By Laura Guillen and David Boldt
The Cooperative track and field teams -- both boys and girls -- widened their victory margins in the point totals for the year at the conclusion of the final phase of League track competition, the championship field events held Monday at Cooperative. It established Cooperative as the dominant school in track and field, a distinction that for many years was held by International
And it would be hard to overstate the degree to which Cooperative dominated this final phase of the track season. Its athletes won four of the eight events contested, and took second in three others. The only event in which a Cooperative athlete did not win one of the three top places was the girls high jump..
The final point totals for the year for the boys, combining points from the first track meet last month and the two-day championship meet completed Monday showed Cooperative with 273 points, followed by Cambridge with 174, Christian Learning with 137, and International with 115.
For the girls, Cooperative tool the championship with 232 points: Next was International with191, Cambridge with 150, and Christian Learning with 124.
Scoring the championship meet separately, without the points from the first meet, the results were as follows:
For the boys Cooperative had 130, Cambridge 100, Christian Learning 66, and International 58.
For the girls, the outcome was 113 for Cooperative, 93 for International, 86 for Cambridge, and 51 for Christian Learning.
Two new League records were set, both in the long jump. Eagle Abby Phillips' leap of 4.37 meters broke the oldest record on the books, the 2006 4.35 jump by Dominique Harrison of Cooperative.
In the boys long jump, Milan Marinkovic's jump of 5.67 meters bettered the old mark of 5.57 set by Nicolas Bedoya of International in 2009.
Phillips and Marinkovic were also the days two double gold winners, as each also picked a second gold in their respective high jump events.
(For a full account of last Friday's championship running events see story below.)
Boys field events
Shot put. International's Juan Sebastian Velasco put the shot 11.93 meters, and while no one knew at the time, that was the end of the event. Velasco had won the gold. Tadeo Carmona came close on his second throw, with a toss of 11.24 meters, and launched what looked like a long throw on his third try, but it was immediately called null as Carmona had to put his hand down on the grass outside the throwing circle to keep his balance. Andres Hurtado of Cambridge picked third with a throw of 11.18 on his second turn.
Discus. Ezekiel Chavez of Cooperative has thrown the discus farther than anyone this year, but he failed to place in the first meet because all three of his throws landed outside the defined zone. In this meet Cambridge's Tadeo Carmona initially was in first place with a throw of 25.00 meters. Chavez' second throw went eight centimeters farther -- 25.08.
Carmona got two chances to beat that mark, and Chavez got one, but in all three cases the athletes appeared to have tried too hard, and the discus misfired and landed out of bounds. Velasco took gold, Carmona silver, and the bronze for third place went to Andres Shin of Cooperative, whose best throw was about two meters short of the two leaders.
Long jump. Milan Marinkovic suited up to break records, and did just that in the long jump. The old mark of 5.55 meters had been set by Nicolas Bedoya of Internationa in 2009. Marinkovic unleashed a beautiful leap on the second round to establish a new mark of 5.67 meters.
Taking the silver was Marinkovic´s teammate Hyun Kim, who was the only other competitor to reach the 5 meter mark, leaping 5.13 meters. Third place went to Cambridge’s Tadeo Carmona with a jump of 4.92 meters. .
Boys certainly took leaping through the air more seriously than girls, and it was clearly seen on their faces as they sprinted down the slippery track. Frowns of concentration, or confused faces at miscalculated steps, showed clearly. But as with the girls the biggest worry was touching the clay stripe on the jump board, and many competitors jumped too early.
Other participants of the event included Griffins Javier Barron and Juan Velasco, Eagles Trevor Reed and Josiah Canaviri, and Knight Adrian Gamarra.
. High Jump. Jaguar Milan Marinkovic won in an assured manner, when he was the only jumper to clear 1.60 meters, and then took a shot a breaking the record of 1.70 that he holds jointly with International Nicolas Bedoya, but could not do it. Earlier he had admitted that he was still sore from last Thursday's Jaguar-Eagle basketball game, and not fully recovered from the Cooperative senior trip to Cancun. .
Griffin Saul Torrez, using a unique jumping style, took second place by jumping over 1.55 meters.. Instead of a normal side approach, he just trotted straight at the bar and took off with little impulse. Eagle ninth grader Josiah Canaviri, who had jumped 1.65 to win the first meet, and who had told friends he intended to win the event this time too, didn't have it this time and lost out to Cooperative's Hyun kim at 1.50 meters, allowing Kim to claim the bronze. . .
The high jump can be a nerve-racking event for spectators as many competitors, as the height gets higher, leave the bar wobbbling. And it's worse stiill when the competitors are taking their last chance. Often it’s a matter of closing your eyes and hoping not to hear the clang of the bar toppling over. Especially deflating are the times when the jumpers strong legs seem to get in the way and catch the bar on the way down.
Other participants were Knights Adrian Gamarra and Raul Prudencio, Eagle Trevor Reed, and Griffin Santiago Bedoya.
Girls Field Events
Shot put. It all came down to the final throw by International's Ciara Harriague and Cooperative's Naira Rodriguez, as they had both made tosses within a few centimeters of each other on their first two -- and it was Harriague who came up big with a throw 8.79 meters.
Rodriguez' first two throws had been exactly the same distance: 8.10 meters. But on her third her timing was off and and the throw lacked the force of her first two. It was measured at 7.80.
Rebekah Kienzle took third place with a throw of 7.03.
Discus. Again it appeared to be a battle between Harriague and Rodriguez, but the tables were turned, and it was Rodriguez who came out on top, and Harriague whose rhythm was off on the final throw. Rodriguez did have the longest throw in the first round, 18.68, but by the time it was her turn to take a second throw Harriague had made a toss of 18.30, and based on the two girls' practice throws the small crowd knew both could do better.
Rodriguez did indeed improve her mark with a throw of 19.78. Harriague got a final chance, but could only manage 15.86, while Rodriguez on her final toss really uncorked one that sailed 21.50 meters, just 15 centimeters short of a record.
And to add icing to Cooperative's cake, Rodriguez' teammate Andrea Chavez made a final throw of 18.31 meters, a centimeter longer than Harriague's best throw. That gave Cooperative first and second, and Harriague had to be content with third. But since Harriague is a ninth grader, Rodriguez an eighth grader, (and Chavez a sixth grader), this is an competition that could go on for years.
Long Jump. Eagle Abby Phillips takes the gold medal and breaks the longest standing of the League’s Track and Field records, previously set by Dominique Harrison in 2007. The record had stood at 4.35. . Phillips soared on her first try 4.37 meters, thus establishing a new mark.
Vallet with the silver, having jumped 3.83 m, and Knight Isadora Zaghini, who jumped 3.70 m. Other participants included Griffins Manuela Gonzalez and Camila Barrientos, Jaguar Paula Sakuma, and Knight Mariel Palacios.
While some of the jumpers demonstrated practiced strategy, others were just thriving to stay airborne as long as possible. The biggest challenge for many was clearly to keep their feet far, far away from touching the clay mark on the jumping board, and thereby avoiding the dreaded invalid jump. Most managed to stay clear of this line, but in doing so took off from so far back that they lost centimeters.
High jump. What seemed like a promising event turned to be quite dull in terms of suspense and achievement., Eagle Abby Phillips took the predicted gold, but with a jump well below the heights she has achieved before.
Griffin Manuela Gonzales was right with her. Both jumpers closed the competition at 1.35 meters, but Phillips finished first on the basis of fewer knockdowns in earlier rounds.
. Knight Valeria La Torre took third in a similar manner. LaTorre, Jaguar Paula Sakuma, and Knight Marial Palacios all failed to clear the bar at 1.30, but La Torre had fewer knockdowns in earlier rounds.
Phillips exercised her right to start jumping at 1.15, after the other jumpers had already completed several rounds, with some being eliminated, and suddenly made the whole thing look a lot easier. .
