High school teams came from all over the Sacramento region to compete at the 5th annual Sacramento State High School Track Classic on Saturday at Hornet Stadium.

Schools competing ranged from Cesar Chavez High School in Stockton, to St. Francis High School, across the tracks from the stadium.

Cesar Chavez High School, which opened in August 2005, is the first public high school added to Stockton Unified School District in 50 years. This is its first time competing at Sac State. St. Francis High School, a private all-girls school established in 1940, has competed in all five Sac State Track Classics.

“We really love this event,” said Dodd Pinkham, head coach of both the boys and girls teams at Cesar Chavez. “It’s a great facility and it is really nice for the spectators. We will be back.”

John DeCray is the track coach at St. Francis and is also a Sac State alumnus.

“The closeness for us is an obvious advantage,” he said. “We also know and like all the Sacramento State coaches and administrators.”

The Sac State track and field team was at the event all day, working as volunteers.

“We try to be the best host possible,” said Kathleen Raske, director of Sac State’s track and field teams. “The event was very successful today. The athletes all had a great time and enjoyed the competition.”

The event comes early in the high school season, with the meet being the first or second event in most of the schools’ schedule. Some of the schools take the event much more seriously than other schools.

“We don’t take it really serious,” DeCray said. “I try to get the girls to be more relaxed. Our league season doesn’t really start until May and we still have ten weeks before the league championships.”

The coaches and athletes took advantage of the opportunity to compete at such a high-end faculty at Hornet Stadium.

“The event is run very smoothly and it is wonderful to get to use such an excellent facility,” said Carla Kehoe, track coach for Granite Bay High School.

The only complaint was the distance from the stadium to the throwing area. Because of the construction of the Wellness Center, the throwing area was moved this year to the practice track near the baseball diamond.

With a high of 61 degrees and only a slight north-to-northwest wind, conditions were ideal for the athletes.

“It certainly helps to have beautiful weather conditions,” Raske said. “We were very pleased with the conditions and everything else today.”

Dan King can be reached at [email protected]