SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior Ryann Strawn, senior Grace Dunham, freshman Jasleen Gandhoke and the 4x800 relay posted new entries on St. Francis track & field's all-time top 10 lists, highlighting a full day of Troubadour action at the Sacramento Meet of Champions at American River College Saturday.
Strawn and Dunham arguably enjoyed the most dramatic revisions to the school record book, both of which came during the higher-seeded Invitational portion of the meet. Dunham became just the sixth Troubie in history to eclipse the five-minute mark in the 1,600 meters. The UC Davis commit went four minutes, 58.32 seconds to finish fourth overall, an improvement of almost four seconds from her previous best of 5:02.27, set at last year's Sac-Joaquin Masters meet. In the process, Dunham moved from ninth to fifth on SF's all-time leaderboard.
Strawn ran the Invite 3,200 in 11:03.35, more than 26 seconds faster than her previous PR of 11:29.58, set at the season-opening Glenn Poole Invitational back in February. That jump vaulted her into seventh on the school's all-time list, displacing Dunham, who went 11:05.38 at the Stanford Invitational just three weeks prior. Strawn should also move into sixth on the 2024 section rankings, just behind Whitney's Jane Landon, who crossed in front of her at 11:02.79.
Rather humorously, Strawn entered the MOC with the humble goal of not finishing in last place in the 3,200. She had raced in the Invite version of the event in each of the two previous years, placing 24th of 24 and 19th of 19, respectively. Instead, Strawn hovered in the middle of the 26-person field for most of the race, but finished strong enough to move up to fourth.
Strawn and Dunham joined Kelsey Sutch and Kayla Towne by opening the day with a winning 9:29.95, more than nine seconds ahead of runner-up Rio Americano. That mark improves on the foursome's 9:44.01 from the Arcadia Invitational, and puts the group third in school history.
Gandhoke already ranked ninth in the SF record book in the 100 hurdles, but lopped more than a tenth of a second from her previous best with a 16.06 for eighth place in Saturday's Open session. She also has the school's No. 2 mark by a freshman, behind the 14.92 Reyna Johnson posted at the 2018 SJS Masters.
Besides the new bold ink in the SF record book, freshman Alexa Randall hit a milestone by surpassing the one-minute barrier in the 400 meters. She crossed in 59.44 seconds, making her just the third ninth-grade Troubie to surpass the standard. Chloe Jarvis performed that feat five times in 1997, including a season-best 56.23 and a 56.42 to win an SJS title. Ariane Arndt ran 10 sub-minute quarters in her freshman season of 2013. Both Jarvis and Arndt eventually ran for California.
The 4x400 relay squad of Kennedy Bishop, Colleen Medina, Alina Gutierrez and Randall closed out the Open portion of the meet by winning the first heat at 4:05.82. Pleasant Valley won the second section with a 4:04.43, but the Troubie foursome still finished second overall. That time easily surpasses the previous season best of 4:15.97 from the Delta League center meet earlier in the week, and will move St. Francis into the top 10 in the section.
Other highlights included freshman Sunny Schranz, who finished second in the Open 3,200 at 11:25.38. This moves her into fourth on the school's all-time freshman list, bumping former Northern Arizona standout Miranda Myers down one notch. Towne followed the 4x800 relay by returning to the Invitational session for the 800, finishing at 2:19.44 for sixth place. Towne, who will be a UC Davis teammate with Dunham next year, enjoyed her PR of 2:15.33 at the 2023 edition of this meet. The 4x100 relay squad of Kyah Pickett, Randall, Lucia Vicio and Caitlin Hafenstein went 50.37 in the Troubies' second event of the day.
Schranz, Randall, Strawn and the 4x400 relay further unlocked key achievements at the MOC: each hit automatic-qualifying standards into the 2024 SJS Division I championship meet. The 3,200 threshold is 11:29.54, the 400 is 60.71, the 3,200 is 11:29.54 and the 4x400 is 4:12.62, all of which were surpassed in Saturday's action.
Gandhoke and senior Elise Blomquist were the lone Troubie field event athletes, both competing in the Invitational portion of the meet. Gandhoke cleared the opening 5-feet-0 but came up short at 5-2 to place sixth in the high jump. Blomquist struggled (by her standards) early in the shot put, then popped a 33-8.75 in each of her fifth and sixth attempts. This trails her PR of 33-11.5 from Placer's LeFebvre Relays this season, but easily eclipses the 33-3.5 that earned her a trip to the SJS Masters last year.
The MOC effectively ends the regular season for St. Francis track & field. The team competes in the Delta League championships on April 27 and 30, then continues the progression through the SJS Division I championships (May 7-9), SJS Masters (May 17-18) and CIF State (May 24-25).
2024 SACRAMENTO MEET OF CHAMPIONS
American River College (Sacramento, Calif.)
Events with SF entrants only • Winners plus SF finishers listed
GIRLS' 4x800 RELAY OPEN - 1. St. Francis (Dunham, Strawn, Sutch, Towne), 9:29.95.
GIRLS' 4x100 RELAY OPEN - 1. Twelve Bridges, 49.20... 13. St. Francis (Pickett, Randall, Lucia Vicio, Hafenstein), 50.37.
GIRLS' 3,200 METERS OPEN - 1. Brianna Williams, Cosumnes Oaks, 11:22.97... 2. Sunny Schranz, 11:25.38; 26. Emma Dobson, 12:28.87.
GIRLS' 100 HURDLES OPEN - 1. Arya Saini, South Tahoe, 15.66 (w:+1.5)... 8. Jasleen Gandhoke, 16.06 (w: +0.5).
GIRLS' 400 METERS OPEN - 1. Devin Greer, Christian Brothers, 58.61... 7. Alexa Randall, 59.44.
GIRLS' 800 METERS OPEN - 1. Haley Mazzei, Bella Vista, 2:19.36... 32. Kelsey Sutch, 2:31.55.
GIRLS' 4x400 RELAY OPEN - 1. Pleasant Valley, 4:04.43... 2. St. Francis (Bishop, Medina, Gutierrez, Randall), 4:05.82.
GIRLS' SHOT PUT INVITATIONAL - 1. Sol Bitners, Davis, 40-7.25... 9. Elise Blomquist, 33-8.75.
GIRLS' HIGH JUMP INVITATIONAL - 1. Ava Olimpiada, Rocklin, 5-4... 6. Jasleen Gandhoke, 5-0.
GIRLS' 1,600 METERS INVITATIONAL - 1. Karissa Chamberlain, Whitney, 4:55.68... 4. Grace Dunham, 4:58.32.
GIRLS' 800 METERS INVITATIONAL - 1. Jayla Addison, Carondelet, 2:14.36... 6. Kayla Towne, 2:19.44.
GIRLS' 3,200 METERS INVITATIONAL - 1. Natalie Arriaza, Patterson, 10:49.13... 4. Ryann Strawn, 11:03.35.
