SAN RAMON — Without the speed of state meet veteran Kelly Fogarty, the San Ramon Valley High girls track team wasn't able to keep up with California on Thursday.

As a result, the Grizzlies made school history with an 81-55 win.

Coming into the East Bay Athletic League dual meet, Cal stood at 3-0, looking to go 4-0, a mark never attained before at the school in girls track.

"We are the first girls team in school history to go 4-0," Cal jumper Rachel Ehsan said. "It's nice to finally have some attention on the girls team and not just the guys."

The overall highlight of the meet certainly was the Cal girls, but one of the those pesky Cal guys stole the individual highlights Thursday. Pole vaulter Justin Miller not only set a school record at 16-0, but also moved into the top five in the state this year.

The key for the Cal girls, according to coach Mark Karbo, is the Grizzlies have been a team in every sense of the word.

"We have depth in every event," Karbo said. "We had a good performance all-around (Thursday). Some of the girls really stepped up."

The great performances were key, but also crucial to the meet's outcome was the absence of Fogarty, as the talented sprinter was out sick.

"This was a life or death meet," San Ramon coach Tim Hunter said. "It was going to be tough to win without Kelly."

Fogarty's absence was visible in the meet's first event, the 400 relay, when a missed handoff resulted in a DQ for the Wolves.

Without Fogarty running, Chelsey Kamson cruised in winning the 100 and 200, but despite the wins, Kamson knew there was something missing.

"I love running with (Fogarty)," Kamson said. "She makes me run faster."

Kamson also won the 100 hurdles and finished second in the long jump.

Helping the Grizzles was Brienne Doan, who also went to state last year. She won the 300 hurdles, long jump and was part of the winning 400 relay.

 

While the girls were taking victory on the track, Miller was taking over the field events, breaking his school pole vault record.

"It felt amazing," Miller said. "I hadn't gotten that close (to clearing 16 feet) in practice."