, but not unexpectedly dominated by the two Berkeley prep teams – St. Mary’s and Berkeley High. Coming off NCS team championships at last weekend’s Bay Shore and Tri-Valley meets, respectively, the ’Jackets and Panthers focused their efforts on individual performances, and managed to qualify virtually every eligible athlete for today’s event finals. 

Just a few blocks from their home track, the Berkeley High girls relay teams took care of business, running the fastest qualifying time of the day in the 4x100, while taking second by less than three-tenths of a second to Maria Carillo High in the 4x400. Though the previously unchallenged 4x400 team was disappointed at being passed – especially T’carra Penick, who felt she offered the slack her opponents needed – Hampton believes his entire sprint core will be at top form when it counts, this afternoon. 

“T’carra didn’t have a good meet today. She was smoked in the 200, and caught from behind in the 4x400,” BHS coach Darrell Hampton said about his top individual 400 runner, who qualified in that event, as well as the 200 and short relay. “She’ll bounce back. She has to, time’s running out.” 

Penick combined with teammates Veronica Lewis, Raqueta Margain and Katrina Keith to finish the long relay in 3:58.27 – a slow mark for the ’Jackets that still ranked as the second best in the section. BHS replaced Penick with Traci Estell and Lewis with Aisha Margain in the 4x100, and dominated its heat by nearly two seconds over St. Mary’s, its closest competitor. The sprint contingent also made its mark on the individual events, with Aisha Margain registered top qualifying times in the 100 and 200, and Keith qualifying comfortably in the same events. 

“Aisha and Katrina looked nice. They went out, and shut ’em down,” Hampton said. “Everybody made it to tomorrow, that’s the important thing.”  

Berkeley’s trio of non-sprint entrants – hurdlers Daveed Diggs and Simone Brooks, and jumper Laura Winnacker – also remain alive in the hunt for CIF state meet berths. Diggs ran a meet-best 14.94 to destroy his heat in the 100m hurdles. The senior also won his heat in the 300m event, before being temporarily disqualified due to an error by a field judge who believed Diggs had stepped out of his lane. Upon appeal from Hampton, who considered the disqualification “the most interesting part of the meet,” Diggs’ 39.59 mark would stand as official, and carry him into today’s finals. 

Brooks had similar success in the girls’ hurdles, qualifying with a 14.94 in the 100m event and a 45.67 in the longer race. Raqueta Margain also participated in the 300m hurdles, but failed to advance after running fifth in her heat. Since high jump competition commences today, Winnacker did not compete on Friday. 

“It was great to see how much the kids have dropped (their times) from last year,” the BHS coach said. 

The deep and versatile St. Mary’s squad matched Berkeley’s success at the conveniently located meet, advancing nearly every competitor to today’s final rounds. The Panthers also qualified athletes to state in the only two events completed on Friday – the triple jump and the discus. Solomon Welch and Asokah Muhammad took first and second, respectively, in the triple jump, while Kamaiya Warren posted a 136-05 to advance in the discus. Warren’s throw ranked second only to long-time rival Michelle Daggs, a Bishop O’Dowd thrower who won the NCS meet with a mighty toss of 145-08. Welch and Muhammad both qualified for their second-consecutive state meet, while sophomore Warren will be making her first trip to CIFs. 

“The track was nice and bouncy, there’s good weather. It’s a great place to jump,” Muhammad said. “I’m going to go into state, try to mix it up, and hopefully get first, second or third.” 

In addition to Welch’s win, the Panthers produced heat winners in six other events, with the 4x100 relay team of Muhammad, Denye Versher, Chris Dunbar and Conner Banks leading the way with a top finish at 42.39. Versher and Dunbar would also win their heats individually in the 200, with Versher also winning the individual 400. Sean Geraghty and Danielle Stokes picked up first in their boys’ 800 and girls 100m hurdles heats, respectively, to round out the Panther heat-toppers.  

“I thought everyone was focused today, we were running easy and fast,” said St. Mary’s coach Jay Lawson, whose goal of qualifying 14-18 athletes for state remains intact after the first day of competition. “I think our kids really like the atmosphere (at Cal), as opposed to running somewhere like Chabot (College in Hayward).” 

The ’Jackets and Panthers look to finish what they started today, competing in the championship heats of the Meet of Champions. The top four finishers in each event today will move on to CIFs. Field events begin at 11 a.m. at Edwards Stadium, with track events starting at 1 p.m.