By Marion Wood
Staff Writer
The South Pasadena track teams hosted the Rio Hondo League prelims this Tuesday night, and many Tiger athletes qualified for league finals, which will take place this Friday at the home track.
Only a select number of varsity events took place at the prelims. Many, including all field events, did not have enough entries for a qualifier and went directly to finals. Both league prelims and finals are mainly individual, as South Pasadena has already won the league title in dual meets.
“Since it’s league prelims, it’s not as much about the team,” senior Ryan Ong said. “Everyone is competing individually, trying to beat their personal records.”
Most of the varsity athletes were just aiming to qualify, but there were still many notable performances. Seniors Andrew Shults and William Brady placed fifth and seventh, respectively in the very competitive 100 meters. South Pas also took home a first place in the 400 meters by junior Alexis Mora. Fellow junior Julianne Ong was likely to qualify in the same race, but was disqualified for a false start.
The Tigers dominated in the long distance events. Senior Cullen Irvine won the mile with a time of 4 minutes and 44 seconds, and freshman Oliver Chang claimed second just 8 seconds behind. Junior Kieran Press-Reynolds and sophomore Ryan Young also qualified for finals in the same event, placing fourth and tenth, respectively. The South Pas distance squad also gained three entries into the 800 meter final, with senior Justin Fernandez coming in first, senior Ramon Gutierrez in third, and junior Amador Lagunas in fourth.
“I think Friday we are going to do really well, but it’s definitely going to test how South Pas has trained throughout the season to progress forward,” junior Omni Lott said.
