High School

Temperatures, athletes rise in epic California (CIF) High School Track and Field Championships: Live updates recap

Meet records, national-leading marks dominate right down to Long Beach Poly's dramatic 4x400 relay win over local Central East, Servite; Fontenot family, Herbst twins among countless stars

Mitch Stephens

San Diego freshman Jasir Fontenot eyeballs the finish line en route to breaking his own meet record in the 110 high hurdles Saturday in the California (CIF) State Championship at Veteran's Memorial Stadium on the campus of Buchanan High School in Clovis
San Diego freshman Jasir Fontenot eyeballs the finish line en route to breaking his own meet record in the 110 high hurdles Saturday in the California (CIF) State Championship at Veteran's Memorial Stadium on the campus of Buchanan High School in Clovis / Photo by Eric Taylor

CLOVIS, Calif. — The temperatures rose a few degrees in California's Central Valley Saturday, and somehow that was reflective at Veteran's Memorial Stadium on the campus of Buchanan High School.

Somehow after a sizzling day of trials on Friday, the 105th California (CIF) Track and Field Championships finals delivered an even more breathtaking show in the finals from start to finish.

Check HERE for all that occured on Friday, including De La Salle junior Jaden Jefferson breaking the state 100-meter record in 10.01 seconds, a 0.29 PR, and San Diego freshman Jasir Fontenot breaking the state-meet 110 high hurdle mark.

High school track and field
De La Salle junior Jaden Jefferson (left) on his way to a California (CIF) state 100-meters record in 10.01 seconds at Friday's 2025 state-meet trials in Clovis. / Photo by Eric Taylor

But check out just some of the results on Saturday with a national media on hand mostly following the trials, tribulations and protests of transgender athlete, Jurupa Valley junior AB Henrnadez, who received three medals for finish first in the triple jump and high jump and second in the long jump.

It was as if the other remaining athletes made a statement to sway the attention away from a very lively and real social issue with record breaking marks and heart-pounding races under very warm conditions that soared above 100 degrees late in the afternoon and settled into steamy for the first running events at 5:45 p.m.

Below is a running recap — no pun intended — throughout the day and night.

2025 CIF State track and field finals

Girls 4x100 finals: Oaks Christian defends its title with an amazingly fast final winning in 46.08 over Long Beach Poly (46.18, Steele Canyon (46.40) and Pittsburg (46.42). RESULTS

Boys 4x100: As expected Servite, with two freshmen and two sophomores, won in 40.27, with big surprise in second El Cerrito 40.72, Notre Dame Sherman Oaks 40.74 and De La Salle at 40.80, a big season best. RESULTS

Boys discus: Clovis North senior and BYU football commit McKay Madsen wait for his last throw to break a long one to win in 210 feet, 8 inches. He won by an oustanding 24-8 over Amador senior Eliot Traxler (186-0). He later did the same thing in the shot put, waiting for his last attempt to unleash a massive heave of 69-11 to win his fourth gold in two seasons, this one my almost 10 feet over runner-up Omar Soufi of South Pasadena. Truly one of the greatest weights performers in state history. Discus RESULTS, Shot put RESULTS

Girls 1600: Fantastic race from start to finish, junior Braelyn Combe, of Santiago, edged Montgomery senior Hanne Thomsen 4:35.64 to 4:35.69. Two of top three times in country this year. RESULTS

High school track and field, California
Santiago junior Braelyn Combe (left) outleans Montgomery senior Hanne Thomsen at the lean of the second and third fastest 1600s in the country this year. / Photo by Eric Taylor

Boys 1600: Clovis North junior Conor Lott put his team in great position to win the meet with one of the best marks in the country this year, winning in 4:03.32 over, Crystal Springs Upland Benjamin Bouie (4:04.84 and Buchanan's Luke Sanders (4:06.02). Lott's mark is the best in the state this year and fifth in the country, Bouie was No. 10. RESULTS

Fontenot family takes charge of meet

High school track and field, California
Anisa Bowen-Fontenot, of San Diego, is over the last hurdle before anyone has even taken flight over it en route to state title in 13.07 seconds in the 100 hurdles / Photo by Eric Taylor

Girls 100 hurdles: No doubt. Anisa Bowen-Fontenot, of San Diego High School, wins handily in 13.07 over Brooke White of River City (13.59). The senior had run the fastest all-conditions time in the country coming in at 12.99 and this was the fastest wind-legal, but just off the state and meet record of 13.03 set by Vashti Thomas in 2007. RESULTS

High school track and field, California
Anisa Bowen-Fontenot's freshman brother Jasir goes over the final hurdles to break his own state-meet record he set the night before in trails. / Photo by Eric Taylor

Boys 100 hurdles: Only minutes after his older sister had everyone gasping, freshman Jasir Fontenot somehow bettered his Friday performance, by breaking his own meet record in the 110 high hurdles by winning in wind-aided (2.4) time of 13.21. He broke the state-meet mark Friday of Upland's Joseph Anderson (13.31) and shaved off another .10 on Saturday with the second best mark in the country this year. He's got three more high school seasons! St. Ignatius junior Prince Babalola-Buchango, the runner-up at 13.59, probably wonders what he has to do to win a title. RESULTS

De La Salle junior Jaden Jefferson is The Factor

High school track and field, California
De La Salle junior Jaden Jefferson (left) turns it on late to secure his first CIF State championship, this one in the 100 finals at Buchanan High School. Jefferson finished in 10.27 seconds. / Photo by Eric Taylor

Boys 100: De La Salle junior Jaden Jefferson didn't approach his state-record 10.01 time in the trials but he won a gritty statetitle in 10.27 over Servite sophomore Benjamin Harris (10.31). Jefferson and Spartans wanting to win the team title following the sudden and unexpected passing of head coach John Harvey on April 28. His battlecry to Jefferson and all athletes was "Be a factor." After finishing fourth at state last year, Jefferson definitely took his coach's advise. RESULTS

The Prince and his court

High school track and field, California
St. Ignatius junior Prince Babalola-Buchango is all smiles after winning his first state title in the 200, after claiming second in the 110 hurdles and fifth in the Open 100. / Photo by Eric Taylor

The loudest scream for a win on the night went to St. Ignatius junior Prince Babalola-Buchango who huffed with a fifth-place finish in the Open 100, puffed by placing second in the 110 high hurdles, then blew the door down with an inspiring comeback win in the 200 in a lifetime best of 20.79, edging three runners by less than 0.10 of a second. "I put on the gas and not let anyone stop me," Babalola-Buchango said. "I've been running track for seven years now and every year I’ve made a championship final, but never won one. I was yearning for a win. I placed second and fifth earlier in the day and I told myself, ‘It’s my time.’ ... So yes, this means everything to me."

High school track and field
St. Ignatius junior Prince Babalola-Buchango (left) outleans fourth-place Jaden Jefferson, of De La Salle, in the 200 finals at the California state championships / Photo by Eric Taylor

Herbst twins take meet over

high school track and field
Carlsbad senior Morgan Herbst breaks her own state record in the 300 hurdles, running the second fastest in U.S. high school history, winning in 39.64. / Photo by Eric Taylor

What a double for Vanden's Naiajia Sizemore

After taking the 100, Vanden junior Naiaja Sizemore breezes in the 200, winning in 23.18 to 23.41 for runner-up Keeland Wright of Chaparral (23.41). 100 RESULTS, 200 RESULTS. One of first time that Northern California has swept the sprints in boys and girls.

Muhammad gets his pole vault title, shatters record

PIttsburg senior Khaliq Muhammad trained all season especially for this moment. Boy, did it pay off.

High school track and field, California
Pittsburg's Khaliq Muhammad clears state-meet record 17-10.25 en route to his first state title / Photo by Eric Taylor

The Arizona-bound pole vaulter, who finished second last season in the event, vaulted well past his competitors, then set a meet record with a winning mark of 17 feet, 10.25 inches, breaking the old mark of 17-10 set by Sondre Guttormsen, of Davis, in 2019. He beat the rest of the field by 16 inches.

High school track and field, California
Kalique Muhammad reacts after breaking the state-meet pole vault record with a clearance of 17 feet, 10.25 inches. / Photo by Eric Taylor

Hanne Thomsen somehow finds another gear

High school track and field, California
Montgomery senior and Stanford bound Hanne Thomsen somehow found the reserve to post a state-record winning time of 9:48.98 in the 3200 / Photo by Eric Taylor

You lose a state finals in the fashion the Stanford-bound star did in the 1600 and it can break you. Certainly for a day. Thomsen, closing in on an illustrious career, was NOT going to let it happen twice in one meet. She and Santiago's Rylee Blade were engaged in a very similar head-to-head battle as Thomsen faced with Braelyn Combe, also of Santiago, in the 1600. Somehow having exerted all that energy a couple hours earlier, Thomsen found another gear in the final lap to win in 9:48.98, breaking the state-meet record of Jordan Hasay (9:52.13) in 2008, while recording the second best time nationally this season. RESULTS

Tear to cheers for girls TJ champ Hatcher

High school track and field
St. Mary's senior Kira Gant Hatcher qualified second in the triple jump at 40-0 / Photo by Eric Taylor

St. Mary's junior jumper Kira Gant Hatcher is always giddy and upbeat, say her coaches and teammates. So when she went down in a flood of tears after fouling on all three of her preliminary long jumps, an event she was a co-favorite, there was large room for concern.

“It was really hard,” Hatcher said of her three fouls. “I was really sad for a pretty long time. But I got a good pep talk from my coach and parents and that boosted me. I realized if I stayed sad I wasn’t going to do well in my next event."

That next event was the triple jump, which started about 90 minutes later. She regrouped and won the title at 40-5, just off her best of 40-10.50 she set while winning the North Coast Section Meet of Champions. “Honestly, it was like putting Humpty Dumpty back together again emotionally," St. Mary's always upbeat coach Jeff Rogers said. "Kira is an awesome, positive girl and great competitor. It was an amazing comeback performance.” 

What a finish in the girls 4x400

The Long Beach Wilson team of Brooke Blue, Alene Washington, Saniah Varnado and Kaylin Edwards put a big giant exclamation point on the team championship with the second best time in the country this season, winning going away in 3:36.75, well ahead of Canyon (3:40.77). RESULTS

What a finish in boys 4x400

Back and forth they went with Poly eventually pulling away late with three of the top six times in the nation this year: Poly at 3:08.68, followed by Central East (3:09.24) and Servite (3:09.46). RESULTS

Team scores

Final boys: Servite 33, Clovis North 30, Santa Margarita 24, Long Beach Wilson 23.5, St. Ignatius 22.50.

Final girls: Long Beach Wilson 46, Long Beach Poly 28, Santiago 28, Jurupa Valley 27, Carlsbad 25

Check back Sunday for more details, quotes, photos

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Mitch Stephens
MITCH STEPHENS

Mitch Stephens is a senior editor at SBLive Sports for California, a state he's covered high school sports since 1984. He won multiple CNPA and CPSWA writing awards with the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle and MaxPreps.com before joining the SBLive staff in 2022. He's covered the beat nationally since 2007, profiling such athletes as Derrick Henry, Paige Bueckers, Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Jayson Tatum, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin and Najee Harris as preps. You can reach him at mitch@scorebooklive.com.

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