Oakland Section - 05/25/07
OAKLAND � Skyline High track and field coach Jamal Cooks was in the midst of explaining the youthful makeup of his team when he stopped himself midsentence. "It seems like I say that every year," Cooks said. And it also seems as if the Titans come out on top every year despite their relative inexperience. Wednesday was no exception, as host Skyline claimed its sixth straight Oakland Section girls team title with 186 points and also totaled 140 points on the boys side to capture its sixth crown in seven years. "We have a lot of new kids, a lot of young kids," Cooks said. "We gave them the opportunity to compete, and they stepped their game up." Skyline senior Dantia Hudson collected her fourth straight 100-meter hurdles title, posting a personal best of 14.57 seconds to qualify automatically for the CIF state meet June 1-2 in Sacramento. In addition, junior distance runner Amy Cordisco took home first place in the 1,600 and 3,200, qualifying for her first state track meet, while sophomore Asha Treadwell won the race of the day, surging past Castlemont's Tajanee Simmons over the final hurdle to win the 300 intermediate hurdles in a state-qualifying time of 45.31. "I think we did a really good job," Cordisco said of her team. "Everybody had a good day overall." Fremont freshman Montairra Hart was the other big winner on the girls side, as she doubled in the 200 (25.42) and 400 (57.65), qualifying for state in both events. Oakland Tech's Kaneesha Pierce earned her fourth straight section title in the 800, while Fremont sophomore Malaina Payton posted a state-qualifying mark in winning the 100 (12.29) to go along with the long jump title she earned Monday. Skyline's boys came out on top despite winning just three events. Ryan Purcell was the Titans' lone state qualifier, as he held off Oakland's Jimmy Dileo to win the 800. Tremaine Wheaton took the 110 hurdles while Talib Ikharo won the triple jump on Monday. Oakland senior Demondre Ward doubled in the 200 and 400, posting a state-qualifying mark of 49.18 in the latter. It is his first trip to state on the track after qualifying in the long jump his first two years. "I felt like letting the track have it and seeing what I could do," said Ward, a former age-group national champion in the long jump. "I let my technique take care of the time." The Wildcats also got victories for brothers Paul and John Cheng in the 1,600 and 3,200, respectively. Paul Cheng staged a stirring battle with Skyline's Sean Purcell in the 1,600, as Cheng was passed with about 250 meters to go and then outkicked the Skyline junior in the final 50 meters. "I'm very satisfied, especially with the way the race had gone," Paul Cheng said after finishing in 4:30.19. "In the backstretch he was right with me, and we were bumping elbows for 80 meters so I wanted to get back after him." Defending boys champion McClymonds was third behind Oakland Tech (95) with 70 points. Andre Island edged teammate DeAndre Parker by 2-100ths of a second (11.06 to 11.08) to win the 100, and those two teamed with Ryan Payne and Michael Peters Jr. to win the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, the latter coming in dramatic fashion as Peters came from behind late to pass two rivals. Listed below are all the Oakland section qualifiers to state and they're rank based on their time from sectionals. Girls 4x1 27 Skyline /ok OK 49.54 Girls HH 14 Dantia Hudson 12 Skyline/ok 14.57 Girls 400 25 Montairra Hart 09 Fremont/ok 57.65 Boys 400 20 Demondre Ward 12 Oakland/ok 49.18 Girls 100 23 Malania Payton 10 Fremont/ok 12.29 Boys 100 27 Andre Island 11 McClymnds/ok 11.06 Boys 800 27 Ryan Purcell 11 Skyline/ok 2:00.39 Girls 300H 20 Asha Treadwell 10 Skyline/ok 45.31 Girls 200 24 Montairra Hart 09 Fremont/ok 25.42 Girls LJ 22 Malania Payton 10 Fremont/ok 17-09.00 Girls TJ 25 Ada Nwadugbo 12 Skyline/ok 36-06.00 Girls SP 24 Janetra Johnson 11 Castlemnt/ok 36-11.00 Boys LJ 28 Anthony Crosby 12 Oakld Tch/ok 21-01.50 Boys SP 24 Cameran Bailey 12 Oakld Tch/ok 51-03.25 Boys DT 16 Thomas Byrd 12 McClymnds/ok 160-01