By Riley Segal
Staff Writer
The track team participated in the Redondo Nike Invitational on Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12 at Redondo Union High School. The Tigers raced several varsity underclassmen girls at the frosh-soph level because of the massive size of the invitational, which hosts several of the best high school track teams in southern California. By doing so, the underclassmen were able to place in a majority of their events. The lone varsity athletes for South Pas competed for distance. Friday was the Distance & Throws Carnival, and Saturday was the Track & Field Festival.
Sophomore Oliver Chang provided a stellar performance for distance as he was first in his heat for the 1600 meter race with a time of 4:36.63, which allowed him to place 25th overall. The girls’ varsity distance squad did not place in the top three for its respective events. Several were missing due to Powderpuff and various injuries.
The varsity-level sophomores and freshman dominated in the frosh-soph sprinting events. Sophomores Cayley Whitman and Riley Segal and freshman Christina Taylor, won a spot in the top three of their heats in all of their events, including an open 400 meter race. Sophomore Lauren Guevara joined Segal, Taylor, and Whitman to garner second in the 4×100 meter relay, and freshman Ashley Hugasian helped the three win third in the sprint medley relay. Another usual varsity member, sophomore Cate Latting, garnered third overall out of four heats in the 100 meter hurdles and third in her heat of the high jump.
Junior Max Schoerner gained a personal record of six feet in the high jump, which allowed him to place sixth overall. Senior Esteban Suarez garnered second place in the pole vault with a jump of 14.06 feet.
“The purpose of going to this meet was to expose our athletes to some of the top track talent in southern California. We also wanted to take the time during this two day meet help bond the team and build chemistry among teammates. Both goals were accomplished,” coach CB Richards said.
The Tigers next compete in the Monrovia Wildcat Relays at Monrovia High School on Saturday, March 19, where they hope to give another strong performance at all levels.
