San Rafael resident Ellie McCuskey-Hay finished second in the long jump prelims at the State Meet in Clovis on Friday, advancing to that final along with Redwood High’s Annalise Horn.

McCuskey-Hay, a sophomore at St. Ignatius, jumped 19 feet, 5.5 inches to finish second behind Jurupa Valley’s AB Hernandez, who jumped 19’11.75”.

McCuskey-Hay improved her distance almost a foot from last week’s mark of 18’6” at the Central Coast Section Championships.

Horn also moves on to Saturday’s final after finishing 10th on Friday with a distance of 18’3”.

McCuskey-Hay’s night continued when she won her heat and finished second overall with a personal record of 11.48 seconds to qualify for the finals of the girls 100 meters. Redwood’s Julia Bayon placed 24th overall in 11.98. McCuskey-Hay was scheduled to run in the 200 meter prelims later Friday.

The long jump competition is one of a handful of events that has been at the center of controversy this past week. Hernandez is an openly transgender athlete and her participation at the State Meet prompted President Donald Trump to intervene, threatening to withhold federal funding from California if the state did not bar her from competing.

The California Interscholastic Federation responded earlier this week with a rule change that would award a biological female athlete with an identical medal should she be beaten out by a transgender athlete.

“On Friday, May, 30, if necessary, in the high jump, triple jump and long jump qualifying events at the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships, a biological female student-athlete who would have earned the next qualifying mark will also be advanced to the finals,” the CIF said in a press release. “Additionally, if necessary, in the high jump, triple jump and long jump events at the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships, a biological female student-athlete who would have earned a specific placement on the podium will also be awarded the medal for that place and the results will be reflected in the recording of the event.”

In other events, Archie Williams’ Ani Stieg finished one place shy of advancing to the girls 1,600 finals, finishing 13th in a time of 4:53.81. Branson’s Farah Allen finished 15th in 4:55.99.

Archie Williams’ Williams Mulliken finished 24th in the boys 1,600 prelims in 4:17.93.

Several other events were still in progress at press time, including the 800 meters, the 300 hurdles, the 200, and the 1,600 relay.

Several field events were still in progress, including the boys pole vault in which Tam’s William Freas cleared 15’6”, good for 14th place.

It was unclear at press time whether Freas would qualify for the finals.

The finals are all set for Saturday at Buchanan High in Clovis.

Prep softball

Second-seeded St. Vincent de Paul of Petaluma captured the North Coast Section Division VI crown Friday with a 14-2 victory over No. 5 Willits.

Junior ace Makayla Bignardi struck out 10 batters and walked one in the one-hitter. She was 2 for 4 at the plate with two RBIs and a run scored.

Senior catcher Gracie Murphy, a Novato resident, hit an RBI double and scored the go-ahead run in the first inning for the Mustangs (10-8). Murphy finished with three doubles, four RBIs and scored twice.

Murphy is one five players from Marin County for the Mustangs.

Senior Maddy Rynning was 2 for 4 with three RBIs and four runs scored. Sophomore Sydney Reagan doubled and singled for an RBI and two runs, while Ava McCarthy scored and drove in a run. Kayla Leeswenson scored twice and drove in a run.

Baseball

The San Rafael Pacifics survived a late rally for a 6-5 victory over the Monterey Amberjacks on Thursday evening to remain undefeated this season. Starting pitcher Jake Dent earned the win, as he struck out 12 batters, walked one and gave up two hits and one earned run across seven innings.

The Amberjacks scored a run in the eighth inning off Pacifics reliever Josh Idell. Closer Simon Martinez struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning.

Keith Whitaker was 2 for 2 with a double and two RBIs for the Pacifics (6-0). Fred Buckson, Aki Buckson and Payton Rios ach had a double.

The Pacifics host the Bakersfield Train Robbers on Saturday for Guide Dogs for the Blind Night at Albert Park.

College swimming

Mill Valley’s Maddy Gruender etched her name in the UC Santa Cruz swim and dive record books, appearing in the top-10 lists 37 different times with records in the 100 back, 200 back, 200 free and 500 free.

Terra Linda’s Tereza Shea set records in the 50 free and 100 free for the Banana Slugs. Gruender and Shea formed half of the school’s record setting teams in the 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 800 free relay, 200 medley relay and the 400 medley relay.

Gruender, who won a NCAA postgraduate scholarship recently, qualified for 2022 NCAA Championships as the first Banana Slug to make it to NCAAs since 2017 and later qualified as part of the 400 free relay team in the 2023-24 season.