Fortuna’s senior dynamic duo isn’t done just yet.
On Saturday, Katie Hurst and Camrin Dolcini both qualified for next week’s state track and field championships, extending their season by one more week.
Hurst will be making a fourth straight trip to the prestigious meet after placing first in the high jump at the Meet of Champions for the third straight year.
The Fortuna senior took top spot with a 5-04 in windy conditions at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill.
And this year she’ll be joined by Dolcini, who placed third in the 100 meter hurdles final in a time of 15.89 seconds, qualifying for state for the first time.
“It’s been a long time since we had multiple athletes from the same school going to state,” Fortuna co-head coach Josh Quintal said.
Hurst, who has also previously qualified for state in the triple jump and long jump, will compete only in the high jump this year.
She placed ninth in the triple jump this weekend, while Dolcini was seventh in the pole vault with a jump of 11-04 despite battling some minor injuries.
“She’s not 100 percent right now, but she sucked it up and ran really well,” Quintal said of her hurdles race on Saturday. “She looked way better today than yesterday.”
The trip to Clovis next week will be a fitting way for both to close out what has been a remarkable career competing for the Huskies.
Last season they led the team to a first-ever league title, following that with an even more impressive showing this season on the way to defending their crown.
“They both are super competitive, and they’re great kids to coach and easy to work with,” Quintal said. “And they’ve helped our team. They’ve helped the younger kids coming up.”
One of those younger kids, freshman Kalia Yang, also made the trip to Pleasant Hill this weekend, posting the 12th fastest time in the 200 meters heats, and setting a new Fortuna High School record (26.14 seconds).
Yang was the fastest freshman in the event.
Other H-DNL athletes in action included Arcata’s Thea Norlund, who was second in both of her heats in the 800m and 1600m on Friday, but did not race in either final on Saturday.
Norlund broke her own school record in the 1600m heat, finishing in a time of 5:06.14, while also setting a PR in the 800m (2:17.68).
Her teammate Riley Martel-Phillips closed out her high school career with an eighth-place finish in her 1600m heat on Friday.
Eureka’s sensational sophomore Nathaniel Spears won his heat on Friday in the 110m hurdles in a time of 15.81, posting the third fastest time on the opening day.
Spears, however, barely missed out on state qualification with a fourth-place finish in Saturday’s final.
Del Norte’s Luke King was seventh in the shot put, while Arcata freshman Anneli Macdonald was 17th in the girls 3200m late Saturday afternoon.
###
Ray Hamill writes at humboldtsports.com, where you can read lots more about sports in Humboldt County.