Buhach Colony’s Eastman, Hilmar’s Olson ready to compete at state meet

It’s a busy week for Buhach Colony High School’s Stephon Eastman and Hilmar’s Dani Olson. Both will participate in graduation ceremonies Thursday and compete in the CIF State Track and Field Championships on Friday.

Eastman and Olson qualified for the state meet for the first time. Eastman will compete in the high jump after clearing 6 feet, 7 inches at last week’s Sac-Joaquin Section Masters meet in Elk Grove. The mark was a personal best and the automatic qualifying height for the state meet.

Olson finished third in the Masters’ 100-meter hurdles in 15.16 seconds to earn her berth in the state meet, which begins Friday at 3 p.m. at Buchanan High in Clovis.

“Having graduation and then competing the next day isn’t the best,” Eastman said. “It takes a little away from graduation. I can’t go to all the functions with all my friends and family, but I can make time for that after track is done.”

Eastman has been working his entire prep career toward fulfilling his goal of competing in the state meet against the top athletes in California. His quest had a dramatic conclusion.

Eastman was down to his final attempt at 6-7 last week. Before his final attempt, he moved his starting position back to gain more speed on his approach, and it paid off.

“This time, I hope to correct those things,” Eastman said. “I was having problems with my (starting) mark because it was where the track and grass meets. Those two different surfaces wasn’t working for me. Hopefully, that won’t be a problem this week.”

Eastman has been backing off at practice this week to preserve his energy for competition. However, he has raised the bar in practice.

“We’ve been working higher so I can adjust my technique,” Eastman said. “Normally throughout the season, we work with the bar at 5-6. This week, it’s been higher.”

Olson also has had light workouts in preparation for Friday.

“It has been slightly stressful with everything going on, but I’ve definitely made time for practice,” Olson said. “I feel ready. I went over the hurdles (Wednesday), and I’ll take (Thursday) off for graduation. I’m going to go to sober grad for a couple hours. It kind of stinks that I’ll have to miss it, but it’s worth missing. I’ll get to spend a couple hours with my friends, and a lot of them are coming to the meet on Friday to support me.”

Like Eastman, the state meet has been a goal of Olson’s during her high school career. When she had back issues this season, she wasn’t sure she’d get this opportunity. Olson is going to enjoy the experience.

“It’s definitely special,” she said. “It really is a dream come true.”

This story was originally published June 3, 2015 at 6:52 PM with the headline "Buhach Colony’s Eastman, Hilmar’s Olson ready to compete at state meet."