CLOVIS – With senior Curtis Godin winning two races and junior Malik McMorris adding two fourths in the weight throws, Mater Dei won the boys team title at the 96th CIF State Track and Field Championships on Saturday night at Clovis Buchanan High.
Godin, the UCLA-bound senior, completed an undefeated season in the 100-meter dash and avenged a rare loss in the 200 for the elite sprint double. But it took a lifetime-best throw of 60 feet, 9 1/2 inches from McMorris in the shot put to lift the Monarchs over Castro Valley for the school’s first boys track team title.
“That is huge,” Godin said after his victory in the 200, while McMorris was still competing. “Going from (CIF-Southern Section) Masters to here, we were in good shape.
“It’s never really been in the realm of possibilities for Mater Dei … but especially for boys, winning our first (state) title, is a really big deal. My coach (Rick Martinez) is stoked about that.”
Godin’s 20 points and 10 from McMorris, who had personal-best marks in the shot put on consecutive nights here, gave the Monarchs 30 points.
Castro Valley was second with 28.
The success of Godin and the Monarchs boys highlighted a strong day for Orange County athletes.
Northwood senior Bethan Knights won the 3,200 going away (10:00.19) but fell short of challenging the national record, which had been all the hype coming in.
Rocky Fenton credited getting his head right and applying a “Bruce Lee philosphy“ for his consistency over the past three weeks that helped him win the discus throw (184-10).
Orange Lutheran senior Carl Johansson won the pole vault with a 17-foot clearance that exceeded his previous best of 16-91/2.
Godin sped to a wind-aided personal best 10.31 seconds to win the 100 and held off Vista Murrieta sophomore Michael Norman to win the 200 (20.87). Norman had beaten Godin with a strong finish at Masters.
McMorris earned a fourth-place medal with a 182-11 discus throw.
Fenton, a senior from San Clemente heading to Texas, said he has improved his personal best three weeks in a row, culminating in Saturday’s night’s winning throw of 184-10 .
“Last year, I fouled out at league finals. I was a head case,” Fenton said, crediting Coach Eric Johnson with helping him to “get my head on straight.”
Knights’ 9:54.89 personal best – the No. 5 time in high school history – ignited talk that she could challenge the national record of 9:48.59 set by Kim Mortensen of Thousand Oaks in 1996.
“There was a lot of talk about the record,” she said. “It was something that was definitely cool to have in the back of my mind all season. But Kim Mortensen, she’s a legend and her time is amazing. It was fun to chase it but, ultimately, I don’t have words for how happy I am with the state title.”
UNLV-bound senior Mackenna Howard of Los Alamitos placed second in the shot put (47-10 1/2) and fourth in the discus throw (142-11) in her first appearance at state.
“Last year, I never thought I would make it to state meet, let alone medal,” she said. “And here I am with 50-foot (shot put PR) and medaling in both events. I couldn’t be happier.”
Sage Hill junior C.J. McCord was second in the high jump with a 6-10 1/4. Tesoro senior Mitchell Bland was third (6-8).
Brea Olinda sophomore Austin Tamagno was second in the 1,600 (4:09.57) and Century League rivals Sydney Gidabuday (El Modena) and Garrett Corcoran (Villa Park) ran third and fourth, respectively.
Contact the writer: jparenti@pressenterprise.com
