Cooperative sprinter Fernanda Vaca Diez stood for several moments at the close of Friday’s championship track meet’s running events, contemplating the results on the scoreboard, then said quietly, “We rock.”
And the Cooperative Jaguars did indeed rock, piling up commanding leads in both the boys and girls categories at the conclusion of the penultimate phase of the League track season Friday. It would take a miracle of some kind for either Jaguar team to be overtaken in the final phase of the track season, which will be the field events slated for Monday afternoon at Cooperative.
The point totals on the scoreboard Friday represented the sum of points won in the first track meet last month, and the results in Friday’s running events.
The Jaguar girls stood atop the standing s for their gender with 196 points, well ahead of second place International, which had 160. Cambridge was third with 134, and Christian Learning was fourth with 95.
The male Jaguars were even more in command, with a point total of 224 points, 80 points ahead of second place Cambridge, which compiled 144. Christian Learning boys had 127; and International’s 88.
The Jaguars came out on top almost any way you wanted to slice things. If you wanted to consider Friday’s running events a separate contest, the Jaguars still triumphed in both the boys and girls competitions.
In the girls events Friday the Jaguars garnered 77 points, Cambridge 70, International 62, and Christian Learning 22.
In the boys events, Cooperative had 81 points, Cambridge 70, Christian Learning 56, and International 31.
After the achievements of the Jaguars Friday, the next biggest story was the emergence of Cambridge, long the doormat of the League, as a track power to be reckoned with. Cambridge won two of the four relays, which matched the total number of relays the school had won in the history of League track competition. The Knights also had two second place finishes in the relays.
They also had the only record breaker of the day, ninth grader Josie Rodriguez, who streaked through the 200 in :30.00, knocking almost half a second off the record set last year by International's Natalia Davila, who finished right behind her, also beating the record. Rodriguez has been a regular at Coach Eduardo ¨Presi¨de la Riva's 6 a.m. practices, getting up in the dark before anyone else in her household, and calling a taxi to take her to school. Clearly the effort paid off.
Boys Running Events
1500 meters: The boys 1500 starts out with Jaguar runners in the lead followed by a tight pack of multicolored jerseys striving madly to get to the head of the racing snake. Things changed swiftly as Fernando Guardia of Cambridge slipping sneakily ahead and Sam Frith, the young Eagle distance superstar, steals third place behind Jaguar Fernando Antelo.
As the racers enter the second of four laps, Guardia is still in front, followed by Antelo and Frith, Adrian Gamarra of Cambridge and Micah Kerney from Christian Learning. They stay more or less in that order going into the third lap, with things looking sunny side up for Guardia as he lengthens his advantage.
But finally Frith is moving up, taking over second place fom Antelo. Guardia, knowing Frith will soon make his move, grows worried and starts looking over his shoulder. Frith starts moving faster and the crowd roars with excitement as they come down the stretch. Guardia's look turns to terror he hears Frith’s quick long steps -- no longer behind him, but to his side, and then passing him.
Frith wins in a display of pure willpower, followed closely by Guardia in second and and Antelo in third. . 800 meters. The 800 starts with a sudden rush. The lead is quickly taken by Cambridge's Fernando Leon followed closely by Danny Hanley from International and his teammate Alejandro Saldaña, Frith of Christian Learning, the reigning king of the distance events, lurks in the rear as is his habit.
Leon, still in the lead as the runners go into the second lap, sets a fast pace, but the rest of the pack is keeping up, even closing the gap. Once again Frith makes his move at the beginning of the final turn, and seems to come out of nowhere to take third place behind Leon and Hanley.
The stretch run is dramatic. Coming out of the turn it looks as if Leon has enough left to hold the lead and that Frith has waited too long to make his move. But in the final 20 meters both Frith and Hanley turn on a final kick that takes them both past the finally faltering Leon in the closing meters,. Frith going first to take the gold, and Hanley nipping Leon at the finish line to take silver, leaving Leon to take third place.
400 meters. This running event that combines the grace of distance events with the excitement of the sprints proved to be a genuine thrill at Friday's track meet, although since it was run in two heats, it was hard for anyone without a stop watch to know who was winning.
In the first heat Eagle Eagle Nathan Brown pulled ahead at the start of the one-lap race, t, but succumbed on the home stretch to the Jaguars' indomitable Sebastian Papadopolos.
Bejar began closing in on Gonzalez in the final straight stretch, valiantly exerting every ounce of energy, and was poised to pass Gonzalez at the finish line. Despite the loud cries of warning from Jaguar fans, Gonzalez coasted in to a first place finish – or so he thought.
The race appeared a virtual tie, but after a lot of squinting and scribbling among the judges and timers it was determined that Bejar had bested Gonzalez by a mere 0.08 of a second, entitling him to third place in the event.
200 meters. There was less drama in the 200, but once again the medalists came from different heats, raising again the question of why the short races aren't run with heats followed by a final among the runners with the fastest times.
In the first heat Sergio Pacheco took the lead and held off an effort by Cambridge's Percy Vidal to "pull a Bejar." Pacheco took gold in the event, and Vidal silver, but the third-place bronze medal went to the winner of the second heat, Cooperative's Papadopoulous, winner of the 400. Papdopoulos , of course, had no idea how fast he had to go to place higher. Basically he needed to go about a third of a second faster to beat Vidal.
100 meters. The pattern was repeated in this race, but at least in this one the crowd got to see a close finish between the two top finishers, with Cooperative's Sergio Pacheco beating Cambridge's Anthony Salvatierra by an eyelash (0.03 seconds according to the timers). Pacheco took the gold and Salvatierra the silver.
Third place went to Cooperative's Josue Abuaward, the winner of the second heat, whose time was about a half second slower than Salvatierra's. That's a fairly decisive margin in a 100-meter dash, but still it would have been fun to see the three of them go head-to-head in a final.
4 x 100 Relay. With all four teams participating, the tension and rivalry is immediately increased. (Christian Learning did not have enough runners to field a team in the girls 4 x 100.) And as the race began Christian Learning took the lead, but its runner is soon passed by the Jaguar runner, who in turn is passed by an International runner.
The race doesn't sort itself out until the final meters as the International anchor, not knowing his team has been disqualified for an illegal baton pass, fights to get ahead of Jaguar anchor Esteban Sauto. Right beheind them is a battle between Anthony Salvatierra of Cambridge and Luke Phillips of Christian Learning, with Salvatierra narrowly beating Phillips out. Cooperative gets the gold medals, but International's disqualification moves Cambridge up to second, and Christian Learning to third.
4x 400 Relay. All four lead off runners hurtled around the rack in close quarters, desperate to gain the advantage. Cambridge's Tadeo Carmona finally took the lead, but was overtaken by the Eagle's Nathan Brown right before hand off. Straining every muscle to the absolute limit, Brown ordered his teammate to start running with a desperate bark, then nearly failed to deliver his baton when his teammate, anticipating a quick hand off, began speeding away.
This awkward delivery cost the Eagles their lead, allowing a fierce competition between the Jaguars and the Knights for first prize. Cambridge tenaciously held on to their lead, although they were nearly caught by the tireless Juan Sebastian Velasco from International, who came close to overtaking Diego Bejar on the final stretch. But Bejar held on and the the Knights eventually emerged victorious, allowing Carmona, Percy Vidal, Gabriel Alonso, and Deigo Bejar to match the achievement of their female teammates.
Girls Running Events
1500 meters. Sofia Sotelo, a senior, the queen of the 1500 metres, defended her realm one last time Friday winning the event as she has in every meet ever since sixth grade. But this not mark the end of Jaguar dominance in this event, as she was soon followed by Jaguar Tamara Pereira, a fifth grader.
As soon as the race starts, Sotelo takes her place at lead closely followed by Pereira. Griffin Valeria Roempler stays close behind. Eagle HyeRim Ryu and both Knights, Nicole Fermin and Anju Hashimoto, seemed to be taking it slow and lag far behind for the first lap.
Sotelo gains advantage with every lap as she speeds up little by little, but it’s clear this is not her usual effort and she appears to be taking it slow. Later it will be disclosed that she was suffering from a cold and a slow recovery from Cooperative's senior trip, dubbed "Cancun Disease," by SCCS athletic director Alvaro Ludueña.
Pereira and Roempler keep battling it out for second place, but Ruempler eventually falls behind. Meanwhile Fermin and Ryu keep overtaking one another as they attempt to catch up.
Sotelo came to the finish line a half lap ahead.of most of the competitors, and nine seconds later little Pereira finishes with a flash of energy that amazes spectators. Griffin Roempler claims third, holding off a late kick by Knight Fermin, who places fourth. But it's a Jaguar sweep.
800 meters. Another predictable race as Abby Phillips of Christian Learning, the princess of middle distances, takes the gold medal easily, leading from start to finish, though at a pace three second off the League record. set by Sotelo two years ago. With Sotelo choosing not to contest this race, the only real question is who will take second place.
At first it seems that the honor will go to the two youngest competitors, Jaguar Valentina Chanin and Griffin Sofia Sciarponi, both still in elementary school, as they take run evenly behind Phillips through the first lap: However, Sciarponi falls behind as she tires the second lap, running third.
Meanwhile, at the back of the pack, Knight Nicole Fermin mkes her move, overcoming teammate Azul Fernandez, Griffin Natalia Johnson, Jaguar Daniela Barbery, and Eagle Emily Ordoñez, but she cannot sustain the pace as the race enters the final turn and straightaway.
Phillips crosses the finish line first, and Chanin comes only 10 seconds after. Ordoñez musters her strength and rallies to overtake Sciarponi to take third by a mere second. It is one of many come from behind finishes by the Eagles, who time and again take everyone by surprise in the last 50 meters.
400 meters. The Eagle girls, who had only four contestants present, got their moment of glory in the girls 400. Abby Phillips, the Eagle long distance champion, exploded from the starting line in the first heat and established a firm lead that only increased as she flew around the track, finishing in a time of 1:04.85, a full eight seconds ahead of second place finisher Fiorella Yriberry from International.
The second heat mirrored the first, with Christian Learning's Emily Ordoñez outdistancing Griffin Mariella Saaviera to take third place.
200 meters. For once, all three medalists were in the first heat, but the 200 poses its own challenge to spectators . Because of the staggered start arrangement, it is hard to tell who is ahead until the runners come around the turn and into the home stretch.
To the amazement of perhaps even her own teammates and coach, ninth grader Josie Rodriguez had the lead as they pounded down the stretch, cheeks puffed as the slender, long-legged Knight sucked in air, a look of defiant desperation on her face. Right behind her, but never quite catching up, were Natalia Davila of International and Fernanda Vaca Diez of Cooperative.
Cooperative's Macarena Valdes looked strong in winning the second heat, but her time was two seconds behind that of Vaca Diez.
Rodriguez took the gold, and her time of 30 seconds flat set a new League record. Davila took silver, and Vaca Diez bronze.
100 meters. This event provided the most eloquent argument of the day against the current system of not having a final to decide winners in the sprints. In the first heat Vanessa Flores of Cambridge stormed the track to victory. In the second heat, International's Natalia Davila did the same.
When their times were compared, Davila's :14.56, gave her the gold, and Flores' 14.59 got her the silver. In point of fact a hand-held stop watch is not capable of accurately reflecting a difference of 0.03 seconds, so it will probably never be known who really ran the faster race Friday.
Ana Laura Gutierrez of International took third place.
4 x 100 relay. It´s a race that seems to be over almost as soon as it starts, Twelve runners (Christian Learning didn't have enough runners on hand to compete), nine baton passes, one lap, all in about one minute -- and then it´'s over. It´s a blur.
All four of the first runners seem to have a nice strong impulse to start with, but then a black-and-white uniformed Jaguar runner booms past a Griffin in blue and a Knight in red. For a while the blue team (International) seems to be gaining on the black-and-whites, but then, suddenly, as if reaching a limit, International falls back, and is overtaken by a runner in red from Cambridge who makes a move of her own on the black leader.
In a final moment of clarity, the Cambridge anchor, Vanessa Flores, dashes down her lane with impressive speed and energy and it seems possible she will catch her opposite number from Cooperative, Fernanda Vaca Diez. But Vaca Diez has a kick of her own and holds on to win by .24 seconds. Cambridge takes second, International takes third,
4 x 400 relay. The last event of the track meet, the 4 x 400 relay tests the endurance and patience of each track team. Already worn out from the 1500 and 800 meter races, the distance runners from each school grimly took their places on the starting line, preparing themselves for one last concentrated effort for victory. Fans huddled along the chain link fence that separated them from their school's competitors eagerly await the track meet's finale, prepared to greet the victorious team with a passionate ovation. But for one runner Friday the strain would prove too much.
The event began with enthusiasm, and frequent changes of the lead. The Jaguar girls held the lead early on, but Griffin ninth grader Fabiana Zelada passed the Jaguar runner on her leg, and then was herself overtaken by Cambridge on the final stretch
As the runners approached the hand off suddenly the screams of the fans were silenced, and the ominous sound of a metal baton skidding across the track could be heard.
Zelada, sprinting full throttle in pursuit of the Knight who had passed her, abruptly collapsed from apparent exhaustion five meters from her waiting teammate, taking a hard fall land losing control of her baton. Zelada remained still for a few moments before getting up, retrieving the baton and handing it off. She then collapsed again on the grass as coaches rushed to her assistance.
The Knight's female relay team, consisting of Vanessa Flores, Lucia Candia, Valria Caceves, and Josefina Rodriguez, kept the lead and took the gold medals, followed by the Jaguars and Griffins. This represented the third consecutive meet in which the Cambridge 4 x 400 girls relay team has won the event.
Results Chart
100 m | |||
Natalia Davila | SCIS | 14’’56 | 1st Place |
Vanessa Flores | CC | 14’’59 | 2nd Place |
Ana Laura Gutierrez | SCIS | 14’’91 | 3rd Place |
200 m | |||
Josefina Rodriguez | CC | 30’’00 | 1st Place |
Natalia Davila | SCIS | 30’’25 | 2nd Place |
Fernanda Vaca Diez | SCCS | 31’’27 | 3rd Place |
400 m | |||
Abby Phillips | CLC | 1’04’’85 | 1st Place |
Fiorella Yriberry | SCIS | 1’12’’95 | 2nd Place |
Bianca Marinkovic | SCCS | 1’15’’40 | 3rd Place |
800 m | |||
Abby Phillips | CLC | 2’43’’60 | 1st Place |
Valentina Chahin | SCCS | 2’57’’90 | 2nd Place |
Emily Ordoñez | CLC | 3’12’’40 | 3rd Place |
1500 m | |||
Sofia Sotelo | SCCS | 6’10’’46 | 1st Place |
Tamara Pereyra | SCCS | 6’19’’49 | 2nd Place |
Valeria Ruempler | SCIS | 6‘32’’26 | 3rd Place |
4x100 Relay | School | Time | Place |
Francesca Collanzi | SCCS | 1’00’’31 | 1st Place |
Irene Vallet | |||
Paula Sakuma | |||
Fernanda Vaca Diez | |||
Isadora Santos | CC | 1’00’’55 | 2nd Place |
Valeria Caceres | |||
Josefina Rodriguez | |||
Vanessa Flores | |||
Anahi Ibañez | SCIS | 1’02’’05 | 3rd Place |
Ciara Harriague | |||
Ana Laura Gutierrez | |||
Natalia Davila |
4x400 Relay | School | Time | Place |
Vanessa Flores | CC | 4’57’’78 | 1st Place |
Lucia Candia | |||
Valeria Caceres | |||
Joseina Rodriguez | |||
Valentina Chahin | SCCS | 5’19’’42 | 2nd Place |
Macarena Valdes | |||
Sofia Sotelo | |||
Tania Landivar | |||
Fabiana Zelada | SCIS | 5’29’’95 | 3rd Place |
Camila Barrientos | |||
Ciara Harriague | |||
Fiorella Yrriberry |
Boys Results
100 m | |||
Sergio Pacheco | SCCS | 12’’28 | 1st Place |
Anthony Salvatierra | CC | 12’’31 | 2nd Place |
Josue Abuawad | SCCS | 12’’68 | 3rd Place |
200 m | |||
Sergio Pacheco | SCCS | 25’’05 | 1st Place |
Percy Vidal | CC | 26’’15 | 2nd Place |
Sebastian Papadopulos | SCCS | 26’’50 | 3rd Place |
400 m | |||
Sebastian Papadopulos | SCCS | 57’’55 | 1st Place |
Nataniel Brown | CLC | 1’00’’83 | 2nd Place |
Diego Bejar | CC | 1’01’’40 | 3rd Place |
800 m | |||
Sami Frith | CLC | 2’25’’35 | 1st Place |
Daniel Hanley | SCIS | 2’26’’20 | 2nd Place |
Fernando Leon | CC | 2’34’’99 | 3rd Place |
1500 m | |||
Sami Frith | CLC | 4’58’’87 | 1st Place |
Fernando Guardia | CC | 5’01’’59 | 2nd Place |
Fernando Antelo | SCCS | 5’20’’14 | 3rd Place |
4x100 Relay | School | Time | Place |
Francisco Donoso | SCCS | 50’’19 | 1st Place |
Sergio Pacheco | |||
Josue Abuawad | |||
Esteban Sauto | |||
Kevin Pulis | CC | 52’’63 | 2nd Place |
Percy Vidal | |||
Gabriel Alonso | |||
Anthony Salvatierra | |||
Trevor Reed | CLC | 54’’36 | 3rd Place |
Caleb Hwangbo | |||
Josiah Canaviri | |||
Luke Philips |
4x400 Relay | School | Time | Place |
Tadeo Carmona | CC | 4’13’’60 | 1st Place |
Percy Vidal | |||
Gabriel Alonzo | |||
Diego Bejar | |||
Saul Torres | SCIS | 4’14’’45 | 2nd Place |
Jose Coloma | |||
Alejandro Saldaña | |||
Juan Velasco | |||
Fernando Antelo | SCCS | 4’20’’00 | 3rd Place |
Esteban Sauto | |||
Jorge Zankiz | |||
Josue Abuawad |
