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| SHE FLIES THROUGH THE AIR -- Christian Learning's Abby Phillips en route to a gold medal in the long jump. Misty Crowe ,Christian Learning |
Griffin Girls and Jaguar Boys Win Again
By David Boldt
The International girls and Cooperative boys track teams overwhelmingly confirmed their dominance this season by winning the SCISL Championship Track Meet held Friday at Tahuichi Stadium.
Those two squads had won the first (and only other) League track and field meet this year and were easily able to claim their respective League championships by continuing their winning ways at the championship meet. The championship is determined by combining the scores from the two meets.
The Griffin girls had a combined point total of 223 points. The Christian Learning girls placed second with 191 points; Cooperative had 176. Cambridge tallied 67 points.
The Jaguar boys had a combined 281 points. Christian Learning boys were second with 158. International boys was right behind them with 152; and Cambridge boys had 38.
(The point totals posted earlier contained errors, most of which -- we hope -- have been corrected. The order of finish has not changed.)
Ultimately, each of the four schools in the League had something to feel good about.
(The point totals posted earlier contained errors, most of which -- we hope -- have been corrected. The order of finish has not changed.)
Ultimately, each of the four schools in the League had something to feel good about.
Cooperative and International had a championship trophy each.
Christian Learning had two second place finishes – nothing to sneeze at – and also had the outstanding individual performer in Abby Phillips, who took gold medals in the high jump, long jump, 800 meters, and 400 meters, setting new League records in the 400 and high jump in the process.
Even Cambridge, which finished fourth in both boys and girls competitions, had reason to feel that it was in resurgent phase. The Knights were not contenders for the championship because they had been unable to field a team for the first meet and so started the afternoon Friday with zero points.
However, newly appointed athletic director Eduardo “Presi” de la Riva, who had been athletic director at both International and Cambridge in previous season before taking a job for a while in private industry, had clearly rallied his troops. The Knights, who have a distinguished record in other sports but have traditionally been weak in track and field, fielded a full team for this meet.
And when the Cambridge 4 x 400 relay team of Josefina Rodriguez, Maira Lino, Nadia Rocco, and Lucia Candia led from start to finish to take the gold medals in the penultimate race of the day, it represented the first time that Cambridge had won a relay race in League history. The Knights could also boast the most vociferous cheering section.
But there was plenty of glory to spread around at the somewhat chaotic meet, which was recurrently interrupted by rain, and had to compete with a small boys soccer contest that was taking place in the infield of the stadium. As a result of the soccer game, the high jump events were forced into the shadowy semi-indoor confines of the municipal gym underneath the Stadium’s south side. The soccer game stopped play each time there was a race in progress.
But there was plenty of glory to spread around at the somewhat chaotic meet, which was recurrently interrupted by rain, and had to compete with a small boys soccer contest that was taking place in the infield of the stadium. As a result of the soccer game, the high jump events were forced into the shadowy semi-indoor confines of the municipal gym underneath the Stadium’s south side. The soccer game stopped play each time there was a race in progress.
New League records were set in six events. Phillips took 0.6 of second off her own record in the 400 with a clocking of 1:03 flat. In the high jump she added five centimeters to the record she had held jointly with several others by leaping 1.45 meters.
In the boys 400 meters Santiago Maclean of International took almost exactly a second off the record with a time of :55.42.
In the girls 1500 junior Sofia Sotelo of Cooperative was supposedly running “under wraps,” as they say in horse racing, because of knee problems. She had said she would be running just to finish first, and not to once again lower her League record, which she has done in each of the past several years. But on the final lap she seemed to get the bit in her teeth (again as they say in horse racing) and chopped over two seconds off her record with a time of 5:33.25.
In girls’ discus Christian Learning’s Tabitha Malloy’s throw of 21.65 was a millimeter longer than the record set last year by Beatriz Nallar of International.
Natalia Avila of International gave a similar shaving to the record in the girls 200 meters, nicking .01 of a second off the record set by Fabiana Murillo of International in 2006. This was the oldest record on the books.
Malloy, who also won the girls shotput, was one of three double gold medal winners. Juan Alfredo Abuawad of Cooperative matched her feat by taking the boys discus and shotput. Renzo Pinto of Cooperative dominated the sprints, winning the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Abby Phillips, as previously stated, won four gold medals.
In the girls 1500 junior Sofia Sotelo of Cooperative was supposedly running “under wraps,” as they say in horse racing, because of knee problems. She had said she would be running just to finish first, and not to once again lower her League record, which she has done in each of the past several years. But on the final lap she seemed to get the bit in her teeth (again as they say in horse racing) and chopped over two seconds off her record with a time of 5:33.25.
In girls’ discus Christian Learning’s Tabitha Malloy’s throw of 21.65 was a millimeter longer than the record set last year by Beatriz Nallar of International.
Natalia Avila of International gave a similar shaving to the record in the girls 200 meters, nicking .01 of a second off the record set by Fabiana Murillo of International in 2006. This was the oldest record on the books.
Malloy, who also won the girls shotput, was one of three double gold medal winners. Juan Alfredo Abuawad of Cooperative matched her feat by taking the boys discus and shotput. Renzo Pinto of Cooperative dominated the sprints, winning the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Abby Phillips, as previously stated, won four gold medals.
List of results by event:
Girls 1500 meters girls – 1. Sofia Sotelo, Cooperative; 2. Deborah Bernardez, Cooperative; 3. Nicole Fermin, Cambridge. Time: 5:33.25 (new League record).
Boys 1500 meters – 1. Lucas Tardio, Cooperative; 2. Samuel Melgar, Cooperative; Micah Kerney, Christian Learning. Time: 5:10.25.
Girls 100 meters – 1. Ana Laura Gutierrez, International; 2. Fernanda Vaca Diez, Cooperative; 3. (tie) Vanessa Flores, Cambridge, and Maria Victoria Gutierrez, International. Time: 14.45
Boys 100 meters – 1. Renzo Pinto, Cooperative; 2. Jesse Hallock, Christian Learning; 3. Esteban Sauto, Cooperative. Time – 12.26.
Girls 400 meters – 1. Abby Phillips, Christian Learning; 2. Macarena Valdes, Cooperative; Nadia Rocco, Cambridge. Time: 1:03.00 (new League record).
Boys 400 meters – 1. Santiago Maclean, International; 2. Andre Larsen, Christian Learning; 3. Gabriel Alonso, Cambridge. Time: 55.42 (new League record).
Girls 200 meters – 1. Natalia Avila, International; 2. Maria Victoria Gutierrez, International; 3. Macarena Valdes, Cooperative. Time: 30.48 (new League record).
Boys 200 meters – 1. Renzo Pinto, Cooperative; 2. Jesse Hallock, Christian Learning; 3. Miguel Papadopoulos, Cooperative. Time: 24.40.
Girls 800 meters – 1. Abby Phillips, Christian Learning; 2. Sofia Sotelo, Cooperative; 3. Olyn Pederson, Christian Learning. Time: 2:40.46.
Boys 800 meters – 1. Samuel Melgar, Cooperative; 2. Lucas Tardio, Cooperative; 3. Adelmar Menacho, Cambridge. Time: 2:27.43.
Girls discus: 1. Tabitha Malloy, Christian Learning; 2. Ana Paula Peredo, Cooperative; Aldana Roda, Cooperative. Distance: 21.65 meters.
Boys discus: 1. Juan Alfredo Abuawad, Cooperative; 2. Nicolas Smith, Christian Learning; 3. Felipe Molina, Internatonal. Distance 27.61 meters.
Girls shotput – 1. Tabitha Malloy, Christian Learning; 2. Camila Johnson, International, 3. Alejandra Abastaflor, Cambridge. Distance: 8.37 meters.
Boys shotput – 1. Juan Alfredo Abuawad, Cooperative; 2. Felipe Molina, International; 3. Santiago Maldonado, International. Distance: 11.26 meters.
Girls long jump – 1. Abby Phillips, Christian Learning; 2. Irene Vallet, Cooperative; Camila Johnson, International. Distance: 4.21 meters.
Boys long jump – 1. Andre Larsen, Christian Learning; 2. Santiago Maclean, International; 3. Hyun Kim, Christian Learning. Distance: 5.28 meters.
Girls high jump – 1. Abby Phillips, Christian Learning; 2. Nadia Rocco, Cambridge; 3. Aldana Roda, Cooperative. Height: 1.45 (new League record).
Boys high jump – 1. Santiago Bedoya, International; 2. Saul Torres, International; 3. Lorenzo Chiovoloni, Cooperative. Height: 1.65 meters.
Girls 4 x 100 relay -- 1. International (Maria Victoria Gutierrez, Ana Gutierrez, Josefina Sinclair, and Natalia Davila); 2. Cooperative; 3. Cambridge. Time: 1:01.31.
Boys 4 x 100 relay -- 1. Cooperative (Renzo Pinto, Esteban Sauto, Miguel Papadopoulos, Francisco Donoso); 2. International; 3. Christian Learning. Time: 50.47.
Girls 4 x 400 relay – 1. Cambridge (Josefina Rodriguez, Maira Lino, Nadia Rocco, Lucia Candia); 2. International; 3. Christian Learning. Time: 5:20.68.
Boys 4 x 400 relay – 1. International (Santiago Maclean, Saul Torres, Gary Suarez, Juan Sebastian Velasco); 2. Cooperative; 3. Christian Learning. Time 4:07.22.
