Oakdale High junior Dezirae Pennington had better tie those laces tight, because she’s bound to leap right out of those shoes.
The versatile track and field standout soared to two career highs for a spectacular performance at the County Clash in Turlock on Friday.
She landed first in the triple jump at 35 feet, 5.75 inches, was second in the 300 hurdles at 47.14-seconds and ended runner-up in the 100 hurdles at 15.97.
Pennington didn’t match her own 46.6 school record in the 300 hurdles, but surpassed a pair of marks that sent her to the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Championships a year ago. She bested her top triple jump by nearly a foot and sped 33 one-hundredths of a second past her top 100 hurdles time.
Kellie Gratigny was fourth in the long jump and third in the triple jump while Brooke Wong ended runner-up in the pole vault and Anna Perrone fifth in the 800.
Oakdale’s stellar throwing crew has yet to disappoint. Freshman Hannah Chappell heaved the discus seven feet past all competitors at 124-6 while junior Kyle Peterson won the same event with a 154-05. Peterson was also fourth in the shot put. Brynden McAndrews was third in the pole vault while Brock Whiting (sixth in the long jump), Isaiah Aguilar (sixth in the 3200) and Austin Jones (sixth in the triple jump) also did well.
Oakdale was solid in a Valley Oak League dual with East Union on March 20. The varsity boys won 78-51 while the girls took a 94-41 win. Oakdale’s junior varsity boys captured a 90-56 win while the JV girls fell 88-43.
Aguilar won both the 1600 and 3200 for the varsity boys while Chris Davis took the 200 and 400. Peterson won the discus and shot put.
Gratigny won the triple jump, long jump, high jump and 400 to lead Oakdale girls. Pennington won the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, 200 (new personal best of 26.13) and anchored the winning 1600 relay. Perrone won the 1600 and 800 while Wong took the pole vault. Grace Perriera won the shot put and ended second in both the discus and the pole vault. Chappell set her new season high with a 125-6 to win the discus.
Oakdale hosts Kimball today, March 27. The team takes on the MJC Invitational on Saturday, March 30.
