FOLSOM, Calif. – Freshman Alyssa Gutierrez won the girls’ 3,200-meter race, then later joined junior Mia Hollar, sophomore Miya Menza and fellow ninth grader Bianka Bagatelos to the second-fastest 4x800 relay time in school history, helping St. Francis forge an early team scoring lead at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I track & field championships Saturday.

Saturday’s session at Folsom High’s Prairie City Stadium hosted the preliminary rounds that feed into the divisional finals on May 16 at Sacramento City College. However, the 3,200 and the 4x800 relay were the lone finals contested.  

The top nine finishers from the Folsom session move on to the May 16 finals with the exception of the two 800s, which advance 12. Meanwhile, the participants in the 3,200 and 4x800 relays await the results of all other divisional meets. The top 24 3,200 runners and the top 16 4x800 relay teams from all division championships make the cut for the SJS Masters, held at Folsom on May 23.

Gutierrez led off Saturday’s schedule with her winning time of 10 minutes, 28.89 seconds in the 3,200. She led from wire to wire, holding a nine-second lead against Whitney’s Sophie Hutchison at the midpoint, and besting runner-up Norah Feldt of Davis by more than 17 seconds. That time is her No. 3 fastest of the season, behind only her personal-best 10:23.34 at the Stanford Invite and the 10:27.63 at the Bronco Roundup Distance Carnival.  Gutierrez, the state runner-up in cross country last fall, ranks sixth in California and tops among freshmen in that event. She also ranks fourth nationally among ninth graders.

Menza finished sixth at 11:06.93, picking up one place against Whitney junior Eva Soto in the final lap. She finished the day by joining Gutierrez, Hollar and Bagatelos for a 9:22.16 in the long relay, second behind Davis’ 9:21.27. The Troubies’ time now ranks second in school history, behind only the 9:20.33 compiled by the foursome of Grace Dunham, Ryann Strawn, Kelsey Sutch and Kayla Towne at the state meet two years ago.

For her part, Bagatelos had already locked up a spot in next Saturday’s D-I finals, placing fifth in the 800 with a PB of 2:16.28 – a .06 improvement from the 2:16.34 at last week’s Sierra Foothill League championships. She entered the meet as the second-fastest freshman in Northern California over two laps, trailing only Skyline’s Sydney Lee (2:15.14).

One of the more remarkable achievements for St. Francis belonged to Sophia Kadel in that same 800-meter prelim. The sophomore finished 12th at the league meet and narrowly missed the at-large cut to the section meet, but remained an alternate in the field. When enough participants scratched from Saturday’s two heats, Kadel ended up as the No. 13 entrant in the second heat. Kadel responded with a massive PR, improving from 2:23.44 at the SFL meet to a 2:19.50 in the section trials. This new best finished 11th and earned a berth in the final heat at Sac City College next weekend.

Senior thrower Antonija Jezildzic also enjoyed a display of perseverance in the girls’ discus throw trials. She committed sector fouls on each of her first two throws, then posted a mark of 98 feet, 11 inches on her third attempt. Jezildzic followed with a 102-1 in the fourth and final round. This moved her into third place in her flight and seventh overall, granting her an entry into the May 16 finals. Later in the day, freshman Abigail Carrothers led five Troubies in the shot put with her sixth-place mark of 31-2.5.

The Troubadours finished the day with 21 team points: 10 from Gutierrez’ win in the 3,200, three more from Menza’s sixth-place finish in that same event, plus the eight tallies from placing as the section runner-up in the 4x800. Davis holds second place with 18 points with Whitney in third at 15 – not surprising, given the strength of the top three leaders in the distances.

The SJS Div. I finals begin with the boys’ and girls’ long jumps, girls’ shot put and boys’ discus throw at 9:30 a.m. The first running event begins at 10 a.m. All events take place at Hughes Stadium, with tickets available only through GoFan (https://gofan.co/event/ 6591809?schoolId=CIFSJS).

2026 SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION DIV. I TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP TRIALS
Prairie City Stadium (Folsom, Calif.)
Events with SF entrants only • Winner plus SF finishers listed • All events are prelims except where noted

GIRLS’ 3,200 METERS FINAL - 1. Alyssa Gutierrez, St. Francis, 10:28.89… 6. Miya Menza, 11:06.93; 9. Sophia Kadel, 11:15.88; 11. Chloe Harrison, 11:16.90; 12. Rebecca Dickson, 11:19.78; 14. Emily Colonnello, 11:24.30.

GIRLS’ 4x100 RELAY - 1. Cosumnes Oaks, 47.52… 12. St. Francis, 50.53.

GIRLS’ 800 METERS - 1. Addison Ewers, Whitney, 2:15.74… 5. Bianka Bagatelos, 2:16.28; 11. Sophia Kadel, 2:19.50; 15. Mia Hollar, 2:20.63.

GIRLS’ 300 HURDLES - 1. Margot Zemke, Sheldon, 43.73… 19. Colleen Medina, 50.74.

GIRLS’ 4x800 RELAY FINAL - 1. Davis, 9:21.27… 2. St. Francis (Gutierrez, Hollar, Menza, Bagatelos), 9:22.16.

GIRLS’ DISCUS THROW - 1. Audrey Bernier, Lincoln, 139-0… 7. Antonija Jezildzic, 102-1; 20. Carley Glenn, 84-10; 22. Emmy Cheatham, 83-7.

GIRLS' SHOT PUT - 1. Gracelynne Duenas, Lodi, 36-6... 6. Abigail Carrothers, 31-2.5; 11. Carley Glenn, 29-4.5; 18. Antonija Jezildzic, 27-1.25; 19. Olivia Santos, 27-1.25; 22. Christie So, 26-5.5.