El Cap sophomore barely misses state berth in discus
El Capitan High sophomore Dominique Navarrette, a man-child at 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, no doubt grew in a different way Thursday.
He blinked back a tear, maybe two, a few minutes after the end of the discus competition at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Track and Field Championships.
With only two throws left in the event, Navarrette sat in third place, which would have qualified him for the CIF State Championships next week in Clovis. It was then swiped from his grasp, however, when Kimball’s Cody Hearn launched 162 feet, 11 inches, good for second place but dropping Navarrette to a thankless fourth.
Which explained the Gaucho star’s emotion at Elk Grove High.
His 151-7 on his fifth attempt, off his personal best of 164 feet, still seemed good enough in the less-than-optimum tailwind. Jacob Cornelio of Elk Grove won (163-7) and Jack Root of Oak Ridge (151-9) clinched third.
Navarrette missed a trip to Clovis next week by two inches.
“The major thing is I’m not going to take this for granted,” he said. “From now on, I’m going to grind out every second.”
Time is on Navarrette’s side. He’ll have two more years to hone his craft. He won the Section D-IV/V title last week and probably would have extended his season at Masters had he clutched his own discus. Problem was, it was misplaced and he borrowed one for the event.
His wasn’t the only close miss. El Capitan teammate Jalin Wiggins, a junior, gradually lengthened his triple-jump leaps and – on his sixth and final attempt – went 45-11 1/2. The D-IV/V champion settled for a painful fourth, 8 1/2 inches shy of third.
Similar small dramas played out during the Masters’ first day. Finals were staged in six field events. On the track, heats were held to qualify for Friday night’s finals. Only the top three, plus those who meet or exceed a standard time or mark, will punch their ticket to next week.
Merced senior Daniel Ambriz, one week after being disqualified from the 1600 for interference at the Division I meet, bounced back impressively. He won his heat of the 800 in 1:55.83, the fastest overall time in his event.
The Golden Valley 4x100 relay team advanced to Friday night with an overall seventh, but the quartet smiled for other reasons. Shawn Bettencourt, Brandon Reyes, Carlentez McDaniel and Alexander Salas were timed in 42.60, which erased a 20-year-old school record.
Brothers James and Eddy Levine, arguably the best sprinters in GV history, were responsible for the former record of 42.66.
“We wanted that record for ourselves,” Salas said, “and we’re going to break the one we set today.”
Merced senior Ashanti McFarland captured his heat of the 200 in 22.10 (third overall), a good response after he missed a finals berth earlier in the 100.
Livingston senior Tina Lao placed seventh in the shot put (38-1).
Others who qualified for Friday night:
▪ Atwater senior Alex Vargas in the 800, thanks to a 1:56.78 (seventh overall) in the same heat with Ambriz.
▪ Bettencourt in the 300 hurdles in 39.66 (eighth overall).
▪ The Atwater 4x400 relay team, which recorded the fifth-best overall time (3:22.13).
Friday’s program begins with field events at 2 p.m. and races at 6.
Ron Agostini: 209-578-2302, @ModBeeSports
This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 11:51 PM with the headline "El Cap sophomore barely misses state berth in discus."