Finish Line

Noonan finishes on podium, Markow closes DHHS career at State

BY ZACH CAVANAGH

The 2022-23 athletic school year for Dana Hills came to a near-triumphant close in the CIF State Track and Field Championships on Saturday, May 20, at Buchanan High School in Clovis.

Sophomore Evan Noonan claimed a podium position in the boys 3,200 meters, and senior Allura Markow closed out her magnificent Dolphins career with her best time of the postseason in the girls 1,600 meters.

Noonan traveled up and down the field of the 3,200-meter race on Saturday night.

The sophomore came out in the midpack running in ninth after the first of four 800-meter laps and pushed up to fifth place at the halfway mark. Noonan fell back a bit to the pack after 2,400 meters in 13th place, but a final sector push brought Noonan up to third and the bronze medal at 8:56.63.

Noonan qualified for the state meet with a personal record of 8:49.38 for a win at the CIF-SS Masters Meet. The state finals was only Noonan’s third non-win in nine runs of the event this season and the first to a non-teammate outside of a dual meet.

Noonan had a golden second season for Dana Hills with wins in the 3,200 meters at the South Coast League Finals, CIF-SS Division 2 Finals and Masters, as well as wins in the 1,600 meters at the Orange County Championships, South Coast League Finals and CIF-SS Division 2 Finals. In the fall, Noonan also won cross country titles at the Mt. SAC Invitational, South Coast League Finals, CIF-SS Division 2 Finals and CIF State Championships.

Markow finished her Dana Hills career off the podium at the CIF State Championships, but the Oregon-bound senior did so with her fastest time in the girls 1,600 meters of the postseason.

Markow finished 10th with a time of 4:50.22 at the state meet, and she ran in

2023 Palomar Gem Show

ninth in Friday’s preliminary round at 4:50.45. Markow qualified for the state meet with a fourth-place finish at CIF-SS Masters in 4:52.18, and she ran in third at the CIF-SS Division 2 Finals in 4:50.96. Markow’s personal record came at the Arcadia Invitational in 4:52.56.

This season, Markow also finished second in the 800 meters at Orange County Championships and fourth in the 3,200 meters at the same meet. Markow picked up South Coast League titles in the 800 and 1,600.

On the track in her career, Markow won a 3,200-meter CIF-SS title as a sophomore in the 2021 Division 2 Finals and secured top-three finishes in three consecutive Orange County Championships in three different events, including a win in the 3,200 last season as a junior. Markow also finished 10th in the 1,600 at last season’s CIF State Championships. Additionally, in her cross country career, Markow won the CIF-SS Division 2 title last fall, finished in the top five twice at the Orange County Championships and ran three times at the CIF State Championships. DP