By Riley Segal
Staff Writer
Photos by Matt Scholtz
The track team closed out its league season with an away victory over San Marino on Wednesday, April 20, allowing both teams to take the league championship title. The boys claimed the title for the fourth year running, defeating the Titans 84-49, while the girls won for the sixth consecutive year and bested San Marino 112-15. The Tigers gave several strong individual performances, especially from senior Esteban Suarez who had personal bests in all four of his events and broke the school record, previously set by him at 15’6”, in pole vault.
Sophomore Oliver Chang and junior Kieran Press-Reynolds garnered the top two spots in both the mile and the 800 meters, with Chang earning first in the 800 and Press-Reynolds placing first in the mile. Freshman Francesco Fortunelli also captured first in the 3200 meters with a time of 10:44. The girls were unable to place first in any of the three distance events, but were able to take second and third in those events.
Both Tiger 4×100 meter relay teams were able to earn first with times of 45.38 for the boys and 50.87 for the girls. Junior Kate Kutzer placed first in the 400 meters with a time of 59.78 with senior Alexis Mora coming in behind to take second. Kutzer was also victorious in the 200 meters, reaching her personal best of 25.25. Senior Jonathan Jackson-Williams also gave a strong effort in the 100 and 200 meters, coming in first with times of 10.91 and 23.0. Coach CB Richards made an unusual change in the girls’ varsity 4×400 meter relays, making four different teams by grade in order to showcase their talent and ensure a win over the Titans. While several girls competing were inexperienced with the 400 meters, all teams put up a strong battle, though the sophomores would claim the win. The boys 4×400 team also had a small lack of inexperience due to injury of a usual competitor and would be beaten by the Titan team.
South Pas also found success in the two hurdle races. Suarez placed first in the 300 meter hurdles and second in the 110 meter hurdles, while sophomore Justin Chong placed third in both. Sophomore Cate Latting placed first in the 100 meter hurdles while junior Caroline Becronis gained the top spot in the 300 meter hurdles, which the Tigers swept.
The Tigers also swept the girls’ long jump with Mora coming in first at a jump of 16’6”. Senior Grace Meier also won first in the triple jump. Junior Max Schroener placed first in the long jump with a jump of 19’8”, while Suarez earned second in the triple jump. Suarez would continue to impress as he cleared 15’7” in the pole vault to take first and set a new school record. Schroener also claimed first in the high jump, as well as sophomore Molly Round for the girls. Junior Taylor Holmes won first in the girls’ shot put, and sophomore Ben Martinez garnered first for the boys’.
“It feels amazing to win the league title again, as each year came with its own hard work and we continue to be so proud of what our team has accomplished,” Mora said. “I definitely think not only individuals but our relay teams as well are going to go far. A lot of our athletes will be sure to hold league titles in finals and will continue to excel in CIF as well, especially the underclassmen and new runners who have worked their way up to this point and will be able to take their talent a step further.”
The Tigers next compete in the San Gabriel Valley Championships on Saturday, April 23 in San Dimas. South Pas will continue to prepare for preliminaries and league finals in the weeks to come, and is planning to use the upcoming meet to make progress in preparation for finals and eventually CIF.
