Rev's Elijah Medina wins 3200 meters, 3rd in 1600 to lead CBL athletes at CIF prelims

Redlands East Valley High sophomore Elijah Medina added a victory and a third-place finish to his impressive 2026 track resume at the CIF Southern Section Division 2 preliminaries at Ontario High School on May 2.

Medina, who has set personal records at 800, 1600 and 3200 meters this season and was the Citrus Belt League champion in the 1600, will try a challenging double at the Division 2 finals May 16 at Moorpark High School.

He won the 3200 meters with an outstanding finish in 9:11.83, just shy of his personal best of 9:07.56 set at the ASICS Laguna Beach Trophy meet on March 20. He took third in the 1600 meters in 4:15.34, five seconds off his personal best of 4:10.32 set eight days earlier on March 20 at THE TEN meet at JSerra Catholic High. Medina also as a personal best of 1:56.83 in the 800 meters set April 21 in a dual meet with Beaumont.

In the fast-paced 3200, Medina ran the first 400 meters in 68 seconds, the 800 in 2:18.68 and the first 1600 in 4:36.53.

REV teammate De-Mareaye Hopkins, a junior, qualified eighth in the 110-meter high hurdles in 15.14, a tick shy of his personal best of 15.13, set at the CBL championship. Hopkins was a non-qualifying 12 th in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 40.37. He has run 39.79 this season.

In the girls Division 2 competition, Citrus Valley’s team qualified seventh in the section’s newest event, the 4X800-meter relay, timed in 9:40.47. Carmen Robles of Redlands High was the fifth-place qualifier in the shotput at 35 feet, 5 inches.

Freshman Savannah Morris of REV, a three-event winner at the CBL meet, did not qualify in any of her specialties – the 100 meters, 300-meter hurdles and the long jump. CVHS freshman Alyssa Castaneda, the CBL champion in the 800 meters, wound up 13 th and didn’t make the final.

CBL dual meet champion Beaumont had a good day at the Division 1 prelims at Trabuco Hills High School. Senior Daryl Williams qualified fourth in the 400 meters in 48.26, just off his personal best of 47.9 set in the CBL championship. He was sixth in the 200 meters in 21.12 aided by a 2.4 mile per hour went. Teammate Kai Johnston finished second in the 300- meter intermediate hurdles in 38.14.

Cajon’s boys’ 4X100 meter relay team got the ninth and last spot for the D-1 finals at Moorpark High with a 42.10 clocking. The Cowgirls’ 400-meter runner Chanel Daniel posted a 57.41 time in the prelims but did not make the nine runners for the final.

Yucaipa High senior Emmalynne Dowdy qualified fifth in the discus with a throw of 118 feet, 11 inches.

Three Arrowhead Christian Academy athletes qualified for Saturday’s finals in Division 4 at Moorpark High.

In the prelims at Carpenteria High on May 9, sophomore Leah Slagter qualified ninth in the 1600 meters in 5:22.25 and also qualified ninth in the 800 meters in 2:24.95. Teammate Genevieve Truer was the 8 th qualifier in the 400 meters in 57.86 but did not advance in the 200 meters.

Other Eagles who tried but didn’t make the finals were Micah Tagalog in the 400 meters, Jesca Snyder in the shotput, and the boys and girls 4X400 meter relay teams.