Khloe DeLaTorre won the 1,600-meter race at the Sacramento Meet of Champions on April 27 with a time of 4:48.95. Matching that time last Saturday would have been enough for the Vacaville High junior to win at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters meet, but she settled for third place in 4:52.74.
That was enough to send DeLaTorre to the state championships Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High in Clovis. Time will not be on her side in the trials Friday, however, because there are 12 girls in the state who have faster times than 4:48.95. And it has been a month since DeLaTorre did that.
Riverbank junior Giselle Fernandez and Davis sophomore Norah Feldt got even with DeLaTorre at the Masters meet by finishing first and second, respectively. They could not catch her at the Meet of Champions because she pulled away in the last lap with her fastest split of the race at 1:09.42.
Fernandez and Feldt had no problem holding off DeLaTorre in the Masters meet at Folsom High. The race played out as Vacaville coach Dave Monk had expected and the plan was for DeLaTorre to make her move in the last lap. DeLaTorre never did, however, and seemed content to take third.
DeLaTorre achieved her goal if it was just to make it to the state meet. If she wants to contend for a state medal, any time slower than 4:50 will not work. DeLaTorre is seeded ninth in the first of two heats in the trials. She is in the same heat as La Jolla junior Chiara Dailey, the top overall seed at 4:43.57.
The top four finishers in each heat and the next four fastest runners will race in Saturday’s final. The top three runners in each heat have posted faster times than DeLaTorre’s best of 4:48.95 in April. She faced little competition in the 1,600 at the section Division III meet May 16 and won in 5:05.91.
The trip to Clovis will be worthwhile for DeLaTorre if she can muster the confidence to believe she belongs and can compete with the elite. Monk talked DeLaTorre into making the 1,600 her main event after she focused on the 800 in 2024 because her ceiling in endurance events is much higher.
To find an example, DeLaTorre does not need to look any further than senior Jackson Stream. His best bet to make the state meet was thought to be the 3,200, but that was before he ran the 1,600 at the Meet of Champions just to break the school record in the race before his little brother could.
The 1,600 began to grow on Stream after he set the record at 4:12.18. He then held off his brother Cooper by two hundredths of a second to win the 1,600 at the Division III meet. Jackson’s time of 4:18.24 did nothing to make any person think he could break his own record at the Masters meet.
The same could be said for Jesuit senior Navin Kadel and junior Drake Hoferer. Kadel finished first at the Division I meet in 4:19.08 and Hoferer was sixth in 4:22.74. Granite Bay’s Connor Bilodeau was fifth in 4:21.68, but the sophomore still deserved a modicum of respect with the section’s fastest time of the season at 4:11.92.
All of that became meaningless in the Masters final. Kadel and Hoferer led after three laps with the Stream brothers in pursuit. Hoferer separated from Kadel as the four entered the home stretch, so Jackson accelerated to catch Hoferer and then lunged past him at the finish line for a dramatic win.
Not only did Bilodeau finish 11th in 4:20.03, but he also no longer has the top time in the section. Jackson is first at 4:10.71, Hoferer second at 4:10.82 and Kadel third at 4:11.55. Bilodeau is fourth and Cooper fifth at 4:12.12. The Stream brothers, Hoferer and Kadel qualified for the state meet.
Jackson is seeded fourth in the third of three heats. Cooper is sixth in the second heat. The top three finishers in each heat and the next three fastest runners advance to the final Saturday. Clovis North’s Conor Lott is the top overall seed at 4:05.80. Fortunately for the Streams, Lott is in the first heat.
