Photo by Erik Fraser – The McKinleyville Panthers celebrate their Charles Lakin tournament championship last weekend.
By Ray Hamill —A trio of local track and field standouts are honored this week after big weekends for all three in postseason competition.
St. Bernard’s Laila Florvilus closed out her high school career with a big showing at the North Coast Section Class A Championships in Santa Rosa, winning two events.
Florvilus, who will be talking her talents to Chico State after graduation, led the Little 4 charge at the big meet and placed first in both the high jump and the 100m hurdles.
And that gets her the nod for one of our athlete of the week awards.
Joining her this week is Del Norte junior Deken Hanks, who continued his record-setting exploits at the NCS Redwood Empire Championships at Fortuna High.
One week after breaking his own H-DNL record in the 100 meters at the league championships, Hanks did it again in the NCS meet, winning the race with a record time of 10.57 seconds.
This is the second straight week Hanks features among our athletes of the week.
Rounding out athletes of the week, College of the Redwoods standout Chase McFarland capped an outstanding spring in track and field with a big showing at the state championships.
The former South Fork Cub, who has been among the most improved CR athletes over the last two seasons, received all-state honors after placing fifth in the women’s hammer throw.
Our team of the week honors, meanwhile, go to a pair of championship-winning teams.
The McKinleyville Panthers were crowned Charles Lakin tournament champs in baseball with a thrilling come-from-behind walk-off win over Eureka in the final.
The Fortuna Huskies also won an exciting championship game in the Lakin softball tournament, also coming from behind to defeat McKinleyville in the final and ending an eight-year wait for a tournament title.
Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Laila Florvilus
St. Bernard’s Track and Field, Senior
Florvilus, who will not compete in this weekend’s NCS Meet of Champions, closed out a remarkable high school career with another big showing at the Class A championships last weekend.
The standout senior cleared 5’ 2” on her way to victory in the high jump and won the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 14.98 seconds.
The multi-sport star also enjoyed stellar high school careers in basketball and soccer and will compete in both basketball and track and field at the college level.
For more on her big week, see Explosive Hanks, Florvilus lead H-DNL charge in NCS meets …
Deken Hanks,
Del Norte Track and Field, Junior
Can Hanks make it three in a row? That’s the big question everyone will be asking ahead of this weekend’s Meet of Champions.
The fastest athlete in the history of the H-DNL has broken his own league record in the 100m at back-to-back meets over the past two weekends and appears to be getting stronger as the season progresses.
For good measure, Hanks also won the 200m at the Redwood Empire Championships with a PR of 21.91 seconds.
For more on his big week, see Explosive Hanks, Florvilus lead H-DNL charge in NCS meets …
Submitted photo
Chase McFarland
College of the Redwoods, Sophomore
A fifth-place finish at the JUCO state championships at College of San Mateo last weekend capped a very impressive JC career for McFarland.
The former South Fork Cub won the women’s hammer throw with a throw of 41.90 meters.
For more on her big week, see Former H-DNL athletes earn all-state honors at JC championships …
TEAMS OF THE WEEK
Fortuna Softball
The Huskies evoked memories of their great teams of a decade ago with a championship-winning performance at last week’s Charles Lakin tournament.
Senior Faith Helms led the late comeback with a bases-clearing double, as the Fortuna girls rallied from a three-run deficit with six late runs and won the game 6-4.
It was the program’s fourth all-time Lakin tourney title, which is a league record.
Head coach Eric Helms and his staff deserve a tone of credit for what they achieved this season, as do seniors Mariah Bravo and Myra Hayes and several other players who made big contributions on a balanced roster this spring.
For more on their big week, see ‘Resilient’ Huskies dig deep, answer the call late in Lakin decider …
McKinleyville Baseball
Never say never.
The McKinleyville boys scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning in last week’s Lakin championship game to pull out a dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Eureka Loggers.
Seniors Kolbey Stolpe and Bryce Sargent combined for the winning run to secure a second straight tournament title for the team and ignite the celebrations.
Despite the team’s disappointing NCS loss at Amador Valley a few days later, head coach Mike Dobrec and his players have a lot to be proud of after what they achieved this season, with several players contributing consistently all spring.
For more on their big week, see Panthers secure thrilling walk-off win in Charles Lakin final …
