Oakdale’s throwers made a huge impact at the 2019 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Masters this past weekend at Davis High School. Ben Chappell, Emma Harper and Angelica Lowry all had a memorable weekend and will continue their postseason campaign at the state level.

Chappell placed first overall in the discus, throwing for 155-11 and setting a personal record.

“I went into the meet with low expectations, I really did not think I would qualify,” admitted Chappell.

He worked on upper body strength and his throws to help prepare him for his championship performance.

“It was my third throw and as soon as it left my hand I knew it was going to be good,” he added of feeling more confident as the meet went along.

This is his first time qualifying for the state meet. He also competed in the shot put and placed 16th overall.

Emma Harper placed first in the girl’s discus at 135-10.

Angelica Lowry placed third overall in the shot put setting a personal record of 39-10.5. The junior was anxious and optimistic heading into the meet.

“I woke up and just wanted to get to Davis. I had a feeling that I was going to do something special,” said Lowry.

She threw her personal best on her final attempt.

“I was so happy and I looked over at Coach Brett Chappell and said ‘That’s the one’ with excitement,” she explained.

Lowry credits Coach Chappell with contributing to her success.

“Coach Chappell is amazing, and I owe him all praises. I’m going to be sad when I graduate next year.”

Lowry hopes to throw a new personal best at the state meet.

Harper threw for 36-07.00 in shot put and finished tenth overall.

She is looking forward to throwing the discus at state, the sophomore reaching that level for the first time.

“Last year I competed at Masters and came up short,” Harper said. “But this year I was ready and I worked really hard to reach this goal.”

During the week Oakdale had rainfall and the team used it to their advantage, practicing in wet conditions, anticipating some rain at the actual competition. But that rain did not fall.

Senior Cameron Burke made the trip as well, having qualified for the 400 meter race and the 300 meter hurdles. In hurdles he placed seventh but did not place in the finals. He also placed 11th overall in the preliminaries in the 400 meters.

Freshman Haleigh Humble finished her season by placing 16th overall in the 3200 meter finals. She completed the race in 11:27.37.

The state meet is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, May 23 and May 24 at Buchanan.