East Union's Nick Konradi wraps up a record-breaking finish in the 4x400 relay.

Ike Dodson/Sun Post 

MODESTO — Meet officials crowded the shot-put pit at Modesto Junior College in bright red polos, all with eyes upon Sierra High’s Derek Sinclair as he warmed up for his action in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III Track-and-Field Championships on Tuesday, May 13.

            An announcement echoed across the stadium with word of Sinclair’s tosses this season, referring to the senior’s marks that have landed him among the top 10 throwers in the state.

            Sinclair could only shake his head and saunter towards the pit for his second toss of preliminary competition — a throw that sailed well beyond any other holes in the dirt for a meet-record of 55-feet, ½-inch.

            The officials then walked into the throwing range for two separate measurements, halting action to re-weigh Sinclair’s record-breaking shot before allowing the announcer to broadcast the accomplishment over the loudspeakers.

            Sinclair, never one to hunger for a spotlight, could only shake his head. Knowing this, teammate Zack Holzer can’t help but to rub it in.

            “Who knew that someday Derek Sinclair would be a household name,” Holzer quipped, before altering his voice to sound like child. “I want to be just like you when I grow up.”

            Sinclair could only grin and go with the motions of one more step towards his quest for a state medal, one tournament down, two to go.

            Sinclair won the finals of the event later that day and watched Holzer slip into second with a toss of 49-8¼. The two will advance with plenty of other Manteca Unified School District Athletes to the SJS Masters Championships on May 22 and 23 at Sacramento City College.

            “I was just focusing on getting better,” Sinclair said. “it was pretty cool to get my first meet record, but I was disappointed I did not set that record as high as I wanted to.”

            Tuesday was the Division III preliminaries and finals for some field events, and trials for all running events. The top nine runners returned Thursday for the final day of meet action, though those results were not available by press time. Thursday’s results will also decide whether Sierra will remain leader on the point standings and finish as division III team champions.

            Manteca’s Corbin Bell was first in the triple jump during Tuesday’s final with a 46-foot leap. He watched Sierra’s Dirrinna Uwakwe finish sixth.

            Jennifer Fields of East Union was third in the discus with a throw of 109-10 to wrap up finals action.

            In trials, East Union’s 4x400 relay tandem of Jimmy Braitman, Brandon Dempsey, Abdiel Martinez-Ramos and Nick Konradi broke a meet record with a 3-minute, 25.81-second finish. The four were seeded first for Thursday’s final after winning their heat by a landslide, and expected to challenge for a state-advancement at Masters.

Martinez-Ramos also qualified for the finals of the 400 and 200 with second-seeded times in both events.

            “It feels real good to finish that well,” Martinez-Ramos said. “We wanted to win by 50 meters after only winning by 20 at league. We were able to do that today.”

            Sierra’s two-time state qualifier, Avery White, showed signs of an off-season knee surgery, but managed to qualify second in the 300 hurdles and eighth in the 110 hurdles. Teamate Buddy Hitchcock qualified third in both the 100 and 200.