CLOVIS — The Herbst sisters said all season that they’d save the best for last. They weren’t kidding.
Just moments after her older twin Makenna Herbst won the California State Track and Field Championship at Buchanan High School in the 800 with a section record 2:02.38, Morgan Herbst got pushed until the final 100 meters of the 300-meter hurdles before pulling away to win in 39.64.
That hurdle time tops the 39.95 she ran in the section championships last week, when she erased the state best of 39.98 by Long Beach Wilson’s Lashinda Demus in 2001.
Or, put another way, the only high school student to ever run faster than the 39.64 is Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin of Scotch Plains N.J. Union Catholic. She set the national record of 38.90 at the 2017 Arcadia Invitational.
Morgan Herbst was a lane outside of Long Beach Wilson’s Kaylin Edwards from the start. Edwards appeared to pull even coming off the turn. But once they hit the final straightaway, Herbst was clearly stronger. She pulled away to win by almost a full second.
Edwards had to hold on to beat San Diego High’s Anisa Boowen-Fontenot for second place. Bowen-Fontenot, who earlier won the 100-meter hurdles, placed third in 40.88.
The event was loaded: Otay Ranch’s Zamaria Mack finished fifth with a time of 41.51 seconds, the fourth-fastest showing in San Diego Section history.
Morgan Herbst ed San Diego High freshman Jasir Fontenot as a state record-setter from the San Diego Section. Fontenot lowered his all-time best to 13.21 in the 110-meter hurdles.
Meanwhile, Makenna Herbst, wearing the all-white Carlsbad uniform, scorched a 59-second first lap and kept pulling away as no one could close the gap by even an inch. The 2:02.28 won by more than five full seconds; L.A. Claremont freshman Grace Smith placed second in 2:07.33.
The twins will now take their championship train to the University of Arkansas, but the two ed Rane Hawkins and Citina Nardi to set another section record in the 4×400 relay, placing fourth at 3:45.00. They ran 3:45.54 in the prelims.
San Diego High’s Jasir Fontenot sets California record
On a whiteboard in Fontenot’s bedroom is a time — 13.22 seconds. It’s been there from the start of the season.
The San Diego High School freshman won the 110-meter hurdle title in a barely wind-aided (2.4 meters per second) 13.21. Now he can move on to another goal.
That 13.22 was the time run by Stockton St. Mary’s James Marshall in 2019, and it was the third fastest time ever run. The two fastest times were 13.08 and 13.19 by Raleigh, N.C.’s Wayne Davis in 2009, so figure those are the numbers that will be on the white board starting today.
“That (sub-13.22) has been my goal all year,” said Fontenot of the 13.21 that moved him to No. 1 in California under all conditions. “Yesterday I ran to qualify (a State Meet record of 13.31) but today was for time.
“I wanted to be aggressive. I was behind at the start, but I started pushing on the second hurdle, pushing the pace. I just wanted to go do what I do the rest of the race, which is to finish fast.
“I saw Anisa win the girls race and that motivated me.”
Jasir Fontenot easily won by almost a half-second. In third with another PR was Ramona’s Sterling Bryant, who clocked a PR 13.68.
When he was asked about his future, since his dad Bazz is the new basketball coach at Mater Dei Catholic, Fontenot said he indeed will enroll at the South Bay parochial school in the fall.
“I have to give a shoutout to San Diego High because they’ve been very good to me,” said Fontenot. “It’s such a great school.”
Anisa Bowen-Fontenot, meanwhile, will move on to USC after she defended her state title in the 100-meter hurdles, clocking a personal-best 13.07, just off state meet and all-time best time of 13.03 by Mt. Pleasant’s Vashi Thomas in 2007.
Her time was a wind-legal 1.1 mps.
She was asked to compare this win to last season when she breezed to a 13.59.
“To get better, you better get better,” said Bowen-Fontenot . “The more you race, the more you need to think but I’m comfortable with everything now. I felt it before the race this year even though I knew I’d have people next to me who were also good.”
They might have been good on paper, but in the race she moved into the lead on the second hurdle, just like her brother, and just kept opening the gap every hurdle, beating River City’s Brooke White, who ran 13.59.
“I don’t feel bad about not getting the record—I’m not even disappointed,” said the articulate senior. “I’m No. 1 in the nation now and I want to stay there. The bigger the gap the better.
“I was on the victory stand when my brother ran and I got super excited. I was screaming like crazy—we have a lot of pride in our family.”
It was apropos that those medals dangling around their necks were bright blue-just like the San Diego High School colors.
Grossmont’s Gabrielle Thomas placed fourth in the race with a sizzling 13.84 and she will be fastest returnee next season. That’s the fourth-fastest time in section history.
The rest of the section had mixed results.
Del Norte senior Paige Echsner captured the pole vault as she cleared 12-10 before missing three tries at 13-6.
The Scripps Ranch 4×100 relay team, that was closing in on the section record after running a 46.26 in the preliminaries, earned the bronze medal for third place in 46.40.
La Jolla’s Chiara Dailey clocked a 4:42.30 for third in the 1600.
Oceanside High had a pair of sophomores fare well. Malia Jones placed third in triple jump at 39-2 and Brooklyn Davis, who sured 40-feet in prelims, was ninth in the shot put at 39-1 ¼ .
Eastlake junior Jaelyn Williams made it all the way back from hamstring injuries to place fourth in the 3200 at 10:12.15.
