It was another successful meet for Piedmont High’s track and field team at the North Coast Section Bayshore Area Championships on Saturday, May 19 at Vallejo High School, qualifying in 18 different events for the NCS Meet of Champions with top-six finishes.
PHS won four events throughout the day, including Sebastien Swain in the 800, Miguel Long in the long jump, the boys’ 4×400 relay team, and Nia Kim in the 100 hurdles.
Long had a big day, qualifying for the NCS Meet of Champions in four different events. His long jump of 22 feet, 3.75 inches won in a field of 23 athletes, improving his personal record by one inch set last week at the WACC Championship. He also finished second of 20 in the triple jump with a distance of 44 feet, 7.75 inches, was fourth of 21 in the 300 hurdles in 42.36 seconds, and was fifth of 15 in the high jump in 5 feet, 10 inches.
“Miguel outscored 29 of the 36 Bayshore teams on his own, he’s going to be a decathlete in college, so it makes sense. He’ll focus exclusively on the long and triple jump at the meet of Champs, since we think that’s his best chance of getting to the state meet,” said PHS coach Pouyan Assadi.
Swain won the 800 in a field of 24 with a time of 1:54.55, which puts him just three seconds back of the school’s all-time record by Piedmont Hall of Famer Gordon Johnson in 1988. Swain is only a sophomore and has a lot of momentum building.
He was also ran the anchor leg of the 4×400 team with Maddox Ma, Sam Shelby, and Rehan Mumtaz. They won the event with a sizzling time of 3:28.75 against 14 other teams.
“Tactically, Seb executed his race to perfection. That’s saying a lot since he’s run the 800 like a vet since day one. He worked hard to rebuild his momentum and now his speed and endurance. In early April, he had a minor injury but his anchor leg of the 4×4 proved. that’s likely a thing of the past and he’s back to being red hot,” Assadi said.
Kim won the 100 hurdles in 15.19 seconds in a field of 22 runners, now giving her the Bayshore and WACC titles as a first-year varsity athlete. She also qualified for the Meet of Champions in the high jump, placing third of 19 with a height of 5 feet even.
Kim ran the first leg of the 4×400 relay with teammates Claire Aubrecht, Daniela Lucaccini, and Ella Yasar. They placed second among 14 teams with a time of 4:09.27.
“I still can’t believe Nia is a hurdler only because she casually jumped over a hurdle one day in between sprint reps. I was like whoa; come back and do that again. Here we are only 14 weeks later and Nia is a NCS Bayshore champion,” Assadi said.
Here’s a rundown of other marquee results of athletes who qualified for the prestigious NCS Meet of Champions.
Girls Results
Piedmont’s 4×800 relay team of Skylar Best, Cora Brozowski Schrader, Caroline Taylor, and Nikita Gorelik placed third of 11 teams in 10:13.36.
Junior thrower Saniyah Johnson qualified in two events. She was second of 21 in the shot at 32 feet, 6 inches, and was sixth of 21 in the discus with a throw of 92 feet, 9 inches.
Shayna Chau was fifth of nine in the pole vault with a height of 8 feet, 11 inches. Sophomore distance runner Leighton Mand finished sixth of 23 in the 1600 with a time of 5:24.42.
Boys Results
Piedmont qualified two runners in the 400. Shelby finishing second of 23 in 49.95 and Ma placing fourth in 50.79. Both were on the 4×100 relay team along with Mumtaz and Eric Venner, finishing fourth of 18 in 43.47.
In the pole vault, Meg Foster was fourth of nine at 11 feet, 3 inches.
NEXT UP Piedmont travels to Dublin HS for the North Coast Section Meet of Champions on Friday and Saturday, May 23-24.