DAVIS, Calif. – The all-senior foursome of Grace Dunham, Ryann Strawn, Kelsey Sutch and Kayla Towne ran the 4x800 relay in a school-record time of nine minutes, 21.36 seconds to earn a trip to the CIF state championships on the first day of action at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters track & field meet, hosted by Davis Senior High at Ron & Mary Brown Stadium Friday.

The section Masters Meet serves as the qualifier for the state meet, held at Buchanan High School on May 24 and 25. The top three finishers, plus any entrant who hits the at-large standard in a final, advances to the state championship. The exception to that rule is the 4x800 relay, from which only the top two move on.

Dunham led the pack for nearly the entirety of the opening leg before Colfax caught up with about 40 meters before the first exchange. Whitney eventually took over the lead, meaning SF needed to hold off a threat from Davis to stay in the all-important top two places. Strawn and Sutch gave Towne plenty of breathing room – which had the added benefit of allowing the future UC Davis runner to prepare for the 800-meter run later in the afternoon.

This is the second straight year the Troubadours have qualified a 4x800 squad to the state meet in as many years that event has been a part of the program. Both first-place Whitney (9:15.58) and St. Francis shattered last year's meet record of 9:26.10. In turn, the Troubie crew surpassed the old school record of 9:26.91, set by Dunham, Daphne Witherell, Sutch and Towne at  each of last year's Div. I and Masters championship meets.

The 4x800 relay was one of the few finals held in Friday's portion of the meet, as most events were preliminaries for Saturday finals. Freshman Jasleen Gandhoke was the only other St. Francis finalist on Friday. She posted a personal best of five feet, four inches in the high jump, moving up to the No. 4 slot in school history.

Gandhoke, who later competed in the 100 hurdles, matched Ripon's Clara Schoolland and Christian Brothers' Gabrielle Devlin at 5-4, but finished fourth overall based on attempts. The difference came down to the 5-2 round: Devlin cleared that height on her first try, while Gandhoke made it on her second. Then both freshmen took three jumps to beat 5-4 before being eliminated at 5-5.

Towne was the lone Troubadour to advance from a Friday preliminary to a Saturday final. She finished second in the second heat with a 2:23.67 overall time. Towne went 1:09.64 for the first lap then cruised to a 1:14.02 in the second, given an almost three second cushion ahead of Rosemont's Vanessa Kawaharada. The top two finishers from each heat plus the next four at-large move on to the finals, meaning Towne and CB sophomore Veronica White needed only to run fast enough to claim the top two AQ slots.

The Troubies' 4x100 squad of Kennedy Bishop, Colleen Medina, Alina Gutierrez and Alexa Randall finished the Friday session with a 4:09.21, placing fourth in their heat but ninth overall. Vacaville grabbed the eighth and final slot in the finals at 4:07.58.

St. Francis will have two entrants in Saturday's portion of the meet. Dunham will run as the top seed in the girls' 1,600 at 5:19 p.m., then Towne will compete in the 800 final at 6:38 p.m. Tickets are available via GoFan while live results can be found at RedCapTiming.com.

2024 SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION MASTERS MEET, DAY 1
Ron & Mary Brown Stadium (Davis, Calif.)
Events with SF entrants only • Winners plus SF finishers listed • All events are prelims except where noted

GIRLS' 4x800 RELAY FINAL - 1. Whitney, 9:15.58... 2. St. Francis (Dunham, Strawn, Sutch, Towne), 9:21.36.

GIRLS' 4x100 RELAY - 1. Christian Brothers, 47.86... 15. St. Francis (Pickett, Randall, Azar, Hafenstein), 49.77.

GIRLS' 100 HURDLES - 1. Sydnie Watkins, Christian Brothers, 14.50 (w: -1.3)... 13. Jasleen Gandhoke, 16.1 (w: -1.4).

GIRLS' 400 METERS - 1. Jaliyah Davis, River City, 56.95... 18. Alexa Randall, 1:00.92.

GIRLS' 100 METERS - 1. Alysiana Winston, Twelve Bridges, 12.01 (w: -3.0)... 21. Caitlin Hafenstein, 13.36 (w:-2.0).

GIRLS' 800 METERS - 1. Kylie Nasca, Granite Bay, 2:18.22... 8. Kayla Towne, 2:23.67.

GIRLS' 4x400 RELAY - 1. Turlock, 3:53.88... 9. St. Francis (Bishop, Medina, Gutierrez, Randall), 4:09.21.

GIRLS' HIGH JUMP FINAL - 1. Fekei George, St. Mary's, 5-5... 4. Jasleen Gandhoke, 5-4.