Bret Harte’s Hall advances to the state championship with a record-breaking jump

The Bret Harte High School track and field team sent 13 athletes to the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Meet and one of them is moving on to compete at the CIF State Championship Meet. The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Meet took place on May 19-20 at Davis High School in Davis. When it comes to saving your best for last, that’s exactly what Bret Harte senior Bradley Hall did. Hall competed in three events and set personal records in two of them, set a new Bret Harte school record and punched his ticket to the state championship. Hall competed in the high jump, the long jump and the triple jump, and qualified for state in the triple jump. Hall placed eighth in the high jump by clearing 6 feet, 1 inch. He then set a personal record in the long jump with his sixth-place measurement of 21 feet, 10 inches. The moment that Hall will always cherish was his triple jump of 45 feet, 7.50 inches. That jump placed him third overall and set him on the path to state. It also set a new Bret Harte school record, which Hall set a little over a month earlier. The previous record held by Hall was 45 feet, 6 inches. Hall is the first Bret Harte male athlete to ever compete in the triple jump at the state meet and is the first male Bullfrog to qualify for the state meet since pole vaulter Kyle Inks in 2007. “Going to state is a once-in-a-lifetime thing and getting to do it as a senior I would say is the best time,” Hall said. “I’m really excited for the opportunity, and I have a feeling I’ll be breaking it (the school record) again this Friday.” Bret Harte had two other senior boys compete at masters and that was Winter Whittle and Cooper Oliver. Whittle took part in the 800-meter race, while Oliver competed in the pole vault and long jump. On May 19, Whittle ran in the prelims of the 800-meter race and placed sixth in 1:58.93. The next day in the finals, he placed ninth in 1:58.55. As for Oliver, the Bret Harte senior placed fourth in the pole vault with a personal record of 14 feet, 9 inches. By clearing 14 feet, 9 inches, Oliver moved into second all-time at Bret Harte, only behind Kyle Inks, who cleared 16 feet in 2007. Oliver also placed 19th in the long jump with his measurement of 19 feet, 11 inches. As for the girls, Morgan Greene, Caitlin Johnson, Aariah Fox, Annelise Zumbach, Ayla Jodie, Mariana Ramos, Skylar Mayers, Kadyn Rolleri and Aurora Lewis all showed what they are capable of. Greene capped her senior year by placing 19th in the 100-meter race in the prelims with her time of 12.66. Greene was also part of Bret Harte’s 4×100-meter relay team, which included Fox, Zumbach and Johnson. The Bullfrog foursome placed 17th in the prelims with their time of 50.18. Rolleri got to put a bow on her Bret Harte running career as a member of the 4×800-meter relay team, who placed 20th in 10:55.94. Rolleri was joined by Jodie, Mayers and Ramos. All four runners were not only a part of Bret Harte’s Mother Lode League and CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division V cross country championship team, but they also ran together at the CIF State Cross Country Championship. For Rolleri to finish her Bret Harte career running with a team is exactly how she wanted to exit. “Those girls are so important to me, and we have accomplished so much together,” Rolleri said. “And when track rolled around, we all had gone off on our own doing our individual events, so the fact that the one thing we qualified for was the 4×800 relay and bringing the cross country team back together was so cool. I love being able to say my last race for Bret Harte was with those girls.” Lewis had a strong finish to her junior track and field season by competing in the high jump and the triple jump. Lewis placed 15th in the high jump by clearing 4 feet, 11 inches. Earlier in the year, Lewis set a new Bret Harte school record in the high jump by clearing 5 feet, 2 inches, which was 1-inch better than the previous record of 5 feet, 1 inch, set in 1988 by Sara Oneto. In the triple jump, Lewis placed 16th with her jump of 33 feet, 6.75 inches. And senior Aariah Fox ended her outstanding Bret Harte athletic career by setting a season record in the triple jump with her sixth-place jump of 36 feet, 11.25 inches. Up next is the CIF State Championship Meet, which will take place on Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High School’s Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis.