By Riley Segal
Staff Writer
Photos by Hana Tyszka
The varsity track teams defeated Monrovia and Blair in its first home league meet of the season on Wednesday, March 30. While Monrovia was very strong in the sprints, its lack of numbers in the distance and field events cost them a significant amount of points. Blair was also greatly outnumbered with only a couple of runners being able to place. The girls beat Monrovia 89-37 and Blair 124-0, and the boys triumphed over Monrovia 86-41 and Blair 111-15, allowing both Tiger squads to remain undefeated.
The distance runners had no competition from the Wildcats or Vikings, and thus swept all of their events. Senior Emily Ye, sophomore Bailey Wu, and freshman Elizabeth Bock captured first in the 800 meters, 1600 meters, and 3200 meters, respectively. Sophomore Oliver Chang, junior Kieran Press-Reynolds, and freshman Francesco Fortunelli garnered first in the 800 meters, 1600 meters, and 3200 meters in the boys’ varsity races.
The Tigers also swept the boys’ 300 meter hurdles. Sophomore Justin Chong, who placed second in the 300 meters, won first in the 110 meter hurdles. However, aside from the hurdle events, the boys would be unable to place first in any other sprint event due to strong performances from Monrovia and Blair. However, senior Jonathan Jackson-Williams was able to place second and third in the 100 and 200 meter dashes. The South Pas girls were able to overcome the Wildcats in several events, and easily overtook Blair, who had limited entries that did not place. Senior Rebecca Liston and freshman Christina Taylor captured first and third in the 200 meters, and fourth and third in the 100 meter race. Junior Kate Kutzer, who has officially returned from her injury, placed first in the 100 and 300 meter hurdles, while senior Alexis Mora earned second in the 400 meters and 300 meter hurdles as well.
South Pas’ relay teams were unable to ultimately find success this meet, aside from the girls 4×400 team, who defeated Blair with ease. The boys’ 4×400 team had closed the gap in the third leg due to a strong push from senior Amador Lagunas, but the handoff with the Tiger anchor went awry and the baton was dropped. However, South Pas picked up the baton and narrowly lost to Blair to place third after a valiant attempt to catch up.
Kutzer tied with sophomore Cate Latting in the high jump at 4’10”, and also picked up first in the long jump with a jump of 18”4’. Latting additionally placed first in the pole vault, which the girls swept as there was no Wildcat or Viking competition. The Tigers also won first in the triple jump with a 32”8.5’ jump from senior Grace Meier. Senior Esteban Suarez led the boys in sweeping the pole vault as well, and vaulted 14’6”. Junior Max Schroener and Suarez took first and second in the long jump with jumps of 19’8” and 19’6”. Schroener also placed first in the high jump. Sophomore Josiah Topping and Ben Martinez garnered second and third in the boys shot put, while junior Taylor Holmes placed second in the girls shot put.
“It feels amazing to beat Monrovia. They are some of our biggest competition as they have some of the best athletes out there,” Mora said. “Our athletes will do really well in our next meet, the Tiger Invite, especially because it’s on our home track.”
The Tigers look to remain undefeated with another league victory against La Cañada at home on Thursday, April 14. Over spring break, Kutzer and Suarez will be competing at the Stanford Invitational at Stanford on Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2. South Pas will also be hosting the Tiger Invite on Friday, April 8, where teams from across the country come to compete. The athletes there will have qualified for or barely missed the needed times or distances to compete at Arcadia. Additionally, Mora and the girls 4×400 relay team qualified to compete in the prestigious Arcadia Invitational on Saturday, April 9.
