By Alex Zener
Corona’s track and field program is going to miss several seniors on both the boys and girls team that left their mark on the program including Adam Knuff, Dylan Waterhouse, Lincoln Johnston, Matt Cerwinske, Wyatt Grubb, Andrew Ferreira and Samuel Burris on the boys team and Riley Wright, Kelsy Lum, Mia Da Rosa, Josephina Wright, Kristina Phillips, Rylee Carlisle and Amber Burrell from the girls team.
It was almost like Adam Knuff could not do enough his senior year when looking back his accomplishments during the last month of the season.
At the Tempe City Meet, Knuff finished first in the 100 meters and second in the 300-meter hurdles. He ran the last leg of the 4×100 where the team of Landon McFall, Casey Barmore, Jean Boyd and Knuff finished second. He topped it all off with a 9th place finish in the long jump.
Knuff then competed at the Arizona Multis State Championships held at Red Mountain High School on April 28 where he competed in 10 decathlon events to earn 5,661 points and take third place.
Knuff was first in the 100 meters and the 400 meters but only placed 14th in the 1500 meters. He did come back in the 110-meter hurdles taking second place. He then participated in six field events.
Knuff’s best event was a third place in the discus where he set a personal record with a 34.07-meter throw. He went on to place fourth in the shot put, fifth in the high jump and long jump,12th in the javelin, and 13th in the pole vault.
At the AIA Division I Championship meet held May 2 at Mesa Community College. Knuff, competing against athletes from 40 Division I high school, took second place in the 100 meters and fifth in the 200 meters.
At the end of the season in the Top 10 Rankings, Knuff was listed as No. 2 in the 100 meters based on his second-place finish at the state championships and he was No. 8 in the 300 hurdles. The 4×100 relay Knuff was part of is listed as having the 8th best time of the 2018 season.
In the 1600 meters at the Tempe City Meet, Waterhouse crossed the finish line in second place while Cerwinske took eighth place. In the 1600 meters open event, Ferreira placed second while Grubb was in fifth position.
In 3200 meters open finals Cerwinske crossed the finish line in first place while Ferreira took second.
At the state meet, Johnston was 16th in the 3200 meters and 24th in the 1600 meters.
Other significant results at the state championship meet included a sixth-place finish for sophomore Tyson McLain in the high jump and a 13th place finish for junior Joel Wadsworth in the 800 meters.
Corona’s girls team had a number of young girls in 2018 who learned by example how to work hard in practice and compete at your best during competition from several seniors including Riley Wright, Kelsy Lum, Mia Da Rosa, Josephina Wright, Kristina Phillips, Rylee Carlisle and Amber Burrell.
Riley Wright ran the long-distance races for Corona taking first place in the 1600 meters while setting a personal record of 5:21.98 at the Tempe City Meet held at Desert Vista April 17. Riley finished in 6th place in the 3200 meters and took 11th place in the 800 meters that the Tempe City Meet.
Riley also ran the leadoff leg of the 4×800 relay along with teammates Mia Da Rosa, Audrey Weidner and Mackenzie Burgess which came in 2nd at the Tempe City Meet.
At the AIA Division I Championship meet, Riley Wright, competing against runners from 40 Division I schools, placed 24th in the 1600 meters
Senior Josephina Wright took a different route, choosing to focus her athletic abilities in the pole vault event where she took second at the Tempe City Meet.
Josephina is listed at No. 4 on the Top 10 rankings for 2018 based on her 4th place finish in the pole vault in the 78th Nike Chandler Rotary Elite meet held at Chandler High School Mar. 24.
Josephina also ran in the 100 meters where she finished in 15th place behind junior Meg Horvath who finished 5th and sophomore Anisa McLain who finished 9th at the Tempe City Meet.
Senior Kelsy Lum made the hurdles her event finishing third in the 300-meter hurdles and fifth in the 100-meter hurdles at the Tempe City Meet.
Lum also ran the third leg of Corona’s 4×100 relay with teammates Horvath, McLain and Haley Johnson that finished second at the Tempe City Meet.
Competing in two events at the state championships, Lum finished 14th in the 300-meter hurdles and 20th in the 100-meter hurdles. Lum’s 4×100 relay team finished 7th at the state meet.
Another long-distance runner in Mia Da Rosa who placed 13th in the 800 meters and senior Rylee Carlisle who is a mid-distance runner and part of the 4×400 relay team with Taylor Daugherty, Isabella Magana and Olivia Nesky that took first place in the open finals at the Tempe City Meet.
Kristina Phillips was a distance runner her senior season finishing in fourth place in the open 3200 meters race while Amber Burrell liked the field events such as shot put and discus.
Also expected to improve significantly in the off season and be very competitive next spring in the new javelin event would be sophomore Olivia Nesky, who placed first, while fellow sophomore Payton Deer was second at the Tempe City Meet.
McClintock Track and Field
McClintock’s boys and girls track team had a good season with several of their athletes ending up on the Top 10 list for 2018 including senior Stacey Boyd, who is the top athlete in the Division II 100 meters based on his personal record time of 10.62 set at the AIA Division II Championships.
Boyd is also the top athlete in the 200 meters with a personal record time of 21.60 recorded at the state championships. He also has the No. 6 ranking for his 400-meter time of 49.13 set at the 78th Nike Chandler Rotary Elite meet.
McClintock’s 4×400 relay team is ranked No. 3 based on their 3:19.98 time set at the AIA Division II Championship on May 2.
The Charger’s 4×100 relay team has the No. 8 ranking with a time of 42.84 set at the state championships and their 4×800 relay team has a No. 9 ranking.
McClintock’s Davieon Center is ranked No. 9 in the Top 10 2018 rankings for his 48” 11.5 “ shot put throw at the state championships while Tristin King is ranked No. 5 for his 158’ 1 javelin throw he recorded at the state championships.
Highlights from the AIA Division II State Championships for the Chargers include a 15th place finish for senior John Cleveland and a 16th place finish for senior Torren Baker in the 800 meters. Senior David Rothwell placed 25th in the 3200 meters at the state championship meet.
Besides placing sixth in the shot put at the state meet, Davieon Center also placed 11th in the discus at the state championships.
McClintock’s girls team has freshman Selema Ortiz listed at the No. 10 ranking in the 800 meters for her time of 2:20.85 set at the 39th Sun Angel Track Classic.
The 4×800 relay team is ranked at No. 5 while the 4×400 relay team is ranked No. 8.
Marcos de Niza Track and Field
Marcos de Niza will miss the athletic abilities of senior Carlan Naisant who is ranked No. 1 in javelin for his 204’ throw made at the 78th Nike Chandler Rotary Elite meet and a No. 4 ranking for his shot-put throw of 50’ 5.25 personal record set at the AIA Division II Championships.
Ranked in the top ten for the Padres also includes a 7th place ranking for Orion Hunter in the pole vault. Hunter jumped 13’ 3” at the Tempe City Meet to set a new personal record on April 17 and get him a spot in the top 10.
Highlights from the AIA Division II State Championships for the Marcos de Niza include an 11th place finish in the 1600 meters and a 20th finish in the 3200 meters for senior Joseph Tyreman.
Tempe Track and Field
Tempe boys and girls track and field team also have some athletes in the Division II Top 10 for 2018.
Senior Cameron Peters is ranked at No. 5 in the triple jump for his 44’ jump set at the Tempe City Meet on April 17. Peters is also ranked No. 12 for his long jumping abilities.
Senior Stevie Maddox is ranked No. 11 for his 40.39 time recorded on April 13 at the 15th Annual Hohokam Invitational.
Additional highlights from the AIA Division II State Championship include a 20th place finish for Emmanuel Gore in both the 300-meter hurdles and 110-meter hurdles.
Tempe’s girls team will miss senior Danyella Miranda who is ranked No. 17 for her 1600-meter race time of 5:24.62 set at the Desert Vista Last Chance Meet on April 25 and is ranked at No. 18 for her personal record time of 11:44.89 set at the AIA Division II Championships on May 2.
Tempe’s 4×100 relay team is ranked No. 7.
Highlights from the state championships for the Buffaloes include Miranda competing in three long-distance races where she finished in the top 20 in all three.
Miranda finished 15th in both the 3200 meters and the 1600 meters and then came in 15th in the 800 meters.
Junior Kenya Coburn competed in several events including an 11th place finish in the triple jump, a 12th place finish in the long jump and a 13th place finish in the 100-meter hurdles preliminary race.
