CLOVIS — For many high schoolers, the opportunity to cross the graduation stage is a moment they look forward to for most of their lives. For several students that dedicate equal time to the classroom as they do their respective sports, there are sometimes difficult decisions that present themselves.

For Hughson High senior Bryce Williams, that decision came last week, when he forwent his graduation ceremony on Friday to compete at the 106th CIF State Track and Field Championships at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High School.

During pole vault trials on Friday, he met the finals qualifying mark with a height of 15 feet on his first jump. On Saturday, he secured his spot on the podium by clearing the first benchmark of 15 feet, 2 inches before falling just short in his three tries to clear 15 feet, 8 inches.

“To place ninth in the state in my final event, it really was just surreal,” Williams said. “I feel like all of my hard work over the past four years just culminated in that moment.”

The work began as a freshman. After breaking his arm on the gridiron, he said he was urged by assistant football coach Chris Wolfley to test his athleticism in track and field events.

“My freshman year, I was just getting into it,” Williams said. ”Sophomore year, I had a better understanding of the sport. Junior year is when I started making strides that I knew I could build off of heading into my senior year. This year, I was all in.”

Following Saturday’s podium ceremony, Williams posed with family and friends in his cap and gown.

“I remember my coach telling me that the start of the state meet was the same day as graduation this year, and I just said ‘Ok?’” Williams recalled with a laugh. “I was always going to be here. It was fun to put it all on and celebrate.”

Williams qualified for the state meet after tying with Turlock High senior Mason Hernandez with a top height of 15 feet, 6 inches at last week’s Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Championships, shattering the previous school record of 15 feet, 1 inch that was set 43 years ago by Rick Neugegauer.

“I knew what the record was the whole time,” Williams said. “My goal was to get an inch or two better each jump, each event, and I knew I’d have at least a chance to reach it.

“Starting at 15 feet for your first jump at the state meet was really hard, and to try to get 15-8 would’ve been a new school record, so that’s difficult to do. But that’s the level of the state meet, though. I’m proud of how far I took it this year and to be on that podium among the best in the state. It means a lot to me.”

A similar graduation story unfolded for Hernandez, also competing in the pole vault. Instead of walking the stage with his fellow Bulldogs on Friday, he opted for the prestigious state meet. Ultimately, he couldn’t clear the 15-foot bar.

Although he didn’t pack his regalia to Clovis, Hernandez was still able to visit Joe Debely Stadium on Thursday to take photos alongside family and friends.

Hernandez was one of three to represent Turlock at Buchanan High this weekend.

Sophomore Anthony Brown participated in the long jump. His leap of 21 feet, 11.25 inches in the prelims earned him 17th position, five spots away from advancing to Saturday. Brown qualified to state with a second-place mark of 22 feet, 9.75 inches at last week’s Masters meet.

Junior Tanner Linhares, meanwhile, had a discus throw of 104 feet, 1 inch at Friday’s prelims, finishing 15th. He punched his ticket last week with a third-place Masters toss 15 feet, 5 inches.

Also qualifying to the state meet were Pitman’s Dante Jenkins in pole vault and a plethora of the Pride’s Special Olympics unified athletes, though none competed.

Jenkins, a junior, claimed third place at the Masters after clearing a height of 14 feet, 6 inches, but an injury that continued to linger during state prelim warmups kept him out of the contest.

Freshman Karina Rosales, sophomore Isabella Stepanovich and juniors Aberdeen Mcleod and Lindsey Sherman won the Masters 4x100 relay with a time of 15.10 seconds, but ended up not competing at state due to registration issues. Stepanovich and fellow sophomore Kayla Fuentes also were unable to compete in the unified girl’s 100-meter competition in Clovis.