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For the third year in a row, the Poly girls’ track team ran away with a state championship, taking the California title by a huge margin of 51-28 and scoring in 8 of 16 events. <\/span>The title is Poly’s 11th state track title, and they become just the second school in history to three-peat; Berkeley High is the other, and the Yellowjackets rank second behind Poly in team totals in state history, with five.<\/p>\n But the achievement was much more historic than it was dramatic\u2014in fact, with entrants in 9 of 16 events and scorers in 8, there was never any doubt. <\/span>Poly finished with 51.33 points, well ahead of second-place Clovis’ 28. <\/span>Millikan took 12th with 13.33, thanks to the efforts of Ashley Smith and Paisley Pettway.<\/p>\n The day started with a bang as the girls’ 4X100 relay took 2nd with a time of 45.83; Melia Cox chipped in 4 points with a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles; Akawkaw Ndipagbor blazed a 53.49 for third in the 400-meter; then Arielle Stevenson and Dynasty Gammage combined for 7 points in the 800-meter, running 2:10.27 and 2:11.44 respectively to take 4th and 7th place; Ndipagbor finished her quick breather and took third in the 200-meter with a 23.87; and the runners put a nice bookend on the day by winning the final event as well, the 4X400 relay, in 3:39.15. <\/span>The second place team was Serra with 3:42.26. <\/span>The field contributor for the girls was Tara Richmond, who tied for second in the high jump with 5’8″, and took fifth in the triple jump.<\/p>\n Tying with Richmond in the high jump was Ashley Smith of Millikan, who also took sixth in the 200-meter with a time of 24.24. <\/span>Her Ram teammate Paisley Pettway took fifth in the 800-meter, with a time of 2:10.34. Wilson’s 4X400 came in with the state’s sixth-best time, at 3:46.96.<\/p>\n For the Poly boys, give credit to Kaelin Clay, who put in yeoman’s work. <\/span>He was the anchor leg in the 4X100, which Poly won thanks to his comeback effort\u2014be sure to watch the below video, as Clay crosses Rio Mesa’s anchor runner for a split-second win, 41.13 to 41.15.<\/p>\n