Wins for the girls and boys came on the track Thursday, as the host Cougars coasted past the visiting Hughson Huskies in Trans-Valley League action.
"We're doing good, putting things together slowly but surely," said coach Rick Heflin.
The varsity boys claimed an 80-59 win over the Huskies, with some outstanding individual efforts.
Mike Sawyer took first place in the discus at 141-11 and threw a personal best 44-7 in the shotput, good for second place. Jake Brown was third in the shot at 43-5 1/2 and was second to Sawyer in the disc, 132-6 1/2.
Michael Beeman was the winner of the 110 high hurdles, 18.24, and the Cougar boys won the 4-by-100 relay in 48 seconds flat.
Shane Brookshire won the mile event in 4:44 and also won the 800 in 2:10, capping off the afternoon with a first in the 3200 meters in 11:30. Andy Schmidt took third in that event. Sam Goulet was a double winner, first in the 400, 53.48 and the 200, 24.37.
"He's coming along, he's a real speedster, we didn't expect him to be that fast," admitted Heflin.
Finishing behind Goulet in the 200 were Jaremy Puthoff and Rocky Overturf, completing the Cougar sweep in that event.
Puthoff was also second in the 100 with a time of 11.47 and third in the long jump at 17-9. Overturf added a third place finish in the 100, 12.0.
In the triple jump, Brad Campoy took second for Escalon at 36-4, while Marcus Savage was first in both the long jump, 18-8, and the high jump, 6-2.
"Marcus just loves to jump against Hughson," Heflin pointed out. "He did his best jumping against them last season."
Behind Savage in the high jump were Mike Stime and Carl Aufdermaur, each clearing 5-4. Kyle Courtright finished third in the pole vault at 9-6.
Standout among the JV boys was Anthony Aho, who took first in the shotput with a throw of 34-10.
"Most of our competitors, for both teams, were at the varsity level," noted Heflin.
For the varsity girls, it was a 91-35 victory with the Lady Cougars sweeping the triple jump event. Simone Lionudakis won the triple at 27-9 1/2, Shannon Finley and Hollee Turner took second and third, respectively.
Turner finished first in the 100 high hurdles in 19.97 with Lauren Cosentino second and Finley third. In the 300 low hurdles, it was Cosentino taking first in 1:12.89, followed by Finley and Turner.
Lionudakis was back on top in the long jump, taking first at 14-10, with Turner second at 13-7 and Katie Kaech finishing third. Lionudakis also won the high jump at 4-4, with Kaech and Mckenzie Brown finishing second and third, respectively.
Claiming her fourth event of the afternoon, Lionudakis won the 400 in 1:13.30, with Mary Courtright taking second.
On the field, Megan McNinch was second in the shotput with a throw of 28-2 and teammate Brittany Brunetti was third. McNinch was third in the discus with a throw of 78-0. Melissa Goff took second in pole vault, 7-0, and Lauren Brown was third, 6-6.
Runners had a strong day, Amanda Moreno was first in the mile at 5:29 and Cynthia Lopez was second; Lopez was first in the 800 at 2:44 and Annelyse DeLucchi was second at 2:52. Moreno was also the winner of the two-mile in 12:32.
The Lady Cougars won the 4-by-100 relay in 58.0 with Amanda Nunes winning the 100 in 13.72, Lauren Brown taking third. Nunes was second in the 200, Sam Draper finished third.
With the league win on Thursday, the Cougars headed to the Bronco Invitational at Bella Vista in Sacramento on Saturday.
"The meet was fairly large, 36 schools and the smallest school there, without a doubt, was us," Heflin explained. "We were the only small school, others there were Elk Grove, El Dorado, McClatchy, the kids saw a lot of good competition."
With hundreds of athletes there, Heflin said he was pleased to see some Cougars come up with some strong showings.
Amanda Nunes was 10th overall in the 100 in 13.54, Shane Brookshire was sixth in the 800 at 2:07 and Sam Goulet was seventh in the 200 at 23.69.
"In the 100 alone, there were 11 trials," Heflin pointed out, noting that Nunes breaking into the top 10 was a great accomplishment.
Amanda Moreno was a double winner, in the 1500 and 3000 meter runs, putting up a time of 4:48 in the 1500, 10:15.79 in the 3000.
"That was a new meet record, she beat the old one by 10 seconds in the 3000," Heflin said. "She was selected as the 'track athlete of the meet'."
At the JV level, top showings were a sixth place finish for Jaremy Puthoff in the 100 at 11.08 and a new PR for Anthony Aho in the shotput, with a heave of 37-2.
"A lot of people improved, a lot of people had good performances," Heflin said of the satisfying meet.
This week, the Cougars have a key league match with Riverbank on the home track, 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 14. Then four Cougars will head to the Woody Wilson Invitational on Friday. Amanda Nunes qualified in the 100, Amanda Moreno will run the 2-mile, Jake Brown is going in the discus and Marcus Savage will compete in the high jump.
By MARG JACKSON
"We're doing good, putting things together slowly but surely," said coach Rick Heflin.
The varsity boys claimed an 80-59 win over the Huskies, with some outstanding individual efforts.
Mike Sawyer took first place in the discus at 141-11 and threw a personal best 44-7 in the shotput, good for second place. Jake Brown was third in the shot at 43-5 1/2 and was second to Sawyer in the disc, 132-6 1/2.
Michael Beeman was the winner of the 110 high hurdles, 18.24, and the Cougar boys won the 4-by-100 relay in 48 seconds flat.
Shane Brookshire won the mile event in 4:44 and also won the 800 in 2:10, capping off the afternoon with a first in the 3200 meters in 11:30. Andy Schmidt took third in that event. Sam Goulet was a double winner, first in the 400, 53.48 and the 200, 24.37.
"He's coming along, he's a real speedster, we didn't expect him to be that fast," admitted Heflin.
Finishing behind Goulet in the 200 were Jaremy Puthoff and Rocky Overturf, completing the Cougar sweep in that event.
Puthoff was also second in the 100 with a time of 11.47 and third in the long jump at 17-9. Overturf added a third place finish in the 100, 12.0.
In the triple jump, Brad Campoy took second for Escalon at 36-4, while Marcus Savage was first in both the long jump, 18-8, and the high jump, 6-2.
"Marcus just loves to jump against Hughson," Heflin pointed out. "He did his best jumping against them last season."
Behind Savage in the high jump were Mike Stime and Carl Aufdermaur, each clearing 5-4. Kyle Courtright finished third in the pole vault at 9-6.
Standout among the JV boys was Anthony Aho, who took first in the shotput with a throw of 34-10.
"Most of our competitors, for both teams, were at the varsity level," noted Heflin.
For the varsity girls, it was a 91-35 victory with the Lady Cougars sweeping the triple jump event. Simone Lionudakis won the triple at 27-9 1/2, Shannon Finley and Hollee Turner took second and third, respectively.
Turner finished first in the 100 high hurdles in 19.97 with Lauren Cosentino second and Finley third. In the 300 low hurdles, it was Cosentino taking first in 1:12.89, followed by Finley and Turner.
Lionudakis was back on top in the long jump, taking first at 14-10, with Turner second at 13-7 and Katie Kaech finishing third. Lionudakis also won the high jump at 4-4, with Kaech and Mckenzie Brown finishing second and third, respectively.
Claiming her fourth event of the afternoon, Lionudakis won the 400 in 1:13.30, with Mary Courtright taking second.
On the field, Megan McNinch was second in the shotput with a throw of 28-2 and teammate Brittany Brunetti was third. McNinch was third in the discus with a throw of 78-0. Melissa Goff took second in pole vault, 7-0, and Lauren Brown was third, 6-6.
Runners had a strong day, Amanda Moreno was first in the mile at 5:29 and Cynthia Lopez was second; Lopez was first in the 800 at 2:44 and Annelyse DeLucchi was second at 2:52. Moreno was also the winner of the two-mile in 12:32.
The Lady Cougars won the 4-by-100 relay in 58.0 with Amanda Nunes winning the 100 in 13.72, Lauren Brown taking third. Nunes was second in the 200, Sam Draper finished third.
With the league win on Thursday, the Cougars headed to the Bronco Invitational at Bella Vista in Sacramento on Saturday.
"The meet was fairly large, 36 schools and the smallest school there, without a doubt, was us," Heflin explained. "We were the only small school, others there were Elk Grove, El Dorado, McClatchy, the kids saw a lot of good competition."
With hundreds of athletes there, Heflin said he was pleased to see some Cougars come up with some strong showings.
Amanda Nunes was 10th overall in the 100 in 13.54, Shane Brookshire was sixth in the 800 at 2:07 and Sam Goulet was seventh in the 200 at 23.69.
"In the 100 alone, there were 11 trials," Heflin pointed out, noting that Nunes breaking into the top 10 was a great accomplishment.
Amanda Moreno was a double winner, in the 1500 and 3000 meter runs, putting up a time of 4:48 in the 1500, 10:15.79 in the 3000.
"That was a new meet record, she beat the old one by 10 seconds in the 3000," Heflin said. "She was selected as the 'track athlete of the meet'."
At the JV level, top showings were a sixth place finish for Jaremy Puthoff in the 100 at 11.08 and a new PR for Anthony Aho in the shotput, with a heave of 37-2.
"A lot of people improved, a lot of people had good performances," Heflin said of the satisfying meet.
This week, the Cougars have a key league match with Riverbank on the home track, 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 14. Then four Cougars will head to the Woody Wilson Invitational on Friday. Amanda Nunes qualified in the 100, Amanda Moreno will run the 2-mile, Jake Brown is going in the discus and Marcus Savage will compete in the high jump.
By MARG JACKSON
