A year ago as a sophomore, Cupertino sprinter Jade Harrison made a strong impression at the Central Coast Section track and field finals, capturing a second and a third, which seemed to portend even better things to come.
But lurking behind Harrison in both those races was a freshman speedster from Santa Catalina, Mikayla Revera, who has developed into a considerable rival for Harrison and threatens to steal her thunder this year.
Last week at the CCS semifinals held at San Jose City College, the two talented runners qualified in all three sprint events, setting the stage for a dramatic showdown this Friday when Section finals are held, also at SJCC with field events to begin at 4 p.m. and track events at 6 p.m.
In the 100, Harrison finished second in 12.06, just a hundredth of a second behind Mountain View’s Rachael Estell, while Revera came in third at 12.09.
Revera took the top spot in the 200 in 24.44 with Harrison right behind her in second at 24.55.
And in the 400, Revera was second at 55.94 to Timarya Baynard of Piedmont Hills, while Harrison finished fourth in 56.75.
At last year’s finals, Harrison placed second in the 200 and third in the 400 with Revera coming in sixth and fourth, respectively.
Meanwhile, Cupertino teammate Caroline Gee qualified in a pair of distance events, coming in fifth in the 1,600 in 5:00.0 and sixth in the 3,200 in 10:59.81.
Homestead’s Elena Kamas finished ahead of Gee in the 1,600 in fourth place at 5:04.08, and Monta Vista’s Kelly Bishop came in behind her in the same event in eighth at 5:05.24. Bishop also qualifying for the finals in the 800, running 2:18.19 to finish ninth.
A couple of Homestead sophomores will join Kamas at the section meet. Lindsay Allen ran 11:17.80 for 10th in the 3,200 and Miranda Zinola heaved the discus 111-0 for 10th, both good enough to advance.
Fremont’s J.J. Escalera placed third in the 800 in 2:17.06 to qualify for Friday’s meet, and teammate Sabina Dayal earned a place in the finals by finishing seventh in the long jump at 16-9.
In the boys division, Justin Robison ran fifth in the 3,200 in 9:26.46 to win a place in the finals.
Jim Sussenguth of Lynbrook and Derek Friske of King’s Academy finished seventh and eighth in the 400, posting respective times of 51.21 and 51.24.
Lynbrook’s boys 4×400 relay team came in fourth in 3:25.44 behind Serra, Palo Alto and Bellarmine.
