Pali High Track and Field Team Makes Its Mark at City Prelims

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

There were plenty of reasons for optimism for the Palisades High track and field team after last Thursday’s City Section prelims at Birmingham High.

Numerous Dolphins qualifed for the finals, led by senior Bailey Jones, who recorded the top marks in the varsity long jump (22-2.50) and triple jump (46-9.50) and won his heat in the 110-meter high hurdles, placing third overall in 15.34 seconds, behind Carson’s Andre Butt (14.85) and Hamilton’s Ryan Fields (14.96).

Last season, Jones leaped 21-7.75 but settled for second place by a quarter of an inch in the long jump, also took second in the triple jump (44-06.00) and placed seventh in the hurdles in 15.64 at City finals.

He set a personal best of 23 feet in the long jump at the Western League finals on May 10.

Cameron Bailey also qualified in the triple jump, placing seventh  with a distance of 41-11.50. The senior, a receiver on the Dolphins’ football team in the fall, clocked 11.72 in the 100-meter dash.

Palisades’ boys 4×100 relay of Jeremy Sacristia, Jones, Nick Mendez and Rayne Camden  won its heat and took fourth overall in 43.39 while the 4×400 relay of Sacristia, Mendez, Emmett Kallmeyer and Camden placed fifth in 3:29.25.

In the 200, Camden (23.20), Mendez (23.28) and Sacristia (23.37) were mere fractions from qualifying. In the 400, Mendez (sixth in 50.29) and Camden (seventh in 50.46) both qualified.

Kallmeyer, a junior, missed advancing to the finals by 67 hundredths of a second after clocking 2:03.93 in the 800-meter race.

Senior Finn Cawley was ninth overall in 4:35.36 while junior Brent Smith also qualified for the finals by placing 11th in 4:36.82 in the 1600. Later, Smith took sixth in the 3200 and freshman Lucas Schriver also qualified by placing 11th in 10:08.38. Smith took seventh in the City in the four-lapper and the eight-lapper last season.   

Syr Riley, an All-City lineman on the Dolphins’ football team in the fall, heaved the shot 36-01.00 and Corey White’s best effort was  33-10.50.

On the girls side, Pali High junior Lilyan Garside missed a spot in the 200-meter finals by 56th hundredths of a second, but she won her heat in 59.14 and took third overall in the 400 while freshman Mia Emerson nabbed the eighth of nine qualifying spots in 60.25. Molly Ryan (63.35) and Jackie Hamilton (66.01) also ran the event.

After dominating the distance events at league finals, Palisades kept its momentum at prelims. In the 800, Brittany Darrow was second in her heat and fourth overall in 2:24.04 while junior Sklar Smith was 13th in 2:31.30 and just missed qualifying.

Looking like the favorite to repeat as the City 1600 champion, junior Elizabeth Rene posted the fastest time (5:11.21) while her freshman teammate Miranda Schriver, who won the City cross country individual title in the fall, won the second heat and was second overall in 5:15.32. Sophomore Sarah Bentley was second to Schriver in Heat 2 and fourth overall in 5:215.91.

Later, Schriver won the 3200 in 11:32.88, almost 10 seconds faster than her time at league finals but well off the personal-best 11:16.08 she ran at the Tiger Invitational in April. Bentley, the City 3200 meter champion last spring, was fourth at prelims in 11:35.58 and Jessica Biershenk was the 11th of 16 qualifiers in 12:13.21.

Palisades’ 4×100 relay, consisting of Ryan, Garside, Chandler Smith and Emerson was second in its heat and seventh overall in 49.93 and the Dolphins’ 4×400 relay of Garside, Darrow, Emerson and Smith won its heat and placed fifth overall in 4:10.66.

Smith  leaped 15-11.75, good enough for sixth in the long jump and also competed in the 100. Emerson clocked 27.21 in the 200.

Sophomore Cassandra Hernandez  ran sixth in the frosh-soph 3200 girls finals in 12:49.36 and Pali High teammate Jennifer Karlay clocked 13:38.66. Trace Kasik (10:57.08) was 12th among boys.      

The City Championships are today at El Camino College in Torrance. Field events begin at 2 and running events start at 5:30.