Top sports moments: Trojans make tracks to state meet

Racing side-by-side with the best athletes in Northern Section at the NSCIF Championship meet on May 25, it was going to take flawless performances by any of Orland High's entrants if they were going to earn a spot at the state meet.

They got them, and they qualified to go to state.

Trojan athletes took the top step on the winner's podium after three separate events at West Valley High in Cottonwood, and made the trip to the State Championships held at Buchanan High in Clovis.

Orland's first victory came in the boys 4x100 relay, where the team of Andrew Hutchens, Javone Bradford, Austin Schmeltzer and Jordan Butterfield came in with the fastest qualifying time at 43.88 seconds.

It was not Butterfield's only visit to the top step on the podium, as he also flew to a first-place finish in the 100 meters, with his 11.12 finish just one one-hundredths of a second faster that Central Valley's Kawan Gaidowsky. It also marked a personal record.

Bailey Moss entered the 300-meter hurdles with a second-fastest qualifying time of 47.10 but saved her best for last, holding off Yreka's Jenavieve Turner at the finish to claim first place at 46.97.