Top 10 Individual Performances in an Individual Setting: Glendale High’s Trenton Julian continues to build legacy
The top 10 individual performances in an individual setting from the 2015-16 season were voted on by the sportswriters of the Glendale News-Press.
1 Trenton Julian at the CIF Southern Section Division II Swim Finals: It was another historic effort for the Glendale High athlete at the CIF championships at the Riverside Aquatic Complex on May 14.
A year after winning one title, Julian captured his second straight Division II title in the 100-yard butterfly and claimed an additional championship in the 200 freestyle.
Julian’s times, 1 minuted 36.21 seconds in the 200 free and 47.88 in the 100 fly, were also easily state and All-American automatic times. Julian’s two first-place finishes merited 22 points each and led Glendale to a 25th-place finish in Division II with 44 points.
“I feel pretty good going into the summer,” Julian said. “I was out pretty fast (in the 100 fly). The first 25 could have been better, but I got stuck under water a little bit. Overall, I felt pretty good.”
Julian eventually earned qualification to the U.S. Olympic Trials in Nebraska in late June and early July in both events.
2 Jack Van Scoter at the CIF State Division V Cross-Country Championships: A Rebels boys’ cross-country team that had racked up Prep League and CIF Southern Section titles finally captured its white whale at the CIF State Division V Meet at Woodward Park in Fresno on Nov. 28.
Led by All-Area Boys’ Cross-Country Runner of the Year Jack Van Scoter’s second-place finish, the Rebels were dominant in a 43-168 triumph over Marin Academy, winning their fifth state championship overall and first since 2004. The squad also established a new division record by covering the 5-kilometer course in 79:40.8 to break the 2011 mark of 80:32 set by St. Margaret’s.
“I can’t imagine a better feeling. After I lost it by one point my freshman year on that team, I swore to myself that I would be the difference, that we would be the difference,” Van Scoter said. “Nikhil [Poole] and I were on that squad and we knew the time would come. We knew our calling would come again, that we’d get this opportunity again and we’ve been chasing it.”
Van Scoter led the way although he was clipped by St. Joseph Notre Dame’s Cooper Teare, who won the individual crown. Both runners finished with marks of 15:07.2, which bested the previous division-best time of 15:11, set by Van Scoter’s former teammate Alan Yoho in 2013.
Officially, Teare finished with a 15:07.25, while Van Scoter tallied a 15:07.28.
The team victory, though, served as sweet redemption for Van Scoter, whose Flintridge Prep team lost to St. Joseph Notre Dame, 86-87, in the 2012 state championship.
“[After the 2012 final,] I sat myself down and said I would never be that one point. Of course, today I got out leaned by a very strong individual, but my team backed me up and I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Van Scoter said. “Just all the satisfaction that comes with such a long pursuit. Any athlete can tell you, anybody who has been fighting for something for as long as they can remember, the satisfaction of achieving it is unparalleled. This is why we work and I can’t imagine anything better.”
3 Jasher Foster at CIF Southern Section Division III Track and Field Finals: Before 2015, the St. Francis track and field program owned three division titles dating back to 1958.
In just the last two years, Foster has claimed three titles, including two at the CIF Southern Section Division III Finals at Cerritos College on May 21.
Perhaps the one that meant most came in his last race, the Division III 300-meter hurdles.
In that competition, Foster picked up some Mission League revenge by holding off Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s Austin Lietz with a winning mark of 37.26 seconds, a personal record that blasted his preliminaries time of 39.46. Litez had defeated Foster at the Mission League Finals in the 300.
“All glory to God,” said Foster, whose two wins gave St. Francis 20 points and tied the Golden Knights for seventh in Division III with San Luis Obispo. “I got out great, changed my steps to 22 and just felt comfortable, hit my marks in this middle section of the race and just finished strong. I’m real thankful right now.”
It was a repeat effort for Foster earlier in the 110-meter hurdles, as he won in a wind-aided time of 14.03, which was also a personal-best mark, to repeat as the 110 champion after winning in 2015.
Both efforts easily qualified Foster to the Masters Meet back at Cerritos as the Golden Knight’s marks were the third-best among all four divisions in both events.
4 Jack Van Scoter at Arcadia Invitational: Though he didn’t take home a victory at the prestigious Arcadia Track and Field Invitational, it was hard to deny the impressive effort of Van Scoter.
The All-Area Boys’ Cross-Country Runner of the Year turned in California’s top time in the 3,200-meter run by finishing third in the invitational event with a personal-best mark of 8 minutes, 51.32 seconds.
“I believe in my training,” said Van Scoter when asked if his time was unexpected. “I’ve always believed in my training in cross-country, but in track — and I’ve said this a few times — it’s been good to finally get some stable coaching and coach Scott Jung is a monster.”
Van Scoter entered fresh off winning the 3,200 at the UCLA Meet of Legends on April 1 in a then-personal-best time of 8:59.61 .
At Arcadia, the senior was in 13th place through two laps of the eight-lap race that had 30 competitors.
Yet, Van Scoter fought his way toward the front, moving into eighth through four laps and into third by the sixth lap and finishing as the top Californian in the race.
Van Scoter’s lone regret was letting winner Casey Clinger from American Fork High of Utah get too far ahead, as the junior won the event in 8:50.70. Oakwood High of Illinois’ Jon Davis just clipped Van Scoter for second in 8:51.17.
“I shouldn’t have let him get that gap on us,” Van Scoter said of Clinger. “That was a mistake, but I’m new to the show, so they’ve got to teach me the ropes.”
5 Heather MacDougall at CIF Southern Section Division II swim finals: Perhaps the championship was a proper finish for what had been a storied high school career for the Falcons senior.
MacDougall joined with teammates Tiare Coker, Samantha Kohn and Yvette Kim to capture the 400-yard freestyle race at the Division II Finals at the Riverside Aquatic Complex on May 14 by just .04 seconds in a CIF State Meet and All-American automatic time of 3 minutes, 25.91 seconds.
“That was so exciting, definitely one of the best moments of my high school career,” said MacDougall, the team’s anchor. “I was very shocked. The only thing going through my mind was just to put my hand on the wall first.”
The victory came in the final race of the day and allowed Crescenta Valley to tie with Diamond Bar for fourth place with 175 points, the team’s best finish since placing runner-up in 2002.
MacDougall, the All-Area Girls’ Swimmer of the Year, also netted big points for the Falcons by placing second in the 200 freestyle in a state and All-American automatic 1:47.88 and fifth in the 100 freestyle in 50.61.
The Falcons kicked off the meet with a fifth-place finish in the 200 medley relay from Kim, MacDougall, Kohn and Coker in a state-auto time of 1:47.46.
6 Andreas Langen at CIF Southern Section Division III swim finals: The sophomore was his team’s first CIF Southern Section individual champion in two years and nearly took home a rare sweep at the Division III Finals at Riverside City College on May 12.
Langen’s proudest moment came in the 50-yard freestyle race, where the swimmer captured the event in 21.46 seconds, which beat Langen’s top-seeded preliminaries mark of 21.48.
Langen held off Viewpoint’s Thomas Finello, who was the runner-up in 21.52. The win was also the first for a Flintridge Prep boy in the 50 freestyle since Mike Miao won the title in 21.05 in 1980.
“I feel extremely proud, considering where I was last year,” Langen said. “I think I got eighth and ninth. Going from there to first is a pretty big jump and I’m really happy.”
Langen tried to match Miao’s exploits as the Flintridge Prep alumnus won both the 50 free and 100 free in 1980.
Unfortunately for Langen, he came up just short and took second in the 100 free in an state automatic and All-American consideration mark of 46.65. Sierra Canyon’s Nate Biondi won the 100 free title in 46.57.
Langen also joined Brett Bell, Sean King and Winston Chen in the 200-medley relay as the quartet took sixth in the championship event in 1:40.88.
Overall, the boys finished 14th with 83 points, while Langen earned and accepted a berth to the CIF State Championship Meet and was the first Rebel to do so.
7 Heather MacDougall at the Pacific League swim finals: It was an electric league finale for MacDougall at the Pacific League Finals at Burbank High on May 5.
The Crescenta Valley High girls defeated Arcadia, 544-372, for a ninth straight title thanks in parts to efforts by MacDougall, who was part of four league championships and four league records.
MacDougall dethroned Arcadia’s Lonna Stacey, shattering the Apache’s record from 1992 in the 100 freestyle of 52.49 with a stellar mark of 51.14. MacDougall later erased the record of former Falcon Yumi So from 2008 in the 100 backstroke (57.28) with a time of 57.14. Both times were automatic qualifiers to Division II finals.
MacDougall also played an integral part of the Falcons’ record-setting 200 medley relay squad (1:49.56) and the 400 freestyle relay team, whose mark of 3:32.01 obliterated the old league record of Pasadena from 2012 of 3:40.48.
“I think the best moment was finishing the 4x100 freestyle relay and seeing our entire team at the end of the lane,” MacDougall said. “Everyone was there. It was really fun to see that.”
8 Jack Van Scoter at CIF Southern Section Division IV Track and Field finals: It was a championship experience for the senior runner at the Division IV finals at Cerritos College on May 21, who won two titles.
Van Scoter, the All-Area Boys’ Track and Field Athlete of the Year, found satisfaction in the 3,200 race, which was a combined run of Division II and IV.
The Georgetown-bound Van Scoter beat everyone and took home the Division IV title in 9:01.81, which was third-best overall mark and advanced him to Masters.
“I thought I’d be able to qualify in the [1,600-meter run] with a 4:13, but then D-I happened and they just went off,” Van Scoter said. “I ran with a little bit of a chip on my shoulder today and I said, ‘I’m not letting this happen again.’”
Van Scoter won the Division IV 1,600-meter run in a mark of 4:13.90, which was almost six seconds better than second place.
After the completion of all four division races, Van Scoter was listed as the 12th and final qualifier. Unfortunately for Van Scoter, a disqualification in Division I was erroneously reported and corrected, which bumped Van Scoter down to 13th place or first alternate.
9 Van Scoter at CIF State Track and Field Championships: In what was his high school swansong, Van Scoter shined once again.
The senior took the lead in the 3,200-meter race with 800 meters to go in sweltering Clovis before he began to slow up.
Even so, Van Scoter still finished fifth in a time of 8:55.60, which was the top finish for any area athlete that weekend.
“With 100 to go, at that point, I recognized they were a little out of reach. I tried to prevent getting into that spot by moving with two laps to go,” said Van Scoter, who ran a season-best 8:51.32 on April 9 at the Arcadia Invitational. “I made a last little stretch move with 900 left trying to thin out the pack. I thought my only chance was to hammer the last 800 rather than wait for the last 400 and then try to out kick them.”
10 Hanna Barakat at Prep League Track and Field finals: While the event was supposed to be a going-away party for Flintridge Prep senior Jack Van Scoter, junior Hanna Barakat took center stage.
Barakat took home three individual events at the Prep League Championships at Claremont-McKenna-Scripps College’s Zinda Field on April 29.
“I came out here with the idea that I was going to do a lot of running,” Barakat said. “I wanted to get points for my team and I also wanted to pick up as many wins as possible.”
Barakat competed in four events, opening with a win in the 400-meter dash in a mark of 59.64 seconds. The victory was followed by triumphs in the 100 (12.75) and 200 (25.82).
Barakat also ran the anchor leg of the 1,600-meter relay and propelled her team to second in 4:13.32.
Honorable mention: Crescenta Valley’s Tiare Coker at Pacific League swim finals.
