Seventeen members of Ceres High School’s track and field program competed at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division-IV Championships this past week at Weston Ranch.

Lilly Blevins, Jillian Mande, Evelyn Alvarez, Liset Renteria, Giulia Puonzo and Jelaine Esguerra represented Ceres High’s girls team at Divisionals.

Blevins placed fourth with a toss of 28 feet, 9 inches in the shot put.

“I was right on the edge of making it to Masters,” she said. “I didn’t qualify. The competition was a lot harder this year. There were a lot of girls that were incredibly good at throwing.”

Blevins finished sixth in the shot put at Divisionals as a sophomore.

“There was definitely improvement in my performance this season,” she said. “I was a lot more driven to try to be better. I worked a lot harder and focused more. My goal next year is to hit 33 feet or farther and go to Masters. I want to throw in college.”

Throws coach/former Ceres High multi-sport standout Conner Johnson played a big role in Blevins’ development this spring.

“He focuses on every thrower individually and tries to figure out which techniques work best,” Blevins said.

Mande set a personal record with a mark of 96 feet, 7 inches while taking fourth in the discus.

She also finished 12th in the shot put (24-81/2).

Ceres High’s 4x800 relay team of Alvarez, Renteria, Puonzo and Esguerra placed seventh (11:49.18).

Lebron Stallworth, Faiva Tuakalau, Tre Karriem, Manny Mendoza, Cesar Bolanos Aleman, Reis Smith, Adrian Huesca, Ricky Stanley, Tarrell Lee-Gill, Dakota Adams and Daniel Baker represented Ceres High’s boys team.

Stallworth placed fourth in the high jump.

He cleared 5 feet, 11 inches.

“There was some pretty good competition in my event,” Stallworth said. “Everybody competed and had fun.”

Stallworth had a productive final season with the Bulldogs.

He didn’t compete at Divisionals as a junior due to illness.

“I’m pretty satisfied with how I did throughout the season,” Stallworth said. “Last year, my PR in the high jump was 5-6. I improved by six inches.”

Tuakalau placed sixth with a mark of 41 feet, 8 inches in the shot put.

Karriem, a sophomore, set a personal record (39-03) while placing sixth in the triple jump.

Mendoza placed seventh with a time of 52.65 seconds during the finals of the 400.

He set a personal record (52.33) while taking third during the prelims.

Ceres High’s 4x400 relay team of Mendoza, Bolanos Aleman, Smith and Huesca placed sixth (3:40.53).

Ceres High’s 4x100 relay team of Stallworth, Mendoza, Stanley and Lee-Gill placed seventh (45.84) in prelims.

Mendoza, Stanley, Karriem and Stallworth were disqualified in the finals.

Karriem filled in for Lee-Gill, who was unable to attend the final day of the championships because he had to travel to Mexico. 

“We didn’t have a clean handoff so we were DQ’d,” Stallworth said.

Adams placed eighth in the pole vault (10-0).

Baker placed 11th in the discus (110-01).