All six Harvard-Westlake track and field athletes competing at the State Prelims meet yesterday qualified for the State Finals meet today. Two athletes will attempt to defend Div. III state titles while four others are first time competitors in the meet. 

Cami Chapus ’12 qualified for the girls 1600-meter final after winning her heat with a time of 4:56.03. She won the event last year with a time of 4:40.88. 

Amy Weissenbach qualified for the girls 800 final after winning her heat with a time of 2:09.87. She won the state title in 2010 as a sophomore with a time of 2:07.52 and defended her state title in 2011 with a time of 2:02.04, which is the fastest time a girl has ever run in the United States at a high school track meet. Weissenbach said before the season that she hopes to break the two minute mark. 

While both Chapus and Weissenbach were several seconds behind their state winning times last year, teammates say that they were both trying to save energy for today’s final. 

Chapus and Weissenbach will also join forces in the 4×400 relay alongside Imani Cook-Gist ’15 and Shea Copeland ’15. Chapus and Weissenbach finished first in the event last year with Lauren Hansson ’11 and KC Kord ’11, but we’re disqualified because of an improper handoff. This year’s team qualified and won its heat with a time of 3:49.60. 

Alex Florent ’15 jumped 5 feet 5 inches in the girls high jump, enough to qualify for the final tomorrow. Her jump tied for ninth best of girls in Div. III. She broke a school record earlier this season with a height of 5 feet 10 inches.   

Ben Gaylord ’13 qualified for the boys pole vault with a height of 15 feet 6 inches. His height was in the top four of competitors in Div. III.