Three Bakersfield athletes have made the fast heat in this event and two of them have a shot at winning the race out right. Jerrid Lewis (Ridgeview 11) has the fastest time in the valley this season and has been winning 800s all season long. He can wait and out sprint you at the end or as he did at area, take it out hard (54 seconds for the first 400) and run a PR.
Highland's Jake Van Zandt (Highland 11) has been the bridesmaid all season long and has the tools to take down a win at valley. Many local coaches are impressed with Jake and coach Mayberry knows how to get his athletes to a peak at the right time. Plus Jake has his teammate in the race with him. Colin Lewis (Highland 11) is known as a 1600 runner but recently PRed at the South Area meet with 1:58.49 clocking. So depending on how the 1600 goes, Colin could help his teammate get the win.
Event 12 Men 800 Meter Run
Saturday 5/23/2009 - 6:50 PM
Lane Name Yr School Seed Time
Section 1 of 2 Finals
1 Gonzales, Christian Exeter 2:03.13 ______
2 Gutierrez, Alfonso 12 Reedley 2:02.89 ______
3 Gillis, Taylor Buchanan 2:01.56 ______
4 Barger, Caleb Frontier 2:00.61 ______5 Thompkins, Isaac Bullard 1:58.88 ______
6 Burke, Stephen Stockdale 2:00.12 ______7 Arellano, Geraldo Coalinga 2:01.29 ______
8 Bryd, Tyler 12 Tulare Union 2:02.89 ______
9 Salisbury, Zed Yosemite 2:03.04 ______
Section 2 of 2 Finals
1 Lewis, Colin Highland 1:58.49 ______2 Fox, Ben 11 Sanger 1:58.16 ______
3 Brown, Chris Madera South 1:57.78 ______
4 Sanchez, Jonathan Buchanan 1:57.13 ______
5 Lewis, Jerrid Ridgeview 1:54.63 ______6 Arellano, Jesse Madera 1:56.01 ______
7 Van Zandt, Jake Highland 1:57.16 ______8 Younger, Cole 12 Mt. Whitney 1:57.98 ______
9 Sharwood, William Clovis West 1:58.17 ______
Alternates
1 Ortiz, Marvin Clovis East 2:01.77
2 Arias, Jonathan Central 2:02.58
3 Garcia, Jonathan Parlier 2:03.14
top marks '09
s-1 1:54.63a +jerrid lewis,ridgeview-bk 5-13 so area
n-2 1:55.05a jonathan sanchez,buchanan-clo 4-17 lemoore
n-1 1:56.01a jesse arellano,madera 5-13 no area
c-1 1:56.45a cole younger,mt whitney-vis 5-8 wyl
c-2 1:56.69a +ben fox,sanger 3-7 ssc
s-2 1:56.95a +jake vanZandt,highland-bk 4-4 WCR
n-3 1:57.78a chris brown,madera south 5-13 no area
n-4 1:58.17a william sharwood,clo west 5-13 no area
s-3 1:58.49a colin lewis,highland-bk 5-13 so area
As you can tell this field is fast and packed. Sanchez has had a great career and recently broke his school's record in the 800. Plus Buchanan is the favorite to win the team title, which means he will be a busy athlete at the meet and more than likely triple (8/16/32) at the meet. This is good knews for Jerrid and Jake. I have also heard that Jesse Arrellano is the real deal too.
Bakersfield has five in the 800, the other two are Stephem Burke (Stockdale) and Caleb Barger (Frontier) who are fine 800 runners in there own right. But not being in the fast heat will make scoring in the meet or qualifying for state difficult. Of course, both are underclassmen so the valley experience itself should heed them well in the future.
The boys 800 will be at 6:50pm.
