Temecula Valley senior prevails in four events, including personal-best 13.65 in 100-meter hurdles; Great Oak wins girls title outright, creates share of boys championship with Vista Murrieta

By Landon Negri for DyeStat

Temecula Valley CA senior Danae Dyer didn’t just want to perform well with the Southwestern League championship meet being held at her school during her final season.

Dyer wanted to own it. And she pretty much did.

Dyer won four events Wednesday, all resulting in personal bests, capping the regular season for one of the most competitive leagues in the entire country.

As Dyer dominated sprint and hurdles events for the girls, Murrieta Mesa senior Christian Shakir-Ricks did the same in sprints and relays on the boys’ side.

Great Oak won the team scoring, with the Wolfpack tallying 199 points to Vista Murrieta’s 136 and ending the league race in a co-championship after the Broncos’ dual-meet win last week. Great Oak’s girls won, 158-134, over Vista Murrieta to secure an undisputed league crown.

Dyer, who committed to San Diego State following the Arcadia Invitational in early April, said she felt a sense of defending her turf while wanting to chalk up as many victories as possible.

“I know that’s what my coach (Desmond Lee) wanted me to do,” she said, “and I was just excited to be like, ‘Yeah, that’s what I’m going to do today.’”

Most impressive was her victory in the 100-meter hurdles. Dyer lowered her own personal-best time to 13.65 seconds, inching closer to state-leader Jada Hicks of Upland (13.54). And it was her fourth consecutive such title, with Dyer never losing a league 100 hurdles race during her career.

“I’m thrilled, shocked and excited all at the same time,” she said.

Dyer also won the 100 in 11.86, the mark that most pleasantly surprised her, in addition to capturing the 200 in 24.53 and anchoring Temecula Valley’s 4x100 relay team to a win in a season-best 48.02.

Shakir-Ricks had a similar night. He won the 100 in 10.55, lowering his personal best by two-hundredths. His anchor leg rallied teammates Jeremiah Queen, Matthew Okonkwo and Davonte Williams to a win in a state-leading time of 41.40 in the 4x100 relay.

Shakir-Ricks really turned heads in the 200, winning in 21.08 and surpassing Yucaipa’s Asani Hampton for the state’s top mark.

He’s not done, either, looking to get into the 20-second range by the end of this season.

“Anything 20 I would be satisfied with,” he said.

Great Oak’s boys rebounded from an April 25 dual-meet loss to Vista Murrieta by flexing their muscles and utilizing the larger-meet scoring format.

Carlos Carvajal doubled  in the 1,600 (4:14.54) and his second consecutive league title in the 3,200 (9:13.90). Harrison Gould, not teammate Jaime Navarro, won the shot put (57-2) and discus (169-1, with Navarro second in both events.

The pair have traded victories in throwing events all season. Both will continue their friendly rivalry as the CIF-Southern Section postseason begins with the Division 1 prelims May 12 at Trabuco Hills High.

“I for sure think Jaime is pretty good in the discus. He’s hit 185,” Gould said. “And then I think I’m pretty good in the shot, and in both of them, I want to improve.”

Senior CJ Stevenson doubled in the long jump (23-3.75) and the triple (47-4) and joined Joel Collins, Mikel Barkley and Grant Gaskins to place second in the 4x100 relay while giving Mesa all it could handle. The Wolfpack’s time of 41.44 was a season best and is now No. 2 in the state.

All this while Stevenson has been nursing a minor leg injury.

“It’s nerve racking,” he said. “You get kind of down, but I just kept my head high and kept stretching and doing what I had to do to get my leg right.”

Vista Murrieta senior Parris Samaniego might have encountered a similar situation Wednesday. After a hair-raising 400 win by two-hundredths (47.97) over Okonwko, Samaniego pulled off the track during the turn in the 200 with what he termed as a calf injury. Something similar, he said, occurred earlier this year at Mt. Carmel.

“Coming off the curve in my 200, I cramped up in the upper part of my calf. …

“Nothing new – I know how to recover from it,” he added. “That didn’t impact my season that bad, so I know it’s not going to do anything right now.”

Teammate Willie Coleman had his second consecutive week with an 800 win when he ran a personal-best 1:55.67.
The girls featured double winners, as well, starting with Great Oak sophomore Tori Gaitan, who won the 1,600 (4:51.80) and the 3,200 (10:27.91).

Gaitan, who won the Citrus Belt League’s 1,600 last year for Yucaipa, led a parade of five Great Oak qualifiers for the Division 1 prelims in the 3,200, along with Fatima Cortes (10:33.28), Sandra Pflughoft (10:36.40), Arianna Griffiths (10:38.10) and Audrey Dang (10:58.07). The first four also moved on in the 1,600.

“It’s really cool to be able to bring not just the top three in each race,” Gaitan said, “but to bring our teammates with us.”

Wolfpack junior Kolonnie Green won the 300 hurdles (44.44) and the high jump (5-0), with teammate Summer Stevenson winning the long jump (17-7.75) and the triple jump (39-6.50).

Vista Murrieta junior Peyton Candaele had a breakthrough win in the 800. Candaele and teammate Makayla Fick went 1-2, with Candaele winning in 2:16.83.

The Broncos also got a win in the girls pole vault from Katrina Meier (12-1). The event saw eight different athletes qualify for the postseason based on the at-large qualifying mark of 10-7.