By Riley Segal
Staff Writer
Photos by Hana Tyszka
The boys and girls’ varsity track teams earned their first league win of the season on the road against Temple City on Thursday, March 24. The Tigers were able to overcome the adversity presented by the Ram’s dirt track and unusual markings at the start and finish lines to gain a narrow victory of 71-52 for the boys, and a substantial win of 111-15 for the girls. Temple City was only able to place first in one event on girls’ varsity.
Junior Kieran Press-Reynolds and sophomore Oliver Chang claimed first and second with times of 4:44 and 4:47 in the 1600 meters. Press-Reynolds would also capture third in the 3200 meters while junior Jaehyung Choi garnered first with a time of 11:18. The girls’ distance squad also showcased strong races, sweeping all distance events such as the 1600 meter, 3200 meter, and 800 meter runs. Senior Emily Ye placed first in the mile and 800 meter, and sophomore Bailey Wu gave an impressive performance by earning second in the 1600 meter and first in the two mile race.
Juniors Taylor Holmes and Kate Kutzer, who is slowly coming back into competition after an injury, won first and third in the shot put. Sophomore Josiah Topping also garnered first in the shot put with a throw of 39’2”. Junior Max Schoerner performed well by placing second in both the high and long jumps. The Tigers had another sweep in the girls’ high jump, and were consistently in the top three for the long and triple jumps. Senior Esteban Suarez jumped 13’6” to easily win first in the pole vault.
The South Pas girls’ sprinters dominated the Rams in their events, sweeping the 100 and 300 meter hurdles, as well as the 400, 100, and 200 meters. However, the boys’ varsity struggled to dictate the meet, which put more pressure on specific events to make up for lost points. The boys’ 4×400 meter relay team was able to give the boys a final push to get the overall win with a clutch victory over the Rams. The boys fell behind in the second leg of the relay, but Suarez was able to pass the Temple City anchor in the final two steps of the race.
“I think we did really well overall, as it was a lot of people’s first times here and it was on a dirt track with awkward finish lines,” senior captain Alexis Mora said. “Monrovia will be our biggest competition, and hopefully everyone will step up as they’ve been doing so that we’ll take home the win.”
The Tigers next meet is away against Monrovia on Wednesday, March 30, where South Pas looks to gain another victory against a notoriously strong Wildcat team.
