Merced’s Hagerman shines in CCC track meet

Merced High School track stars Quinn Hagerman and Ciara Colon are so close they actually share shoes when they race.

They both wear size 7, so one will wear the left shoe of the blue pair and the right shoe of the orange pair, and the other vice versa.

“She’s my training partner,” Hagerman said as she wrapped her arm around Colon after they finished the 3,200-meter race. “We race together. Sometimes, we talk to each other during the race. We just try to run consistent.”

Hagerman, who is only a freshman, won three individual events at Wednesday’s Central California Conference Center Meet at Golden Valley High’s Veterans Stadium. Hagerman finished first in the 800 (2 minutes, 28.75 seconds), 1,600 (5:37.87) and 3,200 (12:17), and Colon finished second in each event. The duo also teamed to help the Bears finished second in the 4x400 relay.

“It was a fun day,” Hagerman said.

While Hagerman knows she’ll be logging a lot of miles for her team to earn points during the regular season, she knows which event she wants to focus on toward the end of the season.

“I like the mile,” she said. “It’s not as short as the 800 and not as long as the 2-mile. My leg speed wasn’t as great as I’d like it to be. I think it’s good for the mile. That’s the event I want to try to go as far as I can in.”

The Merced girls finished with 118 team points, which was second to Pitman (125). The Pride was led by Kiana Clay, who won the 200 (25.76) and 400 (59.15) and finished second to Golden Valley’s Naomi Peterson in the 100.

“(Clay) is very good competition for me,” said Peterson, who crossed the finish line in 12.55 seconds. “She’s very good.”

Peterson’s time was a personal best in the 100, topping her previous best of 12.67 seconds, which came last year.

When asked what the difference is for Peterson this year from last year, her answer was simple.

“I’m trying,” Peterson said. “At practice, I’m doing all the workouts. I’m doing a lot of stretching. Last year was more about seeing if I like (track). I didn’t know if I would like it or not. I don’t quit, so I stuck with it. This year, I’m really enjoying it.”

The Golden Valley boys won their second center meet with 127.5 team points to beat Atwater (111). The Cougars won with their depth as they only won two events with Brandon Reyes winning the 300 hurdles (40.43) and the 4x100 relay taking first with Shawn Bettencourt, Reyes, Carlentez McDaniel and Alexander Salas crossing the finish line in 43.35 seconds.

Salas also finished second in the 100 and 200 behind Merced’s Ashanti McFarland.

“We push each other a lot,” said McFarland, who turned in times of 11.0 in the 100 and 22.26 in the 200. “I’m thankful I’m in a league with very good sprinters who are going to push me more. My goal is to make it to state, and I need that help. It’s going to push me all year.”

Other local winners on the boys side included: Atwater’s Brian Stokes in the 110 high hurdles (15.46); Merced’s Daniel Ambriz in the 1,600 (4:27.50); Merced’s Stephen Williams in the high jump (6 feet, 2 inches); Atwater’s Alex Vargas in the 800 (2:00.90); Merced’s Julian Johnson in the 3,200 (9:47.06); and Atwater’s Jared Del Real in the shot put.

Other girls to win were Merced’s Denise Bates in the discus (123-10); Golden Valley’s Stephanie Moore in the high jump (4-10); Merced’s Angelena Williams in the 110 hurdles (16.19); and Buhach Colony’s Jessica Pinasco in the long jump (16-8).

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 9:15 PM with the headline "Merced’s Hagerman shines in CCC track meet."