By Pete Borello

State Track & Field Championships

St. Francis High’s Ian Kenworthy and Kyle Williams were at the finals of the state track and field championships last Saturday in Sacramento, but not in the capacity they had hoped for.

The two seniors were there as spectators, not participants, after failing to get beyond Friday’s qualifier at Hughes Stadium.

Kenworthy ran the boys 110-meter high hurdles in 14.93 seconds to place 15th in the preliminaries.

Williams cleared 14 feet, 6 inches in the boys pole vault to finish in a six-way tie for 10th.

Only the top nine competitors in each event advanced to Saturday’s finals.

Although both Kenworthy and Williams were disappointed with the way the season ended, St. Francis coach Mike Saso was proud of how far they came.

“I think the whole experience was great,” said the first-year coach, who noted that both athletes were Central Coast Section champions. “You base your season on getting to the state meet - it’s your focus and your goal - and they did that.”

Kenworthy got out to a strong start in his race, according to Saso, but dropped from third to eighth in his heat after clipping the seventh hurdle.

Saso said Williams nearly cleared 15 feet, which would have put him in the finals, but he flicked the bar with his elbow.

Two other area athletes also competed in Sacramento.

Gunn sophomore Ruth Graham finished sixth in the finals of the girls 3,200 run with a time of 10:44.62. She easily eclipsed her CCS-winning time of 10:50.89.

Homestead junior Ben Vestergen ran the 300 intermediate hurdles in 40.45 to place 21st in the trials and eighth in his heat. He took third at the CCS championships (39.09).