DAVIS, Calif. – Senior Grace Dunham held off a late charge from Riverbank's Giselle Fernandez to finish second in the girls' 1,600-meter run at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters track & field meet at Davis' Ron & Mary Brown Stadium Saturday evening, earning a repeat berth at the CIF state championships.
The UC Davis commit crossed the finish line in five minutes, 3.17 seconds. Dunham edged Fernandez by a mere .02 while Davis freshman Norah Feldt won the race with a personal-best 4:56.10. Feldt, Dunham and Fernandez each advance to the state meet by virtue of their top-three finishes. Dunham finished third in the 1,600 as a junior in 2023, running a 5:02.27.
Dunham was one of two Troubadours in action in Saturday's action. Fellow senior and future Aggie teammate Kayla Towne finished ninth in the 800 meters at 2:21.92.
Overall, St. Francis will have four athletes in competition at the state championships, held next Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High School. Dunham, Towne, Ryann Strawn and Kelsey Sutch will compete in the 4x800 relay as the SJS runner-up in the event. Then Dunham will compete in Friday's 1,600.
2024 SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION MASTERS MEET, DAY 2
Ron & Mary Brown Stadium (Davis, Calif.)
Events with SF entrants only • Winners plus SF finishers listed • All events are finals
GIRLS' 800 METERS - 1. Kylie Nasca, Granite Bay, 2:16.02... 9. Kayla Towne, 2:21.92.
GIRLS' 1,600 METERS - 1. Norah Feldt, Davis, 4:56.10... 2. Grace Dunham, 5:03.17.
GIRLS' TEAM SCORES - TBA
