Ceres High’s track and field team will be well-represented at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV-V Championships this week at Riverbank High School.

Approximately 21 Bulldog student-athletes qualified for the meet after finishing in the top four in their respective events at the Western Athletic Conference Finals on May 3 at CUSD’s newly-renovated stadium.

Crosstown-rival Central Valley had two individuals and three relay teams advance to Divisionals.

“You want to be peaking and setting personal records at this point of the season,” Ceres High head coach Brett Johnson said. “These kids did.”

“I’m super happy,” Hawks’ leader Michael Mrgudic added. “The kids performed really well. We had a lot of personal bests.”

Ceres High’s boys 4x100 relay team of Reis Smith, Joseluis Arreola, Nathaniel Macias and Tre Karriem made history while finishing in first place with a time of 43.34 seconds.

They broke school (43.75) and WAC (43.36) finals records set in 1982 and 2012, respectively.

“To have them do it at our home stadium is awesome,” Johnson said. “The beginning of the year, they told me they were going to break the (school) record. They went out and did it. They worked really hard.”

Smith, Arreola, Macias and Karriem also turned in standout individual performances for Ceres High’s boys team at the conference championships, along with David Rodriguez-Ochoa, Alex Vas Dinis, Cashton Almeida, Sergio Torres, Calen Adams, Kyle Phongsa, Somil Bansal, Adrian Huesca and McCoy Adams.

Rodriguez-Ochoa placed first in the 110 hurdles (15.43) and 300 hurdles (41.52).

He set personal records in both events.

“From last year to this year, David dropped off four seconds in both hurdle races,” Johnson said.

Vas Dinis placed first in the discus (140-3) and second in the shot put (46-2).

“He’s really become passionate about the throws,” Johnson said. 

Almeida placed first in the 400 (50.68), second in the 200 (22.98) and fourth in the high jump (5-8).

He set personal records in the 400 and 200.

Karriem placed second in the long jump (21-3).

He set a personal record in the event.

Smith placed third in the long jump (20-83/4) and sixth in the 200 (23.44).

He set a personal record in the long jump.

Torres placed third in the 800 (2:02.91) and seventh in the 1,600 (4:36.39).

He set a personal record in the 1,600.

Calen Adams placed third in the pole vault (11-9).

He set a personal record in the event.

Phongsa placed third in the triple jump (41-1).

He set a personal record in the event.

Ceres High’s 4x400 boys relay team of Almeida, Torres, Bansal and Huesca placed third (3:33.92).

Macias placed fourth in the 100 (11.61).

He set a personal record in the event.

McCoy Adams placed fourth in the pole vault (11-0).

Mariah Zamora, Alanize Moreno, Brooke Kiser, Alyssa Rodriguez, Jayden Garcia, Emily Esparza, Genevieve Villasenor and Sovannary Carter led Ceres High’s girls team at the WAC Championships.

Zamora placed first in both the triple jump (35-103/4) and long jump (16-31/4).

She broke the WAC finals record in the triple jump.

She also set a personal record in the event.

“To see the smile on her face was awesome,” Johnson said. “She did amazing. I’m really happy for her.”

Moreno placed first in the discus (96-3) and ninth in the shot put (25-8).

She set a personal record in the discus.

“She was one of the better throwers in league all year,” Johnson said. 

Ceres High’s 4x400 girls relay team of Kiser, Rodriguez, Zamora and Garcia placed third (4:34.98).

Ceres High’s 4x100 girls relay team of Kiser, Zamora, Esparza and Villasenor placed fourth (53.75).

Carter placed third in the triple jump (32-51/4), seventh in the long jump (14-31/2) and ninth in the 300 hurdles (58.07). 

She set a personal record in the triple jump.

Kiser placed fourth in the 400 (1:05.31) and sixth in the 200 (28.45).

She set a personal record in the 400.

Garcia placed fourth in the 100 hurdles (18.01), eighth in the 300 hurdles (56.85) and 10th in the 400 (1:08.32).

She set a personal record in the 100 hurdles.

Cristina Carmona, Eliana Tamayo, Ayleen Apreza, Kassandra Torres, Alicia Torres and Andrea Tejeda excelled while representing Central Valley’s girls team at the league finals.

Carmona placed second in the shot put (28-10) and sixth in the discus (76-1).

She set a personal record in the discus.

“She’s our first thrower to make it to Divisionals since I’ve been here,” Mrgudic said. “It’s a testament to what coach Luis Calderon has been doing with the throws program.”

Tamayo placed fourth in the 200 (28.01).

She set a personal record in the event.

Central Valley’s 4x800 girls relay team of Tamayo, Apreza, Kassandra Torres and Alicia Torres placed third (11:38.74).

Central Valley’s 4x400 girls relay team of Tamayo, Tejeda, Alicia Torres and Kassandra Torres placed fourth (4:35.80).

Central Valley’s 4x400 boys relay team of Ernesto Martinez, Steve Duran, Xavier Banta and Adam Victorino placed fourth (3:47.87).