West Sacramento hurdler chases gold as CIF track finals enter national spotlight
Brooke White was introduced to athletics at the ripe old age of 4.
Soccer was her game then, and though she gave up the pursuit of a checkered ball years ago, she hasn’t stopped running, nor has she slowed down a bit. It’s no wonder that her mother, Samantha, calls her “my firecracker.”
And there’s mom, in the stands, watching the firecracker charge down the backstretch of her senior season at River City High School in West Sacramento and looming as a serious challenger to reach the medal stand in two events in this weekend’s 105th CIF State Track and Field Championships at Memorial Stadium in Clovis in Fresno County.
She will need asizzling effort in 104-degree heat on Saturday in her specialty of the 100 meter hurdles to ward off the crush of talented athletes from the powerhouse schools dotted across Southern California. But to understand White is to know that she fears nothing. She invites any and all challenges, and she beams in talking about what matters most — effort and experiences.
This is a girl who craves to beat the competition but also one that is friendly with the competition. Her point is that why can’t one seek victories and personal-best times while also embracing rivals in the theme of sportsmanship?
White has all of the meaningful school records, stormed through all the postseason meets and has the second fastest time in the state this season in 13.73 seconds. She has not lost a hurdles race this season.
“I want everyone to do well,” White explained before Tuesday’s practice, the lone Raider left this season. “I’m so excited, so proud, and my goal is to get a PR (a personal record). I’m proud of how far I’ve come.”
Long and lean with an effortless glide as she cruises over the hurdles, White looks like a natural for any running event or any of the jumps. She prefers the hurdles, having picked it up for the first time as freshman and significantly lowering her times each season..
White started competing in the long jump this season, using her stride and speed to bound into the sand. Her improvement in that event has also impressed her coaches. White was a double-winner at the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Masters championships last weekend, taking the hurdles in 13.89 seconds and the long jump at 19 feet, 4.5 inches, which rates as the second-best effort in Northern California this spring.
“Brooke’s had a great season,” River City hurdles coach Brandon O’Neil said. “Just a great year.”
Field includes transgender athlete in national spotlight
The long jump will draw more attention than usual, considering transgender athlete AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley High in Riverside County will be competing and has a shot to reach the medal stand in three jump events.
The CIF State meet has received national spotlight, including from President Donald Trump, who has expressed in social media posts that transgender athletes should not compete in girls or women’s athletics. For weeks, the governing body CIF has worked on a plan that if Hernandez medals in the state meet, there will be a duplicate medal issued. CIF track events award medals to the top nine places.
The CIF said in a clarifying statement, in part, “If necessary, in the (girls) high jump, triple jump and long jump events...a biological female student-athlete who would have earned a specific placement on the podium will also be awarded the medal for that place...”
White, whose qualifying for the long jump was 1 inch longer than that of Hernandez, said she has no issues with competing against a transgender athlete.
“I believe that everyone deserves an equal opportunity to compete, and (Hernandez) being there (in the state meet) does not bother me at all,” White said. “She does just as much training and goes through just as much anxiety as we all do during track.”
White added, “I don’t believe that she deserves any of this backlash, and I’m sure it’s making her feel worse.”
California state law and educational codes “ensures equal rights and opportunities for every student” and prohibits “discrimination on the bases of gender identity, gender express and sexual orientation.”
A scholar who wants to study psychology
For all of her personal-best achievements, White’s most impressive numbers have been accumulated while seated at a desk. Her grade-point average is 4.31 as she loaded up this academic year on Advanced Placement courses in literature, biology, statistics and government.
White will attend UC San Diego on an athletic and academic scholarship ride, and she’s already looking ahead the freshman dorm life, to graduating in four years with a degree in psychology and then pursuing a masters degree.
The oldest of four and a natural leader in class and on the track, White is a reminder of what a true student-athlete is all about.
“I’d like to think I’m a good example,” she said. “I’m self-driven. My parents have never had to get on me about grades. I’m proud of where I’ve come from, how far I’ve come and where I am in track, and how much work I’ve put in.”
White said she appreciates the backing of her parents, siblings, other relatives and friends who regularly attend her meets. She has competed in meets near and far — in the wind and rain, in the fog or in the heat. Her mother said she frets when she watches the hurdles, knowing how unforgiving they can be. She otherwise said of her oldest child, “I’m in awe of her.”
There is mutual admiration.
“My mom is my twin,” White said. “We have the same creativity and ideas. I just love her.”
The hurdles of running hurdles
Racing 100 meters against stout competition is challenging enough. Throw in a sea of hurdles and that race becomes all the more formidable.
After reaching the CIF state meet in the hurdles as a junior, White kept competing. She ran in the Nike Outdoor Nationals last June in Eugene, a mecca of track and field on the University of Oregon campus. White was close to the front of the race against a national field when disaster struck
She hit the eighth hurdle and then hit the track as everyone else raced to the finish. White managed to collect herself, get up and finish, clocking a forgetful 18-second effort.
“That race still haunts me,” White said. “I was right there. But that was my reset. I’ve gone undefeated in the hurdles this year.”
White said what saved her was the support of others, including a sports psychologist who offered immediate words of strength. It was that sort of care and concern, White said, that reinforced her thinking of becoming a psychologist. She does breathing exercises to help relax before races, and words of affirmation in a sport big on nerves.
Track can be rewarding and humbling, all at once. That’s why White consoles and coaches teammates or rivals. They’re all on the same team, shesaid, the team of track and field in general. White has learned not to stress the night before a big race. She sleeps easy now, knowing she put in the time to get to this point.
“I want everyone to do well,” she said. “I used to be really nervous before races. I learned to de-escalate the severity of it and just run.”
Said her hurdles coach, O’Neil, “It’s been fun to see her growth, especially considering how far she’s come as a freshman.”
‘I can do this!’
White’s outlook in taking on hurdles then and now remains firm: “I can do this!” That was her attitude when she first tried the event as a freshman.
And White did indeed do it in the biggest meets this season. She won the prestigious Arcadia Invitational hurdles race in 14.04 seconds in April a year after placing third. Also in April, White took the hurdles race in the Stanford Invitational, at 14.29, a year after placing fourth.
In the California Winter State Championships in Arcadia last year, White won the 60 meter hurdles in 8.73 seconds, the sixth-fastest time in meet history.
What adds to the intrigue for White is she is on the cusp of making regional history. No Sacramento-area girls athlete as won a state hurdles race since the girls started competing in the state meet in 1974. Even more, no Sacramento-area girl has won the 100 or 200 meter dash, either, meaning the fastest girls have largely hailed from down south.
The firecracker has a shot.
“I am so excited to return to state,” she said, smiling. And then she was off to stretch, condition and hurdle.
Other Sacramento-area medal contenders
A breakdown of other area athletes who expect to reach the medal stand in the CIF State Track and Field championships
▪ Lucas Alberts, Jesuit: Has the fourth fastest time in the 800 meters in 1 minutes, 51.27 seconds. He also runs anchor on the school’s 4x800 relay that has the fastest time in Northern California in 7:42.07.
▪ Ryan Auble, Del Campo: Has the third-best pole vault effort in the state of 16 feet, 7 inches.
▪ Nathan Bloom, Dixon: Has the third-best shot put effort in the state at 61-feet, 10.5 inches, just behind Eliot Traxler of Amador.
▪ Will Greene, Vista del Lago: Has the fastest 400 meter time in Northern California at 46.62 seconds.
▪ Cy Lugo, Elk Grove: Has the third-fastest time in the state in the 200 in 20.95 seconds.
▪ Quentin Mitchell, Antelope: Has the state’s best high jump effort at 7 feet.
▪ Naiaja Sizemore, Vanden: Section Masters girls champion in the 100 (11.65) and 200 (23.61).
▪ Alysiana Winston, Twelve Bridges: Has the seventh-fastest girls 100 time in the state at 11.57 and has a best of 24.53 in the 200.
▪ Complete preliminary sheets, times, ticket information and how to watch from home are available via the CIF State website.
This story was originally published May 29, 2025 at 12:27 PM.