Menlo's Price doubles down at CCS
By Vytas Mazeika | vmazeika@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
GILROY — Maddy Price was fifth in the girls 400-meter dash two years ago at the Central Coast Section track and field championships. The sprinter out of Menlo School-Atherton improved to third in 2012, qualifying for the state meet.
Friday night at Gilroy High, Price fulfilled her potential by leapfrogging another two spots to claim the CCS title in the 400 meters, outsprinting the Piedmont Hills girls who finished ahead of her last year.
"I was just banking on trying to relax on the last straight," Price said. "And on the last like 50, I was starting to tighten a bit and I could feel them on me, but I gave everything I had left. I was digging real deep and I really wanted that championship."
The winning time of 54.78 would have made her the runner-up at last year's state finals.
But her work was far from done.
After climbing atop the podium to accept the first-place medal, Price had roughly an hour to prepare for the 200-meter dash. She was the top qualifier in the event, which Price mainly used as a workout during the early portion of the season because Menlo coach Jorge Chen thought it would improve her speed on the 400.
"It's just a fun race because it's half the length of a 400, and it feels really short," Price said.
That's why the first steps out of the blocks are so crucial, and a bad start in the CCS finals forced her to dig deep one more time. Once the race reached the straightaway, Price turned on the afterburners.
"Everything else went as planned," Price said. "I was hoping to have a little bit quicker of a start to get out on the curve, because all of the girls can really get out, especially all the Piedmont girls. But I was just happy to close on the last 100."
Gunn-Palo Alto junior Sarah Robinson will also compete in two events at the state championships next week, which begin with Friday's prelims at Buchanan High in Clovis. The finals are Saturday.
But prior to state, the long-distance runner must take her finals this week in the classroom.
"They're stressful in different ways," Robinson said. "I mean, the state finals are just going to be fun and competitive, though."
The 1,600-meter run may not be more competitive in Clovis than it was at Gilroy.
San Lorenzo Valley junior Anna Maxwell crushed a 13-year-old CCS record by nearly five seconds to win at 4:42.57. Aptos senior Nikki Hiltz, the reigning state champion, finished as the runner-up. Robinson, who was second until Hiltz passed her with 200 meters left, was disappointed with her race.
"I knew I could run better than that," said Robinson, who took third in 4:48.41. "But I can look forward to next week and do well there."
What she deemed as "complications" kept her from completing the cross country season and off the soccer pitch in the winter. But Robinson credits Gunn coach PattieSue Plumer, a two-time Olympian, with helping to outline her workout regimen this spring.
"She was such a successful runner, so it's been a great resource for me," Robinson said. "And it's so much fun to be back competing and stuff."
Robinson positioned herself with the four-person lead pack in the 3,200 run, which quickly outdistanced itself from a trio that included Los Altos' Lauren Jacob (5th) and Gunn's Gillian Meeks (7th) — both freshmen.
The 5-foot-4 Robinson waited to pass two of the runners as they fell off the pace set during the final laps by Maxwell, who won her second event. Robinson finished six seconds behind as the runner-up in 10:28.08.
"When I see someone kind of dropping off, I try to stick with the person who is pressing the pace as best as I can," Robinson said.
Gunn freshman Miya Miklos edged out SCVAL De Anza rival Kolisa Nhlapo of Mountain View to finish first in the 300-meter hurdles. Winning a CCS title put the exclamation point on a breakout campaign that not even Miklos saw coming.
"It's been so unbelievable," Miklos said. "In this race — and every race — I've just been trying to I guess believe in myself and believe that I can sprint all the way to the end. And when you are sprinting that last 100, it's so undescribeable because you're not thinking, but you're just feeling what to do. You're just living in the moment. It hasn't really sunk in yet, but it's amazing."
Miklos hit the final hurdle with the heel of her lead leg and nearly stumbled before crossing the finish line in 43.39.
"I just had to stay composed and finish it out," Miklos said. "This is the most dramatic it's ever been for me."
Nhlapo ran the 100-meter hurdles an hour earlier and clocked a 15.21 — the same time as the third-place finisher. But the junior instead placed fourth to miss the ticket to state by thousandths of a second.
"It was that 0.00-something of a second," Nhlapo said. "Yeah, it stung a little bit. But I felt like it was good motivation to go out and PR and do well in the 300."
The runner-up finish in the 300 hurdles, with a time of 44.04, guarantees Nhlapo a trip to Clovis.
"I love it so much," Nhlapo said. "And I'm so glad that I'm going to keep going into state. And I'll see Miklos there, so it will be good."
The rest of the CCS placers (only top three automatically qualify to state):
Carlmont-Belmont freshman Anaya Alexander took fourth in the 400 (56.89).
Menlo-Atherton freshman Annalisa Crowe made a late push to place fifth in the 800 run (2:15.37).
Menlo-Atherton placed fifth in the 1,600 relay.
Mountain View junior Melissa Reed was sixth in the 1,600 (5:02.11).
Woodside sophomore Abby Taussig finished sixth in the 300 hurdles (46.14).
Gunn junior Adriana Noronha tossed her way to sixth in the shot put (36 feet, 1½ inches).
Email Vytas Mazeika at vmazeika@dailynewsgroup.com; follow him at Twitter.com/dailynewsvytas.