El Cap history: Navarrette becomes Gauchos’ first Masters track champion

Dominique Navarrette has put down an unforgettable marker at El Capitan High.

The junior became the first Gaucho in the school’s young history to be crowned a Sac-Joaquin Section Masters track and field champion. He did it Thursday at Elk Grove by throwing the discus 166 feet, 5 inches, to beat the 157-4 by runner-up Eric Werner of Granite Bay.

“It’s very humbling,” Navarrette said. “It opens your eyes to your opportunities.”

Navarrette was top-ranked in the section, thanks to his 169-8 at the Division I meet last week at Elk Grove. His performance at Masters depended on one thing – how he would respond to being the favorite.

The answer – not good at first, but plenty good enough later.

He fouled on two of his first three throws and wondered if he was ready for the day.

“I was nervous. I felt like I was in a shadow, the same shadow I was in last year,” Navarrette said. “Would I crumble underneath it or will I keep going?”

Navarrette missed a trip to state last year by three inches. That would not happen again. He launched 163-0 to take the lead on his next-to-last try. With his victory assured, he closed with his 166-5.

“The level of competition helped him,” El Capitan coach Matt Ibarra said. “This is great for our program and will inspire our up and coming kids.”

Navarrette will enjoy familiar company at the CIF Championships next week at Clovis’ Buchanan High. El Capitan senior Jalin Wiggins, who’s competed alongside Navarrette at AAU meets since they attended middle school, captured second place in the triple jump with a PR of 46-2 1/2.

Like Navarrette, Wiggins felt Masters frustration in 2016. His fourth-place finish left him six inches shy of state.

Wiggins responded a year later with his PR in the third round which vaulted him into second place. Juwan Seales of Lincoln controlled the field with his opening 46-9 1/2 which held up for the win.

“They (Navarrette and Wiggins) both wanted to do a little better this year and make the school proud,” Ibarra said.

The triple jump was one of six field-event finals on Day 1 of Masters. Golden Valley senior Kayla Commons settled for second in the triple jump (38-5). Davis-Yolo’s Alyssa Lengtat extended her lead with her eventual winning 38-11 1/2 in the fifth round.

The rest of the evening swung to the track, where trials were staged to decide Friday night’s finalists. Golden Valley senior Shawn Bettencourt, the hero last week as the Cougars captured the Division I title, again came through.

Bettencourt qualified for the finals in four events: The 110-meter hurdles (he won his heat in 14.12), the 100, the 300 hurdles and the 4x100 relay with teammates Isaiah Montenez, Hunter Slatten and Alex Salas. Both GV relay teams earned finals berths, a suitable encore after Golden Valley became the first southern-section team in a decade to claim the blue banner.

Livingston, a week after it annexed its first section track title, stood tall against larger schools with its overall fifth in the 4x400 . Noah Guerra, Grayson Austin, Salomon Ramos and Abhishek Singh were timed in 3:23.62. Singh, slotted in the fastest of the three heats, placed fourth but still squeezed into the final (49.51).

Atwater junior Abraham Maldonado was timed in 1:55.76, an impressive second overall, to win his heat in the 800.

This story was originally published May 26, 2017 at 1:05 AM with the headline "El Cap history: Navarrette becomes Gauchos’ first Masters track champion."