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Berkeley High track and field coach Darrell Hampton received some criticism for his “big meet” strategy in 2000 – taking it easy in league meets to conserve and strategize for the more prestigious weekend invitationals.  

But six weeks after dropping an embarrassing dual meet to East Bay Athletic League rival Foothill, the last laugh seems to have been reserved for the BHS girls. Though the Yellowjackets’ EBAL record may be blemished going into this weekend’s CIF state finals, Hampton’s squad has qualified more female athletes for the Southern California meet than the rest of the EBAL combined.  

“That’s the thing about having a program, sometimes you may have (to overlook) dual meets to see the bigger picture,” said Hampton, who will send four athletes covering nine events to this weekend’s championships in Cerritos. “I took a lot of flak for not running in dual meets. To make it a team thing, we’ve been putting the alternates in (for qualifying races).” 

While the BHS coach’s methods have come under fire, nobody can question his success with the girls’ sprint contingent, which has been recognized nationwide as one of the country’s fastest programs. Even at the relatively prestigious NCS Meet of Champions at Cal this past weekend, the vaunted Yellowjackets remained large fish in a small pond, qualifying at least one athlete in every sprint and hurdle event they entered.  

World-ranked sprinter Aisha Margain had the easiest time qualifying in perhaps the most competitive race, running the 100m in 11.63 to edge James Logan’s Adrena Williams. Margain also registered a convincing win in the girls’ 200m, outclassing Logan’s Cheri Craddock and BHS teammate Katrina Keith by nearly a second. Keith, who took third in the 200m with a time of 24.68, also qualified with a 12.03 in the 100m event. 

“I was just trying to qualify today. I came out and ran my hardest,” said Margain, who also participates on both Berkeley High relay teams. “I felt I could run 23 (seconds in the 200m) and I believe times will go down dramatically when we get to the state meet.” 

Despite a slower-than-usual 57.19 mark in the 400m, Berkeley’s T’carra Penick still managed to qualify second, behind Craddock of Logan. Penick also held down the third spot in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays – both won handily by Berkeley High. Raqueta Margain combined with her sister Aisha, Penick and Keith to run the long relay in 3:48.28, while Penick, Keith, Aisha Margain and hurdler Simone Brooks posted a 46.13 in the 4x100. Brooks also qualified for state in both the 100m and 300m hurdles, running the events in 14.65 and 45.22, respectively to take third in both. 

“I trained them to make sure how we chose the events,” Hampton said after Saturday’s Meet of Champions. “We’re looking real nice, and we can go faster.” 

As Berkeley High’s lone male representative at NCS, senior Daveed Diggs improved on his qualifying time of 14.74 in the 100m hurdles, winning the event in 14.32 over Liberty’s Carlos Johnson. Diggs also managed to qualify in his only other event – the 300m hurdles – garnering third place with a 39.20. High jumper Laura Winnacker, who visited the state meet last year after jumping 5-6 at NCS, just missed a qualifying mark on Saturday, topping out at 5-3 to place fifth. 

“It’s disappointing, since I did so well last year, and didn’t expect to,” said the senior, who hit a slump toward the end of the league season in which she repeatedly failed to match her personal best. “I thought I was on an upswing (coming in).” 

Berkeley High’s state qualifiers head to Cerritos this Friday afternoon, to kick off the preliminary day of CIF competition, before concluding with the Meet of Champions on Saturday. Though Hampton expects most of his qualifiers to survive the first day of events, he acknowledges the gaping jump in competition from sections to state.  

“The heat winner get the middle of the track (for the finals), that’s all we want to do,” the coach said about this weekend’s meet, which is expected to draw more than 10,000 fans. “I like the atmosphere in Cerritos, it’s much better than up here. It’s not (as big as) Penn (Relays), but there’ll be a nice crowd.”