The baseball and softball teams weren’t the only ones with members playing into the post-season. The track and field squads sent representatives as far as the State CIF finals in Fresno last weekend.
The “galloping Greyhounds” had several middle-distance runners in the hunt for much of the season, and at the NCS Meet of Champions in Dublin they had their chance. Freshman Phoenix De Maria Nall placed second in the 800m (a personal record 1:54.24), wrestling through a clutch of top runners to nab the spot just behind winner James Prater of Bishop O’Dowd (1:53.95).
In the same race, senior Jake McWilliams made the podium in fifth place (1:54.81). Another young team member, sophomore Lucas Welty, also made the podium in the demanding 3200m, placing sixth with a time of 9:29.17.
On the track side of the field, sophomore hopeful Teague Jasper came up short of his season standard with a jump of 6 feet 6 inches, two clicks behind two winning jumpers at 6 feet 8 inches. But since the CIF threshold is 6 feet 6 inches, he got a ticket to Fresno, along with De Maria Nall.
California is a big state, as the drive to Fresno makes one keenly aware. The athletic talent that converges on the central state city is bound to be statistically superior than from any one town. The prize is making it to State.
For Jasper, his season low of 6 feet 5 inches must have been a disappointment. But the sophomore has two more years of competition to show how high he can go.
Congratulations to all the HHS student athletes in the 2025-26 school year, whatever team they played on.
