HEITKOTTER INVITE: Centennial claims team titles but Cunninghams steal spotlight

It was only fitting that Randall Cunningham had to wait on a little electricity on Friday.

The Bishop Gorman junior, who cleared 7 feet, 2 inches in the high jump on Wednesday, was handicapped a bit at the Heitkotter Invitational on Friday, but didn’t let it show.

Cunningham cleared 6-10 to win the high jump, and his freshman sister Vashti won the high girls jump, clearing 5-10, the top high school performance in the country by a girl so far this year, according to track website Athletic.net.

“It was hard to wait so long before competing,” said Randall Cunningham, who is the second-ranked high school high jumper in the country. “But I’m happy with the way the season is going. I feel good.”

The boys high jump started at 5 p.m., but due to a large number of entries, Cunningham didn’t get to jump until almost 9 p.m. Daylight was long gone, and the lighting in the vicinity was marginal at best but Cunningham still took the spotlight.

His sister jumped much earlier in the day.

“I felt good today,” Vashti Cunningham said. “The conditions were good. I feel stronger this year. I’ve been training hard.”

Team-wise the meet was all Centennial. The boys totaled 142.5, outscoring runner-up Coronando (101.33) and third-place Gorman (91).

Centennial’s girls tallied 131.33 points, besting a 20-team field that included second-place Arbor View (88.82) and third-place Coronado (79.33).

In the boys competition Centennial dominated the scoring in the four distance events: winning the 3,200 meter relay; going one-two in the 800 (Jackson Carter and Justin Galaviz); one-two-three in the 1,600 (George Espino, Carter, and Dajour Braxton); and finishing first and fifth in the 3,200 (Braxton and Brian Espino).

Carter clocked a time of 2 minutes, 0.68 seconds in the 800. George Espino ran 4:32.63 to win the 1,600, and Braxton won the 3,200 in 9:58.0.

“It was OK,” said Jackson after his win in the 800. “The time was too slow in the first lap (59 seconds), but a win is a win. I’m happy with our team though. We won the (3,200 relay) with our B Team. We’re got three or four guys who are really stepping it up.”

Centennial’s Nico Fonzi won the pole vault (13-0).

For the Centennial girls, the quintet of Tamara Williams, Sydney Badger, Tiana Bonds, Tyler Rowlette, and Holli Dunn did most of the damage. Williams, last year’s Class 4A state champ in the 200, won the 100 (12.26) and the 200 (25.61).

“I was happy with it,” said Williams. “I just finished basketball. I’ve barely had a chance to train.”

Badger, who won the 800 at state last year, had monster performances in the 1,600 (5:08.63) and the 800 (2:18.32), winning both by wide margins.

“5:08 was OK,” Badger said. “I was just trying to get under 5:10. I was happy with my time in the 800.”

Bonds nabbed a double win also by winning the two hurdle races, the 100 meter highs (14.7) and 300 meter intermediates (44.58), besting her closest competitor, Courtney Robinson of Canyon Springs, who was runner-up in both.

“It was good to beat my main competition,” said Bonds, the state runner-up in the 300 hurdles last year. “I’ve been training extra hard. I’m looking forward to state.”

Rowlette won the 400 (57.93) and was second in the 200, and Dunn earned fourth-place finishes in the 400 and the 200. 

All five girls also competed on winning relay teams: Williams, Bonds, Dunn, and Rowlette on the 800 relay team, and Rowlette, Badger, Dunn, and Bonds on the 1,600 relay team, which also finished first.

“The kids are where I want them to be,” Centennial coach Roy Session said. “We’ve got a couple of kids injured, but we’re fine. This is the first real meet of the season for us.”

Other double individual winners were Jalon Dean of Mojave, who won the boys 110 hurdles (15.61) and 300 hurdles (41.27); Dominic Smallwood of Silverado, who won the boys long jump (20-11½) and triple jump (46-0); and Emily Cornelison of Lund, who was the winner in the girls shot put (36-8½) and discus (99-5).