Giants' Burton, Bagley overcome obstacles to headline 11 state track and field qualifiers

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

College of the Sequoias' sprinter Ejaiya Burton and pole vaulter Shane Bagley head into the California Community College Athletic Association State Track and Field Championships as top contenders in their respective events.

Their quests for gold, however, have experienced considerable challenges along the way that go far beyond Burton's ability to speed down the track or Bagley's prowess to soar over the bar.

Burton has returned to track following two seasons away from the sport after getting pregnant in 2020 during her Covid-19 pandemic-shortened senior year at Tulare Western High.

Bagley, a Lemoore graduate, has pushed ahead with his athletic career while overcoming the grief he experienced following the death of his father and biggest supporter, Damon, in February 2022.

"Every athlete has faced or will face adversity in sports. No athlete is exempt from adversity," Sequoias coach Kenny Jackson said. "These two are the definition of what perseverance is. They overcame adversity. Their adversity made them stronger. Instead of using their unfortunate situations as a reason to fail, they used it as fuel to help them succeed. I'm proud of them."

Burton and Bagley -- Northern California individual champions in the women's 400 and men's pole vault, respectively -- are two of the 11 Sequoias' athletes in 10 events who qualified for the state meet, scheduled for May 19-20 at Modesto Junior College. 

BURTON BACK ON TRACK

For Burton, qualifying for the CCCAA State Championships helps make up for what could have been during her high school career at Tulare Western, where she was a promising sprinter with college potential. 

She missed a chance to qualify for the 2019 California Interscholastic Federation State Championships during her junior season when she stepped over the line before the start of the 400 final and was disqualified from the Central Section Championships. Had Burton at least equaled her time from the Central Area qualifying meet, she would have made it to state.

Burton entered her senior season as one of California's top returning 400 sprinters, but never got a chance to qualify for state when the pandemic caused classes to go online and athletics to be canceled.

With more freetime on her hands, Burton began focusing on her relationship with her boyfriend and ended up getting pregnant before the end of the 2019-2020 school year.

Knowing she had a child -- now 2-year-old daughter, Emoriya -- to provide for, Burton decided to put her track career on hold and go to work full-time while taking a light load of online college classes.

"I took a break. I wanted to adjust to life as a mother," Burton said. "I feel like it's an honor to be a mother. It's given me more drive and made me stronger. It's given me a reason to keep going toward my dreams."

Jackson originally started recruiting Burton during her senior season and kept in touch with her periodically over the past two years. He let Burton know there was a place for her at Sequoias if she ever wanted to compete again. And in the summer of 2022, she took Jackson up on his offer.

Support from her mother, Rita Clark, and older brothers Jonell Burton and Franklin Burton allowed Burton to return to school full-time while balancing care for Emoriya and a part-time job.

After two years away from training, Burton's times were considerably slower than she was running in high school, with her 400 time clocking more than a minute and her 200 time at more than 27 seconds when the season started.

"There is no replacement for running. If you're the fastest person in the world, and you don't run, you aren't going to be the fastest person in the world anymore," Jackson said. "She went years without pushing herself to a competitive limit. No matter how hard she ran on the treadmill at the gym, she wasn't lining up in lane three against another girl looking for a scholarship. It's different, man."

Burton said it took patience and hard work to get her times back where she wanted them.

"I knew eventually it would get better," Burton said. "I just had to put the work in and let the work speak for itself."

The payoff for Burton's hard work came at the NorCal Championships on May 13 at Yuba College.

She captured the NorCal title in the 400, finishing in 55.77 seconds. Burton also placed third in the 200 in a state meet-qualifying 25.04.

"Normally, people drop tenths of a second, not seconds," Jackson said. "She dropped more than 5 seconds in the 400 and 2 seconds in the 200. That just doesn't happen."

Across the state, only Pasadena's Jaiden Hill ran a faster 400 than Burton during the regional finals, clocking a 55.12.

Burton had the state's 11th fastest 200 time when combining results from the Southern California Championships.

"I felt like it was smooth," Burton said of her performances at the NorCal meet. "But I could do better. I can push myself more. (The NorCal Championships) made me realize that. I feel ready (for state). I think it's going to be a big opportunity for me to progress."

Four-year universities such as Fresno State, Fresno Pacific, San Jose State, Sacramento State, Stanislaus, Cal State Bakersfield, Sonoma State and Chico State have started to show recruiting interest in Burton, according to Jackson.

Burton said daughter Emoriya provides the inspiration to attain a college degree and continue her track career.

"I love being a mother," Burton said. "I want to be able to provide for her and give her a good life."

BAGLEY STILL SOARING

Like Burton, Bagley has a greater purpose behind his academic and athletic endeavors -- honoring his late father, Damon.

Damon Bagley, a track and field star himself in the early 1990s at Lemoore High, died on February 7, 2022 at the age of 47. He had battled Multiple Sclerosis, a disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord, since 2006. His MS grew worse, and left him wheelchair-bound, following a head-on car collision on his way to work in 2011.

A long-time officer with the Fresno County Sheriff's Department and the Clovis Police Department who later in life followed his passion for helping youth by becoming a teacher at Washington Union in Easton, Damon Bagley was a devoted father to Shane and his older sister, Justiss. 

"My dad was amazing," Shane Bagley said. "He always pushed me to be good.

"I know he looks down on me and sees what I'm doing. I want to make him proud."

So just as a senior season filled with state medal aspirations for Bagley was beginning, he was stricken with grief over the loss of the man who rarely missed a meet despite having an often-debilitating disease that left him confined to a wheelchair the last eight years of his life.

Following in his father's footsteps, Bagley placed his name in Lemoore High's record book when he pole vaulted 16-feet, 5-inches during the Thunderbird Classic in Delano, breaking a decade-old school mark. The vault was tied for the best by a California prep, and the 20th-best nationally. Damon Bagley was a school record holder in the hurdles.

Shane Bagley, who began pole vaulting in junior high and immediately excelled at it, likely would have been a multi-time state qualifier had the CIF Championships not been canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

A little more than three months after his father's passing, Bagley finally got his opportunity to shine on California's grandest prep stage, where he earned the bronze medal with a vault of 16-1.

"Track for me is an outlet to get my mind off things" Bagley said. "It helped me through my dad's passing. It was there to take my mind off things. When I'm jumping, that's the only thing I think about."

Bagley decided to continue vaulting at Sequoias in part because of the presence of Giants' assistant Bob Fraley, the brother of his coach at Lemoore, Dave.

Working with Bob Fraley, a nationally recognized pole vault coach and former head track and field coach at Fresno State, paid immediate dividends for Bagley. 

He cleared a personal-record 16-6 during the Sunbird Invitational in Fresno in February, then bettered that to a 17-0 during a meet in Bakersfield in March. It's the nation's best community college pole vault this season.

"Coach Fraley is amazing," Bagley said. "He definitely has so much knowledge. He brings up drills I never would have thought of and they help me every day to become a better vaulter."

In particular, Fraley helped Bagley improve his invert, which is the point the body turns upside down on the pole while heading to the top of the vault.

"That's one of the hardest things to do," Bagley said. "And he helped me take my vault to the next level."

Among the highlights of Bagley's freshman season at Sequoias was his gold medal performance at the NorCal meet. 

Bagley cleared 16-4.75 on the first of his three attempts to place first in the 14-man field, becoming one of Sequoias' four NorCal champs. His mark was the best in the state when combined with results from the SoCal meet. Mt. San Antonio's Ethan Amata was the SoCal champ at 15-11.

"I feel pretty confident because my marks are pretty high compared to the rest of the individuals (qualified for state,)" Bagley said. "I know I definitely have a good chance of winning state. I'm in great shape right now. The best shape I've ever been in. I've been practicing and working since last summer toward this."

If Bagley captures state gold this weekend, Jackson said he can essentially punch his ticket to any four-year university in the nation with scholarship money available for a pole vaulter. Jackson likens Bagley as an impact athlete in his event on par with former Giants' greats Quincy Hall, the NCAA Division I 400 champion in 2019, and Jamal Britt, a U. S. Olympic Trials participant in the 110 hurdles in 2021.

"I think the sky's the limit for him," Jackson said. "He has a long way to go, but with patience and dedication, he can reach his goals. Whatever they are, whether it's winning an NCAA title, being an Olympian, whatever he has set in his mind, he will manifest that. That's what I believe."

GIANTS ON STATE STAGE

In addition to Burton and Bagley, Ivy Miller (Exeter) and Justyce Kahuanahana (Hawaii) qualified for the state meet after winning NorCal individual titles.

Miller won the women's 400 hurdles in 1:04.02, while Kahuanahana won the men's 110 hurdles in 14.85.

Four competitors from SoCal posted faster times than Miller in the 400 hurdles, led by Cerritos' Jazzmin Davis in 1:02.71. There were five competitors from SoCal faster than Kahuanahana in the 100 hurdles, including champion Joshua Hornsby of Riverside in 14.01.

Liliana Salado (Mt. Whitney) was Sequoias' other women's state qualifier, making it in the 5,000 after placing second in NorCal in 19:29.28. 

For the Giants' men, the 4x100 relay team consisting of Kahuananhana, Noah Jimenez (Kingsburg), Isaiah Kemp (Hawaii) and Derrick Jones (Houston) qualified for state, joined by Chase Huguenard (Righetti-Santa Maria) in the shot put; Alexander Mederos (Tulare Western) in the 110 hurdles; Alberto Nunez (Golden West) in the javelin; and Jones in the 200.

Sequoias 4x100 relay placed second in NorCal in 41.10; Huguenard was third in the shot put in 47-9.75; Mederos was third in 110 hurdles in 14.92; and Nunez was fifth in the javelin in 161-8; and Jones was fourth in the 200 in 21.66.

The CCCAA State Championships begin at 11 a.m. May 19 and at 10 a.m. May 20 from Modesto Junion College.

Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for students and college staff with an ID, seniors 55 and older and children 6-12. Children 5 and under are free. Two-day passes are $25 and $15, respectively, and may be in cash or card on site.

The event will be livestreamed at www.norcalsportstv.com.