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Girls Win Two, Boys Split In League Track Meet
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The Cougar track and field team hosted a meet away at Hughson against both Hughson and Modesto Christian on Wednesday, March 20. The meet was scored as two separate duals.

In the boys division, Hughson beat Escalon 88-48 and the girls beat Escalon 109-27. Escalon boys defeated Modesto Christian 89-21 and the girls beat MC 84-32.

“The Cougars have athletes continuing to perform well on the track and in the field. It’s a learning year, especially with over half the team being made up of ninth and tenth graders who are new to track and field,” said Coach Carrie Nash.

Meet highlights follow, with results listed as overall places between the three schools.

Boys - 100m 5th Kaidence Trejo 11.98; 400m 1st Zach Pickett 52.30, 3rd Garrett Nash 55.43, 5th CJ Borrego 56.25; 800m 1st Juan Lopez 2:09.39; 1600m 2nd Juan Lopez 4:57.42; 3200m 2nd Braiden Vega 11:33.21; 110mHH 3rd Alex Jimenez 19.49; 300mLH 3rd Alex Jimenez; 4x400m relay 1st Escalon (Nash, Jimenez, Lopez and Pickett); Shot Put 1st Nathan Luis 40-00; Discus 2nd Mitch Cole 106-00; High Jump 1st Zach Pickett 5-04, 2nd Alex Mendoza 5-02; long Jump 1st Chase Granis 19-03.00.

Girls -100m 5th Koren Rodriguez 14.07; 200m Kalynn Cavanaugh 4th 29.50; 800m 1st Briana Briones-Chavarria 2:31, 1600m 1st Briana Briones-Chavarria 5:33.24, Shot Put 3rd Andrea Martinez 25-08; Discus 2nd Andrea Martinez 82-02; 3rd Amelia Peeples 76-04; High Jump 2nd Kalynn Cavanaugh 4-06; Long Jump 1st Kalynn Cavanaugh; Triple Jump 3rd Alexis Barron 27-07.5.

The team then took 16 athletes to the Bella Vista Distance Carnival this past Friday. This is a special meet where only the 800, 1600and 3200 meter races are run along with pole vault.

“Overall it was a fantastic showing by our athletes,” said assistant coach Michael Bower. “The occasional moments of rain didn’t slow down our athletes, who out of the 29 races competed in, set 27 personal records or season best marks.”

In addition, Escalon had several place in the top three of their heat. Briana Briones-Chavarria got third in the 1600 in a time of 5:32. Moises Grajeda dropped 16 seconds to finish second in his heat of the 1600. Zach Pickett ran out to a strong lead, to place first in the 800m with a time of 2:03.60.

Huge improvements were made in the mile by Ryan Belleto, 5:29 (18 second improvement); Ronaldo Lora, 6:18 (17 seconds); Gonzalo Leal, 6:49 (31 seconds); Alejandra Jimenez, 6:51 (29 seconds). Briones-Chavarria also shaved 27 seconds off her two mile to finish sixth overall with a time of 11:49.

“In addition to the fantastic times run by our athletes, they embraced the true spirit of the sport, cheering loudly for their teammates and fellow runners from other schools,” noted Bower. “One of our most vocal athletes, Julie Avila, led the enthusiasm after setting a personal best in the mile, running 7:17 in the first race of the day.”

It was a busy week for the Cougars, but Bower said wrapping it up with a solid showing at Bella Vista made the work worthwhile.

“It is always a pleasure to coach such a positive and hard working group, and it is rewarding to see them celebrate successes with everyone, both their teammates and their opponents,” he said. “Overall, it was a fantastic day at a great point in the season, our athletes get a small taste of the rewards they will reap from their hard work and should be encouraged as we continue into the league part of our season.”

The Cougars will be away at Ripon on Wednesday, March 27. The meet begins at 3:30 p.m.