Scotts Valley senior Ava Decleve repeats as 800 champ at CCS Track and Field Championships

GILROY - Scotts Valley High senior Ava Decleve applied a different strategy in the 800 meters final at the Central Coast Section Track and Field Championships at Gilroy High on Saturday and yielded a familiar result.

The UCLA-bound runner typically likes to draft the lead runner, or two, before showing off her unmatched sixth gear during her kick. This time, she led wire-to-wire and repeated as champion in the distance in 2 minutes, 10.43 seconds.

Evergreen Valley junior Sivani Kaliki (2:10.74) took second and Crystal Springs Uplands senior Anna Salter (2:10.78) took third.

"I knew it was going to be a super fun and fast race, so I was really excited to compete against such a strong group of girls," Decleve said. "As this was my last race in this area I wanted to give it my all but also enjoy all the preparation that got me here. Repeating as CCS champ makes this win even more special, especially since it was my last CCS race ever. Now, I'm excited to keep the momentum going and head to state."

Decleve is one of four Santa Cruz County athletes who qualified for the 106th CIF State Championships, which take place Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High. The top three finishers in each event punched their ticket to Clovis.

Brad Hartman, who co-head coaches the Falcons with Todd Hoffman, said he'd never seen Decleve so calm, cool, and collected ahead of a huge meet. He knew that was a good thing. She went out and proved it.

"Today was one of those complete races," Hartman said. "She finally put all the pieces together. … She commanded."

Twenty minutes after completing the the 800, Decleve ran in the 200 and placed seventh in 25.88.

Aptos senior Ella Boyes posted a pair of top-five finishes. She took fourth in the long jump (18 feet, 0.5 inches) and fifth in the 300 hurdles in 45.06.

Aptos junior Bella Briceno-Nicholson took fifth in the high jump with a height of 5-2.

Mariners senior Maya Schiro earned an at-large berth into the 3,200 final and placed sixth out 11 qualifiers in 10:53.12.

Monte Vista Christian sophomore Anna Conca took seventh in the 1,600 in 5:03.62. Pacific Collegiate sophomore Iris Paten took ninth in 5:04.75.

Mustangs senior Nylie Joneson cleared 9-2 in the pole vault for ninth place.

Aptos junior Ellie Marta took 12th in the discus, turning in a 100-7 throw on her third and final attempt.

Boys

Aptos' Ivan Cortes (12.24) and Jonny Espinoza (12.30) won the unified 100 race and qualified for the state meet.

Scotts Valley senior Aaron Weiss took fourth in the 800 in a personal-best 1:53.05 and also secured a spot in the state prelims.

Weiss got boxed in early but broke free on the second lap. He started his kicked on the backstretch, with roughly 300 meters remaining, and surged from seventh to second before getting passed by three runners late.

"Aaron ran such a gutsy race," Hartman said. "He made a massive kick. That takes a tremendous amount of energy. He always runs with tenacity and grit and doesn't if he passes out running."

Aptos senior Brady Bliesner took fifth in the 1,600 in a personal-best 4:17.22.

Pacific Collegiate's Jude Holmlund was unable to clear his opening height, 11-6, in the pole vault.

Watsonville senior Lisandro Pantoja was ill and didn't participate in the discus.

IF YOU GO

106th CIF State Championships

When: Friday and Saturday

Where: Buchanan High, Clovis

Local qualifiers: Girls: Ava Decleve (Scotts Valley), 800; Boys: Ivan Cortes and Jonny Espinoza (Aptos), unified 100; Aaron Weiss (Scotts Valley), 800

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 24, 2026 at 2:37 AM.