Sonoma sends 4 to prestigious MOC

After qualifying at the recent Sonoma County League championships, 21 Sonoma Valley High School varsity track and field boys and girls faced the top athletes from the wide-ranging North Coast Section in Saturday’s Redwood Empire Area Meet at Santa Rosa’s Ernie Nevers Field and Track.

Needing a top-seven Redwood Empire finish to advance to the prestigious NCS Meet of Champions, four Dragons rose to the occasion and will compete in the prestigious MOC, which takes place Friday and Saturday, May 29 and 30, at the University of California, Berkeley’s Edward’s Stadium.

Pacing the talented Sonoma quartet at the NCS Redwood Empire meet was sophomore SCL three-event champion Kiara Miles, who reached the MOC in two running events, and possibly a third.

After racing to a fourth-place finish in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.40 seconds, Miles looked to have qualified in the 100 meters running in the third and fastest heat.

But a clock malfunction forced a rerunning of the heat after all the area meet’s events were held and Miles – who later tied for seventh in the 200 at 26.20, which requires a runoff being held today in Petaluma – actually ran faster, sprinting to an impressive third place in 12.87.

Qualifying for the MOC in two events was standout Lady Dragon freshman Amy Stanfield, who on the heels of snaring an SCL title trifecta claimed a sixth-place finish in the 400 at 1 minute, .63 seconds. She finished eighth in the 1,600 in 5:14.65, but advanced when a runner ahead of here scratched.

Sonoma junior Isabel Garon, battling in the competitive NCS girls pole vault after breaking the school record and winning the league title at 10 feet, 6 inches, had a rare off day and couldn’t clear 10 feet, but still advanced to the MOC for the second straight year.

The lone Dragon boy reaching the MOC was junior Edwin Reyes, who turned in a courageous effort in the 400 with a fourth place in 50.61 after the defending league event champion collapsed in the SCL championships, and was hospitalized with dehydration and heat exhaustion. He still managed second place in the event.

Also competing in the NCS Redwood Empire Meet for the Lady Dragons were junior Madeline Libbey in the 1,600 and 3,200; sophomore Hannah Ford-Monroe in the 100 and 300 hurdles and the 400 relay; sophomore Grace Cutting in the 300 hurdles and 1,600 relay; frosh Emma Maggioncalda in the 100 hurdles and 400 relay; sophomore Madeline Cashel in the 3,200; frosh Sydney Von Gober in the 800; sophomore Katie Stovall in the 1,600 relay; and sophomore Annabelle Stava and frosh Nashielly Canetas in the 400 relay.

The other Sonoma boys who competed in the NCS Redwood Empire Meet were senior Ian Sloop in the high jump and pole vault; junior Travis Claeys in the 1,600 and 3,200; senior Ben Andrews-Amarantes in the pole vault; sophomore Noah Bartolome in the 110 hurdles; seniors Brian Casillas and Graham Herder in both the 400 and 1,600 relays; junior David Lopez in the 400 relay; and sophomore Angel Barcenas in the 1,600 relay.