For the third consecutive year, Mahogany Simon represented Central Valley's varsity girls track and field program at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters meet.

Simon finished 19th overall with a time of 48.19 seconds during the trials of the 300 hurdles on Thursday at Elk Grove High School.

Mahogany appeared headed to the finals before dropping from third to sixth in the preliminaries.

The top eight competitors from three heats earned berths.

"She was confident," coach Nate Diamantine said. "She was ready for her best race ever. If she didn't have the misfortune of hitting a few hurdles, she would have had a chance at qualifying for finals. That slowed her down a little bit. It happens to everybody."

Simon enjoyed another productive season with the Hawks.

She finished second in the 300 hurdles (46.54) and fourth in the 100 hurdles (16.29) at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV-V finals.
Mahogany swept the 300 hurdles (49.96) and 100 hurdles (17.18) at the Western Athletic Conference Championships for the second year in a row. She also placed first in the 200 (27.21).

Simon has won five individual WAC titles in three years.

Older sister Heaven Simon (class of 2015) claimed eight titles, including the 400 four times, 300 hurdles twice, and 200 and 100 once.

"She (Heaven) wants to see Mahogany succeed and exceed her times," Diamantine said. "She's a positive influence."

Mahogany will continue to lead by example.

"It's always nice when your better athletes are your best teammates," Diamantine said. "Mahogany's a quiet leader. She's there every day working hard. That's infectious."

Simon plans to continue her track and field career at the next level.

"We've already had discussions about colleges," Diamantine said. "She has aspirations of doing it. But we need to focus on next year. Our goal is to qualify for finals and take the next step."