FOCUSED ON run to championship - Marin Independent Journal

PREP TRACK & FIELD

FOCUSED ON run to championship

Giants’ Bayon, Falcons’ Stieg setting pace heading to MCAL title

Redwood’s Julia Bayon ran the winning leg of the 4x100-meter relay on Tuesday in San Anselmo. PHOTOS BY FRANKIE FROST — SPECIAL TO THE MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNALT

Archie Williams’ Ani Stieg leads the 800m race on Tuesday in San Anselmo.

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By Derek Wilson

dewilson@marinij.com

Julia Bayon’s comeback campaign is complete, well, nearly. The Redwood High sophomore is still chasing gold as she prepares for the MCAL track and field championships next weekend.

“It’s been a tough recovery,” said Bayon, who missed her freshman track season with a back injury. “It was tough at first, but a couple of meets into the season, everything started to piece together. There have been so many hours of hard work.”

Bayon won the 100 meter (12.36 seconds) and 200 (25.89) during Tuesday’s meet in San Anselmo, and paced Redwood’s 4×100 relay team to victory during Tuesday’s regular-season finale against Tam and host Archie Williams.

Redwood beat Tam, 90-51, and edged Archie Williams, 74-67, as the Giants claimed the regular-season crown. The Peregrine Falcons beat the Red-tailed Hawks, 76-65.

All three teams were undefeated entering Tuesday’s meet, which was postponed from Thursday’s original date after the fatal auto accident that shook the local community. Athletes from all three schools wore green ribbons and armbands, and brought signs in a show of emotional support for Archie Williams.

While Bayon was the jackrabbit in the sprints, the home crowd cheered on Archie Williams junior Ani Stieg, who set a pair of PRs in the distance events.

Stieg broke her own school record to win the 1,600. Her time of 4 minutes, 53.20 seconds was nearly 2 seconds faster than the record she set two weeks ago at the Arcadia Invitational. Teammate Brooke Lee was the next runner to cross the finish line Tuesday, nearly 14 seconds later.

“(Head coach Robyn Berry) has been training us to peak at the right time,” Stieg said. “I haven’t been hitting my goals, but I’ve been putting in the work and I knew the PRs would come. The PR (in the 1,600) was satisfying today with the competition.”

Stieg also won the 800 (2:22.67) ahead of Tam senior Estella Wong and the Peregrine Falcons’ Claire Palmer.

Stieg closed out her day with a personal-best 11:00.05 in the 3,200, ahead of Redwood runners Sydney Middleton (11:21.86) and Kate Kozubik (11:28.09).

Bayon’s numbers started tumbling in March, especially in her signature event, the 100 meter, in which she is the top-ranked runner in the North Coast Section. She posted a personal-best 11.90 at the Arcadia Invitational on April 12, and a week later bettered that time for a 11.85-second finish at the Viking Track Classic. So, Bayon was coming in to the final showdown of the regular season with plenty of momentum.

“MCAL is going to be a big deal, but I’m really focused on NCS and State to see just how well I can do,” Bayon said.

Redwood’s 4×100 relay team with Bayon, sophomore Jaden Vangorder, freshman Rachel Towns, and senior Jenna Beauchamp, edged the foursome from Tam with a time of 49.48 seconds.

Archie Williams junior Brooke Lee led the Falcons to victory in both the 4×400 and 4×800 relays.

Tam sophomore Johanna Friedrichsdorf won the 400 with a PR of 57.60 seconds. The Falcons’ Nola Miller set a new PR to win the 100 hurdles (17.29) and Vangorder won the 300 hurdles (49.50).

Tam senior Ayla Koch-Bergen warmed up for the postseason with wins in the shot put and discus. Her mark of 32 feet, 7 inches in the shot put was nearly 9 feet better than that of Redwood junior Akiri Bratti and Heidi Blechen, who finished second and third, respectively.

The Red-tailed Hawks’ star thrower is within a foot of her first-place mark in the shot put at the 2024 MCAL championships. Her throw of 97 feet, 9 inches on Tuesday to win the discus is short of the mark of 103 feet she set earlier this season, but it’s better by more than 2 feet than her mark in the NCS Meet of Champions last year.

Koch-Bergen cleared the bar at 4 feet, 8 inches to take first place in the high jump Tuesday, matching her career best. Archie Williams senior Dempsey Boone, Redwood junior Daika DHaiti and Tam freshman Maja Karolak all cleared the same height, but Koch-Bergen won a tiebreaker.

Tam senior Kendra Evans won the pole vault with a PR of 10 feet, a foot better than teammate Jackie Berman, who took second with a PR of her own. Redwood junior Elle Wilson won the long jump (14’3.25”) and Giants sophomore Annalise Horn, the top-ranked athlete in the triple jump in the NCS Redwood Empire, won Tuesday’s event (34’11.5”).