TWO GUYS=ONE STATE TITLE FOR CLOVIS EAST

Willy Irwin and Michael Peterson give the Timberwolves its first ever state championship in track and field; Hasay has another Jordanesque performance.

By Megan Poindexter
VSP Senior Writer:

Clovis East has done it again.

The blossoming school continues to demonstrate the quality of its’ athletic department and now has achieved greatness in capturing their first ever CIF state track and field title, and first ever state title in school history, on Saturday at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“I don’t think that it has really sunk in yet. We are all so excited but still rying to figure out how this happened,” said A.J. Blackburn, the pole vault coach at Clovis East. “We knew from the beginning that it was a possibility but can’t believe it really happened.”

The combined efforts of Willy Irwin and Michael Peterson gave the T-wolves 20 points to put them in a four way tie with Frontier, Cathedral and La Sierra for the state team title.

And what made the win even more special about the win was that it came in front of a home crowd as the state meet was held at Buchanan High.

“This is very special and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to go out my senior year,” Peterson said. “This just says how amazing this coaches staff is here. I really believe that these coaches are the backbone of everything here.”

Winning a state title makes the T-wolves just the fifth team from the Central Section to ever do so and first in Fresno County.

Irwin was the one setting the pace for his school and all those belonging to the local scene at the 93rd CIF State track and field championships.

The junior placed second in the discus and fourth in the shot put to make a prominent statement for a developing Timberwolf track and field program.

“Hopefully what Willy has done here to day will get more athletes out for track,” said Tran Sanders, the throws coach at Clovis East. “This kid works hard and comes to throw everyday. He has such a tireless work ethic.”

And indeed did the hard work pay off.

Throws of 188-08 in the discus and 58-07.5 in the shot put helped him to reach the podium in each event. And with all those who placed in front of him graduating it seems as though the future looks bright for the developing T-wolf.

“I’m very excited about all this,” said Erwin. “I definitely have to work on the consistency of my throws and just work harder and do everything right from here.”

And while Irwin racked in 12 points he couldn’t have done it alone, and that’s where Peterson came in.

In prime conditions, Peterson was perfect in every attempt at the pole vault until he reached a height of 16-5, where he narrowly missed on all three of his attempts.

Peterson entered the meet with a personal best of 16 feet but proved his strength and how much he improved upon his speed since the Valley Championships.

“There is a little bit of disappointment knowing that I didn’t hit a higher mark, but I can’t complain about taking second in California,” Peterson said. “I am just really thrilled.”

Blackburn said that the fact that Peterson made every bar on his first attempt made all the difference in where he placed, as four other vaulters also jumped the same height of 15-11.

However, because of his perfect attempts he earned the second spot and that is a result of consistency in his vaults.

“Every time he got on the runway he did what he needed to do,” Blackburn said. “I am so proud of Michael, he is just an amazing kid.”

Other standout performances:

-Jordan Hasay (Mission Prep)- The Oregon bound senior won her fourth straight state title in the girls’ 3,200 meters going away, with a time of 10 minutes, 5.29 seconds. It’s the best time in the nation this year.

-Anna Jelmini (Shafter)- The senior who is headed to Arizona won both the shot put (50-05.75) and discus (186-09). Her season best marks make her owner of the national records in both events.

-Jenna Prandini (Clovis)- Despite a rough day in the preliminaries where she failed to qualify in the 100m and the long jump she turned in a personal best in the triple jump. She went into the state meet with a best of 39-4 in the event and finished on the podium sixth with a jump of 39-5.

-Holly Waseloff (Buchanan)- The junior tied for third place with a jump of 11-10. In the preliminaries she went 11-8 but with the bar moving my increments of five she didn’t have enough to compete Claire Hawkins and Kortney Rose who took second and first respectively.

-Jonathan Sanchez (Buchanan)- In a come from behind performance Sanchez moved from the very back of the pack to push himself into fifth place in the 1600 at 4:10.04. Heading to Duke in the fall, Sanchez returned to give a gutsy performance in the two mile clocking in at 9:12.91 to finish 20th.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!