State, Central Section championships on line in Fresno area this weekend. Here's your guide

It's a big weekend for high school sports in the Fresno area, with the state swimming meet returning to Clovis West, Central section championships in two sports at Buchanan and much more.

The CIF State Swimming & Diving Championships have been at the Clovis West Olympic Swim Complex all four years of existence and return Friday and Saturday. Clovis West's Abby Samansky, the star of last week's section meet in the same pool, is among the top local entries.

The section track and field championships are Saturday at Buchanan's Veterans Memorial Stadium, the same venue that'll host the state meet June 1-2.

Friday night, Buchanan goes for its fifth straight section Division I boys volleyball title when the top-seeded Bears meet No. 2 Clovis at 6:30 p.m. in the Buchanan gym. At the same time, Hoover goes for its first section boys volleyball title hosting No. 2 Madera in Division II.

There's also section individual boys tennis titles on the line when the top 16 in singles and doubles meet at Madera South. Action there starts Friday with finals Saturday afternoon.

The high school baseball and softball playoffs are ongoing, with baseball quarterfinals Thursday and softball quarterfinals Friday. Championships in all six divisions are May 25-26, baseball at Visalia's Rawhide Stadium and softball at Fresno State's Margie Wright Diamond.

Here's what to watch for:

Track and field - The boys 100-meter sprint figures to be one of the top events, according to Central Section track and field historian Ron Blackwood. Throw a blanket over the top three qualifying times: Caleb Foster of Clovis North (10.68 seconds); Kazmeir Allen of Tulare Union (10.70) and Jalen McMillan of San Joaquin Memorial (10.79).

The 100 race will begin at 6:25 p.m.

The boys 800 also has a tight bunch of top contenders: Ismael Ramirez of Redwood (1:53.59); Mohamed Saleh of Sanger (1:54.61) and Nathan Burd of Lemoore (1:54.68)

On the girls side, the 100 (leader Aaliyah Wilson, Stockdale, 11.49), 100 high hurdles (Wilson, 13.70), long jump (Asia Mallory, Desert, 18 feet 8 inches) and triple jump (Macayla Wells, Taft, 38-6) are the noted top events, Blackwood said..

The Central boys and Buchanan girls are defending team champions.

Swimming - Samansky, a junior, won two individual events and was on two winning relay teams last Saturday, all in meet-record times.

She won the 200-yard freestyle and 100 free, and joined teammates Caitlyn Snyder, Lexie Voice and Jordan Gruce on the 200 free and 400 relay teams. Samansky is seeded No. 4 in the girls 100-yard freestyle and No. 5 in 200 free. Snyder is No. 6 in the 50 free.

Michael Jia of Clovis North won the 100 butterfly and 50 free and was on the winning 200 free relay team with juniors Cole Fleming and Benjamin Forbes and sophomore Bodhi Bowden. Forbes also won 100 free title and 200 free. He was on the winning 400 free relay team with Bowden and juniors Parker Bell and Samuel Taylor.

Jia is seeded 10th in the boys 100 butterfly and 17th in the 50 free. Forbes is 14th in 200 free and 12th in 100 free.

Boys tennis - Brandon Park of Stockdale and Mike Fourchy of Clovis North are the Nos. 1 and 2 singles seeds. Fourchy helped the Broncos to a section title with a 6-0 victory over Clovis West.

Singles matches begin at 9 a.m. Friday.

Drew Quall and Billy Schulz of Clovis North are the top-seed on the doubles side.

B’nai B’rith - Clovis North's Georgia Phillips, a water polo standout who carries a 4.30 grade-point average, is the recipient of the 67th annual B’nai B’rith Student Athlete Award on Monday.

She is the first in school history to win the award for the best student-athlete. Phillips will continue her water polo career at UCLA.

The B’nai B’rith Fresno chapter started in 1951 and since has awarded over 700 students scholarships. The organization awards students in the Fresno-Clovis area who combine athletic and academic skills.

Each nominee received a $500 scholarship and a $2,500 scholarship was awarded to the overall winner.

Nominees are evaluated on athletic ability (65 percent), scholastic ability (25 percent) and community and school activities (10 percent).

Noah Martinez of Clovis East was awarded the Irving Negin Academic Award for the highest GPA among the nominees. Martinez, who played basketball, has a GPA of 4.54.

Other nominees:

▪ Kristen Arias, Edison, softball, 4.36

▪ Kayla Blue, Fresno, volleyball and softball, 4.25

▪ Gianna Dickson, Bullard, soccer and track and field, 4.16

▪ Trevor Ervin, Buchanan, football and wrestling, 4.04

▪ Ariel Garcia, McLane, cross country and track and field, 4.15

▪ Stephanie Gutierrez, Hoover, tennis, soccer and lacrosse, 4.00

▪ Breaun Heights, Sunnyside, football, basketball and volleyball, 3.04

▪ Ashley Herr, Roosevelt, volleyball, basketball and softball, 4.12

▪ Stephanie Herring, Sanger, volleyball, basketball and softball, 4.10

▪ Seth Nevills, Clovis, football and wrestling, 3.35

▪ Maya Riddlesprigger, Central, volleyball and track and field, 4.32

▪ Lunden Taylor, San Joaquin Memorial, basketball, 3.87

▪ Tyler Villines, Fresno Christian, football, soccer and baseball, 3.56

▪ Rodney Wright, Clovis West, football and baseball, 3.20

Anthony Galaviz: @agalaviz_TheBee

SWIMMING AND DIVING

CIF state championships

At Clovis West

Friday: Diving finals, boys, 8:30 a.m.; swimming preliminaries, 2:30 p.m.

Saturday: Diving finals, girls, 8:30 a.m.; swimming finals, 2:30 p.m.

TRACK AND FIELD

Central Section Masters

At Buchanan Veterans Memorial Stadium

Saturday: Track events, 5 p.m.; Field events, 4 p.m.

BOYS TENNIS

Central Section individual tournament

At Madera South

Singles

9 a.m. Friday; Noon Saturday

Doubles

11 a.m. Friday; 9 a.m. Saturday