De La Salle sprinter Jaden Jefferson knew what he had to do, that smashing the California record in the 100 meters during a qualifying heat on Friday would have been spoiled had he not won the state championship Saturday night.
“Without me winning tonight, the record that I broke really means nothing because I didn’t finish,” Jefferson told the Bay Area News Group.
Jefferson made sure he finished.
One day after he ran the 100 in a state-record 10.01 seconds, the junior kept his focus and posted another blistering time at Buchanan High’s Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis.
Jefferson won the state title in 10.27 to edge Servite-Anaheim’s Benjamin Harris (10.31).
De La Salle’s Jaden Jefferson, fourth form left wins the 100 Meter Dash during the CIF State Track and Field Championships on Friday at Buchanan High in Clovis on Saturday, May 31, 2025. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
The triumph was one of several highlights for Bay Area athletes at the 105th running of the California Interscholastic Federation championships.
Another record
Pittsburg’s Khaliq Muhammad broke the state-meet record in the boys pole vault, winning in 17-10 1/2. Davis’ Sondre Guttormsen had held the record of 17-10 since 2019.
St. Mary’s-Berkeley’s Kira Gant Hatcher shared first place in the girls triple jump with Jurupa Valley AB Hernandez, an openly transgender athlete whose presence at the state meet led to last-minute rule changes that prevented Hernandez from displacing a biological female student-athlete on the medal stand.
Hatcher jumped 40-5 to Hernandez’s 42-2 ¾, but they both received first-place medals.
The girls high jump had a similar outcome as Hernandez would have finished alone in first without the rule change. She cleared 5-7 in her first attempt. Lelani Laruelle of Monta Vista in Cupertino and Long Beach Wilson’s Jillene Wetteland hit the mark in their second try. But the three shared first place.
Hernandez split second place in the girls long jump with River City’s Brooke White despite jumping 20-8 ¾ to White’s 19-4 ¼.
St. Ignatius’ Prince Buchango-Babalola won the boys 200 in 20.79. Jefferson finished fourth in a personal-best 20.86, capping a meet that also included him running the second leg on De La Salle’s 4×100 relay, which finished fourth in 40.80.
Jefferson’s maturation
Jefferson arrived at De La Salle as an ultra-talented athlete, so gifted that he made the storied varsity football team as a freshman, but he was far from refined.
As he put it Saturday night, he has grown up.
“With De La Salle, they really teach you to become a man and be mature,” said Jefferson, who orally committed in January to play football for Bill Belichick at North Carolina. “I am focused on being more mature, focused on what I have to do in life for me to succeed.”
On Friday night, as he watched video of Jefferson breaking the state record in the 100, De La Salle football coach Justin Alumbaugh said he was brought to tears.
He knows how far Jefferson has come since his early years at De La Salle and to see it rewarded is something to behold.
“He has grown so much as an athlete and as a young man, I am so proud of him,” Alumbaugh said Saturday morning. “I really am. It’s one of the best success stories in De La Salle. To be that talented when you show up as a freshman and to accept humble pie, if I might speak freely, and commit to work, commit to being better, commit to being a better human, commit to the weight room, commit to everything, I can’t give the kid enough credit.”
Jefferson has also experienced loss at De La Salle, the sudden death of assistant football coach Steve Jacoby during the 2023 season and the passing of head track coach John Harvey in late April.
Harvey’s words that he once preached to Jefferson remained loud and clear this weekend.
“It’s been very emotional, very motivational to see him looking over us, him pushing us,” Jefferson said. “It was very great for me to win this. I honestly did it all for him.”
Other highlights
In the boys 110 high hurdles, San Diego’s Jasir Fontenot broke his own meet record from Friday, winning in 13.21 after running 13.31 in the prelims. Buchango-Babalola finished second in 13.59.
Montgomery-Santa Rosa’s Hanne Thomsen finished first in the girls 3,200 in a meet-record 9:48.98.
In the girls 400, St. Mary’s Academy’s Madison Mosby wins the gold in 53.52. Mountain View’s Hannah Rutherford takes the silver in 54.27.
Menlo School’s Landon Pretre took second in the boys 3,200 in 8:54.25. Woodcrest Christian’s Eyan Turk won in 8:51.62.
In the boys 1,600, Clovis North’s Conor Lott wins in 4:03.32. Crystal Springs Upland’s Benjamin Bouie finishes second in 4:04.84 and Los Gatos’ Aydon Stefanopoulos takes fourth in 4:06.68.
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Archbishop Mitty’s Maya Ifo Desai won the silver medal in the girls discus with a throw of 154-3. Jaslene Massey of the Southern Section’s Aliso Niguel took first in 163-9.
In the girls 1,600, Santiago-Corona’s Braelyn Combe wins in 4:35.64. Kinga Czajkowska of Palo Alto finishes fourth in 4:42.91.
Temecula Valley’s Jack Stadlman won the boys 1,600 in 46.02. Woodside’s Mattheo LaCasia was fourth in 47.14.
In the girls 800, Carlsbad’s Makenna Herbst finished first in 2:02.28. St. Francis’ Sabrina Zanetto was third in 2:09.22.
Santiago-Corona won the girls 4×800 in a meet-record 8:49.01. St. Francis took third in 8:57.49.
San Ramon Valley’s Kaleb Pleis finished fourth in the boys long jump in 23-9 ½. Santa Margarita’s Leo Francis won in 25-0 ¾.
Clovis North’s McKay Madsen easily won the boys discus in 210-8. Nobody else cleared 190-0. Woodside’s Evan Usher took fifth in 179-11 and San Mateo’s Emmanuel Fitzgerald was sixth in 177-10.
Madsen also won the boys shot put in 69-11. Serra’s Luke Lewis took third in 58-6 ¾ and Woodside’s Evan Usher was fifth in 58-4 ¾.
