Westmoor’s Benicio Labuguen wins CCS triple jump championship with top-25 all-time distance

His is not only the best jump in the section this season, it is the best triple the CCS has seen since 2003 when Greenfield’s Joel Tuosto hit a 48-10. It sets a new program record, knocking off Julian Eison’s mark of 48-5 1/4 in 2004. It also ties Labuguen for the 24th best triple jump in CCS history.

“This year I’ve never had a jump that I felt like was THE jump,” Labuguen said. “Last year it was actually the same exact jump, last round of CCS and it felt really, really good. This was like: “OK, it was a good jump. I’m not going to lie ... but I don’t know.’”

An NCAA Division I commit to UC Santa Barbara, the senior Westmoor affectionately refers to as “LaBoogie” will get one more chance to tap into THE jump as he advances to the CIF Track & Field Championships, with trials set to begin Friday at Buchanan High School in Clovis.

Labuguen was one of three Peninsula Athletic League athletes to bring home CCS championships, two of them coming in field events. In the girls’ high jump, San Mateo junior Kaitlyn Schuh bettered her second-place finish from a year ago to claim the crown with a top height of 5-6. In the boys’ 800 meters, Menlo-Atherton junior Evan Chopra ran down the title with a PR of 1:51.42, fastest in CCS this season.

For Labuguen, it’s been a slow and steady climb to the top of the podium this season. Westmoor head coach Ron DiMaggio has limited his jumps this year, conserving for the big year-end meets. Labuguen hadn’t done more than four jumps in a meet prior to Saturday, and even in his second event, the long jump, which preceded the triple, Labuguen only did two jumps, which was still enough to get him on the podium with a fifth-place finish at 21-10 3/4.

“That’s why today he only took two jumps in the long (jump),” DiMaggio said. “And some coaches say: ‘Well, how come he’s only taking two?’ And I said: ‘His best events the triple.’ ... I said: ‘This is our focus. This is our dream.’”

Prior to the postseason, Labuguen had never cracked 48 feet. He rattled off a 47-5 April 18 at the CCS Top 8 Invitational. Come the postseason, he has recorded a 48-1 April 30 to win the PAL championship, and now at CCS. All the while, the senior has just rusted the process.

“To be honest, I just trust that he knows what he’s doing,” Labuguen said. “There’s been times I want to jump more, but then I know that I would burn out at the end of the season if I even tried to do that. So, now it just pays off — patience.”

Schuh flying high

A two-sport athlete who also performs with San Mateo Advanced Dance, Schuh has really hit her stride in jump pit. Like Labuguen, the San Mateo junior is still looking to tap into her best jump. For Schuh, that means aiming for 5-8 at the state championships in Clovis. Her PR is 5-7 from the start of this season March 14 at the Fighting Knights Relays at Hillsdale.

Combating a serious crosswind Saturday, Schuh was thrilled with her 5-6, a height to which no one else advanced. It’s betters her CCS second-place jump of 5-4 from a season ago.

“It feels really great to get first this year,” Schuh said. “It was definitely a goal of mine. I think going forward I want to jump 5-8, hopefully at states. That’s the goal.”

Schuh faced adversity at 5-2 and 5-4, missing her first attempt at both heights. From there, she kept a simple focus.

“I think I just told myself to jump high,” Schuh said. “Try my best.”

After knocking off the 5-6, Schuh was all smiles, waving to her family and friends standing at the fence line just beyond the track. She looked to be waving a No. 1 finger toward them, but what she was really celebrating was the sheer height she felt on the jump. She was pointing high. Really high.

NDB’s Yue is pole vault champ

The pole vault world is a tight-knit group, with many like Notre Dame-Belmont senior Allison Yue splitting training hours between their home tracks and St. Francis in Mountain View, where they train with St. Francis coach Mike Kenison. And with the wind wreaking havoc Saturday at Gilroy, that group that includes Eva Galvez and Erik Bettendorf of St. Francis, Ethan Radford and Austin Scott of Bellarmine and Chloe Luo of Piedmont Hills had no choice but to stick together.

“With pole vault you never know,” Yue said. “It’s just such a hit or miss, but definitely wanted to put my best foot forward. I think all there girls did such a great job, and I love jumping with them. I love the atmosphere here. We’re all cheering for each other. So, it’s just been really fun.”

Yue still found the gumption to win the day, reeling off a CCS championship vault to 11-8, over half a foot better than the second-place vault of 11-2 from Mills senior Alexis Ivankov.

Yue is in just her third season as a track and field athlete, but gravitated to pole vault almost immediately. She was walking in the footsteps of some other NDB field greats, including 2023 CCS girls’ high jump champion Melanie Castelli.

“I was kind of nervous about it,” Yue said. “Had never really done it before ... but we had a great high jumper, Melanie, and she was just super cool to look up to and see at the big meets.”

Dueling in shot put

Three San Mateo County-based shot putters delivered a wildly anticipated show, and St. Francis senior Case Jacobson emerged with a rocket 62-7 3/4 to win the boys’ shot put championship.

Jacobson, a Woodside native, locked up with Sacred Heart Prep senior Maxime Morelle and San Mateo senior Yianni Fitzgerald. The St. Francis senior saved his best throw for last, but already had the lead going into the final rotation. As the final thrower in the rotation, he was playing with the proverbial house money.

“I wanted to get a good last one in,” Jacobson said. “I had a little bit more.”

Morelle took second with a. 60-1 1/4.

“I kind of knew I was going to have to throw pretty well if I wanted to win,” Jacobson said. “Super relieved that he ended up making it to states. So, I get to see him for one more week. That’s really nice.”

Fitzgerald was third at 57-3 1/4. The senior also reached the podium in discus with a fifth-place throw of 155-7.

Jacobson said he was relieved to regain his form after maxing out in the CCS trials at 61-3 1/2, second to Morelle’s top throw of the trials at 63-2 1/2.

“I didn’t really get it done in trials,” Jacobson said. “I was kind off a little bit because of sickness. I just needed to get through finals. I knew this week was going to have to be better than last week. ... I’m happy with the outcome. So, hopefully I can replicate it next week.”

The Daily Journal will be publishing stories from the CCS track and field championships all week as a lead-in to the CIF Track & Field Championships, starting Friday in Clovis.