Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Laila Florvilus in action at McKinleyville High School on Wednesday.

By Ray Hamill — The H-DNL track and field season got under way this week, with big team performances for the Del Norte boys and girls.

The Warriors, who have a lot of depth this spring, won both team competitions and placed first in eight of the 34 events.

Juniors Deken Hanks and Sebastian Espinoza each won a pair of events for the boys, while impressive freshman Anabelle White won two events for the girls in her first-ever H-DNL meet.

“Overall it was a good showing for the guys and the girls,” Del Norte head coach Taylor Duncan said. “We had some kids run a couple of different events, but the kids did great. They responded.”

Hanks led a one-two-three finish for the Del Norte boys in the 400 meters, crossing the finish line in a PR time of 51.62 seconds, with teammates Landon Balent and Dylan Rodriguez second and third, respectively.

The speedy Hanks also placed first in the 200m in a time of 22.62 seconds, with Fortuna’s Kavi Bolden and Balent rounding out the top three.

“We’ve got a pretty good amount of depth on both teams,” Duncan added.

Espinoza took first place in both the shot put (47’ 2.5”) and discus (134’ 7”), while Rodriguez followed his impressive performance on Wednesday with a big performance at Roseburg on Saturday afternoon, where he broke his own school record in the 800, finishing in a time of 1 minute, 58 seconds.

The young White also enjoyed a big week.

She placed first in the triple jump on Wednesday with a jump of 32’ 10”, as well as teaming with Aurora Mitchell, Alexis Aguirre and Jeana Erler to win the 4x100m relay.

She followed that with a new PR in the event at the Warrior Twilight meet in Crescent City on Friday night, jumping a very impressive 33’ 5.5”.

It was also a good week for St. Bernard’s senior Laila Florvilus, who won three events on Wednesday and placed second in her fourth.

Florvilus edged Erler in the 100m with a time of 13.25 seconds, with Arcata’s Anna McLaughlin third, and the SB standout also won the 100 hurdles (15.61 seconds) and the high jump (5’ 0”), with Erler also second in the latter.

Florvilus also was a part of the SB 4x100m relay team that placed second to Del Norte.

Other multiple winners on the day included Fortuna’s Kavi Bolden, who was first in the boys 100m with a PR time of 11.25 seconds and teamed with Mako Limon, Jack Stacy and Noah Crosswhile to place first in the 4x100m relay.

Limon was second in the 100m, followed by Balent in third.

Arcata’s Evan Poston placed first in the 1600m and the 4x800m relay, along with teammates Ocean Walker, Reece Thompson and Levi Brown.

Eureka’s Everett Docherty was first in the boys 800m and his teammate Ryder Bullman was first in the 3200m, while the Loggers also won both of the boys hurdles races, with Bo Landry placing first in the 110m hurdles and Thomas Hoffman first in the 300m hurdles.

The Arcata foursome of Christopher Bogar, Palavi Vainuku, Taojah Denney and Brown won the 4x400m relay, while Del Norte’s Brandt Pennington tied Eureka’s Xavier De la Rosa for first place in the high jump.

The Loggers won seven of the boys events, including a victory in the pole vault for senior John Stephen Powers, as well as a win for junior Michael Leen in the long jump.

Rounding out the boys winners on the day was Ferndale’s Anthony Kasso, who placed first in the triple jump.

In girls action, Eureka’s Claire Gast won two events, crossing the finish ahead of the field in the 800m and the 1600m, while Arcata’s Ada Kinziger won the 400m and teamed with Savannah Leary, Quincy Kelly and Zelia Stoll to win the 4x400m relay.

Other winners on there day included Eureka’s Elizabeth Rominger in the 200m and her teammate Summer Morales in the 3200m, as well as McLaughlin in the long jump.

The Loggers place second in both team competitions and won six of the girls events, including first-place finishes for Andrea Rivas in the 300m hurdles and Isabella Claussen in the shot put with a PR of 36’ 2”.

Claussen’s mark is the 58th best in the state this season.

Rouding out the winners on the day, Del Norte’s Arriana Pennington placed first in the girls pole vault, Arcata’s Syriah George won the discus with a PR of 102’ 9”, and Fortuna’s Meztli Chinas, Alexa McCall, Brida Lester and Eryn Hunter teamed up to win the 4×800 relay.