Hannah Goranson left her mark at the state track and field meet, and one of her competitors left a mark on her.
After placing fourth in the 100-meter hurdles Saturday at Buchanan High in Clovis, the Los Altos Hills resident noticed a handprint on her thigh.
“On the eighth hurdle, the girl in the next lane hit me pretty hard,” said Goranson, a senior at Valley Christian High in San Jose. “It threw me off a little bit, and the girl who hit me beat me by .08.”
Goranson finished in a wind-aided personal best 13.68 seconds. Ayala High’s Brea Buchanan – who Goranson admitted to inadvertently hitting as well earlier in the race – finished in 13.60 to nab third place.
“Hurdles is a really physical race,” Goranson said. “I didn’t think it would be when I started, but it really is.”
This marked the third consecutive race Goranson has been hit in the heat of a heat and the fourth time this season.
“The first time it happened was at Arcadia (Invitational) in April, and I lost my focus,” said Goranson, headed to Duke University in the fall. “But now I’m getting used to it.”
That was apparent Saturday. Goranson said she “probably ran the best all season as far as technique goes.”
In Friday’s trials, Goranson clocked 13.84 to place fifth.
Sturges surges in 1,600
Mountain View High’s Allison Sturges stuck to her plan in the 1,600 run, and it resulted in a personal-record time and a sixth-place finish in the finals.
“I didn’t want to get caught up in running too fast early on and not having anything at the end,” said the sophomore, who ran a 4:57.48. “I ran a good pace that I could handle and finished pretty strong.”
Sturges said the race “went out really fast” and she was near the back of the pack for the first lap. Sturges steadily moved up the next two laps and surged to sixth in the final one.
“The last lap I started passing more people, and with 200 (meters) to go, I was in sixth,” she said. “When I was running the straightaway, I tried to catch the next girl ahead of me and get a PR (personal record). I didn’t catch her, but I closed the gap.”
Sturges beat her previous-best time by 2 seconds, and she did so in less-than-ideal weather – windy and near 90 degrees.
“I ran pretty well, but if the conditions were better, I could have run even faster,” she said. “But you can’t control it.”
It was warmer for the trials, and the times were slower. Sturges ran a 5:01.51, taking second in her heat and fourth overall.
“I didn’t expect to do that well and pass some of the girls that I beat,” said Sturges, who missed the finals by three spots last year. “With 250 (meters) left, I started passings girls I knew had really fast times. They were probably thinking, ‘Who the heck is this girl?’”
Spartans head coach Steve Kemp seems to know exactly who Sturges is – and why she’s so successful.
“She is one of the smartest, most coach-able and focused high school athletes I have known,” he said.
Sturges also ran on Mountain View’s 4×400 relay, along with Maya Weigel, Ariana Mott and Emily Andrew. The foursome went as far as the trials, finishing 24th overall and sixth in its heat with a 4:02.94.
“Our team worked really hard to get to state and we weren’t expected to make it,” said Sturges, whose relay ranked fifth entering the Central Coast Section finals but placed third May 28. “We knew we weren’t going to do well, but we were super-excited to be there.”
Planell sets PR in pole vault
Los Altos High’s Diamara Planell set a personal record in the girls pole vault – clearing 11 feet, 3 inches – and just missed the finals. The junior finished 11th in the trials, a spot shy of moving on.
Planell, who said she nearly made 11-9, entered state ranked 17th.
“The meet went well,” said Planell, in her first year as a pole-vaulter.
Planell’s 4×100 relay team – which included Catherine Li, Claire Bowie and Sarah Wobber – finished 28th in the trials with a 49.74.
“The girls 4×100 ran a solid race, especially considering that they had to replace one of their runners on Wednesday and never had a chance to practice handoffs,” said Eagles coach PattiSue Plumer, adding that Bowie replaced Grace Lo, who chose to attend her graduation Friday.
Injury hinders Gradiska
Angela Gradiska successfully defended her CCS titles in the girls 100 and 200 dashes, but state was a struggle for the Pinewood School senior. She failed to get to the finals, finishing 19th in the 200 trials (25.38) and 25th in the 100 (12.26).
Gradiska, who suffered a foot injury early in the season, said she was not 100 percent for state and had not yet reached her peak times. The Stanford University-bound sprinter placed second in the 200 and fourth in 100 at the state finals last year.
Armistead races for Bells
Los Altos resident George Armistead ran the first leg of Bellarmine College Prep’s 4×100 relay, which came in 17th at the trials. The Bells finished in 43.01.
“We ran well, but our time wouldn’t show it because there was a good deal of wind during our race,” said the junior, whose relay was second at CCS. “I’m happy with our performance and very excited for next year because we were one of the youngest teams at the state meet (three juniors and a freshman), and I hope we can continue our success next year.”
Rutner races to 25th in 400
Mountain View High’s Mark Rutner didn’t run his best 400 dash at state, but he won’t let it tarnish his season.
“I did not do as well as I had hoped,” said the senior, 25th in the trials with a 50.75. “My main goal of the season was to make it to the meet and once I did, I realized I really didn’t have any expectations for the meet. The experience was great.”
Rutner ran a 49.68 at CCS for third and was part of the Spartans’ victorious 4×400 relay (3:22.83).
Rowe, Robinson run 3,200
Gunn’s Erin Robinson of Los Altos Hills and Mountain View’s Garrett Rowe went directly to the finals of the 3,200, which does not have preliminaries. CCS champ Robinson, a junior, placed 13th in the girls race (10:53.14) and senior Rowe was 26th in the boys event (9:33.69). Rowe was fourth last year.
Other locals in state
Several other local athletes went as far as the state trials: Mountain View’s Ian Myjer in the boys 1,600 run (19th, 4:25.35); Los Altos’ Todd Grimm in the boys 110 hurdles (22nd, 15.22); Los Altos’ Scott Greathouse in the boys high jump (no height); Gunn’s Kieran Gallagher, a Los Altos Hills resident, in the girls 800 run (30th, 2:21.09); and the girls 4×400 relay teams from St. Francis (19th, 3:59.39) and Mountain View (24th, 4:02.94).
For complete state results, visit www.cifstate.org.
Contact Pete Borello at [email protected].
