FINISHED:
Cottonwood’s Dani Hayward wins the 7th grade girls 400m race with sheer determination as she crosses the finish line just steps ahead of the rest.

West Cottonwood hosted Shasta Lake and Mountain View schools on Tuesday for another exciting meet.

After a very close race, seventh grader Dani Hayward crossed the finish line steps in front of her competition to take first in the 400m race. Dani’s time was 1:12.0. Dani also won the high jump event by clearing 4’0” and tied for 2nd with Karlee Olson in the 100m.

Long distance runner Jacob Lucero won the 8th grade boys 1600m with a time of 5:48.4 and placed 2nd in the 800m running a 2:42.3. Justin Hale ran the 800m in 2:15.6 and took first place ahead of his teammate.

In the sixth grade girls long distance events Brooke Bostrom, Kaylee Meyer, and Emily Sperou won first, second, and third respectively in both the 800m and 1600m.

Jenna Hinkle ran top speed and took the 6th grade girls 100m, 200m, 400m, and anchored the 4x100m relay for yet another win.

WCJH traveled to Shasta High School’s Thompson Field for their first away meet of the season, for the Junior High Track and Field Invitational meet on Friday.

The staff of Shasta High and the high school’s athletes worked the events and could be heard giving advice to help participants improve their performances.

In the long jump pit, the high school athletes were sharing techniques and tips with the competitors so they could increase the distance of their best jumps.

Teams from WCJH, Evergreen, Sequoia, Redding Adventist Academy, Bella Vista, and St. Joseph’s School were represented.

Fall River and Burney schools were also in attendance and ready to compete.

Medals for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd and ribbons for 4th 5th and 6th were awarded for each event. At the awards table there was a sea of green as athletes waited in line for their awards. One Shasta coach said, “Cottonwood is cleaning up.”

About 125m into the sixth grade boys 200m race the announcer told all competitors to stop running due to a timing error. Participants were told to return to the start to rerun this race. The boys were given a short reprieve while they ran the 7th and 8th grade 200m races next.

Winning the 6th grade boys 200m race was Sean McComas of WCJH.

Wrapping up the competition for the day were two of WCJH’s high jumpers Scott Ferris and Connor Low.

Connor Low, a seventh grader cleared 5’4” to match his best jump while eighth grader Scott Ferris also cleared 5’4”, earning him a new personal best.