The Escalon High School Track and Field team had four athletes qualify for the trials round of Masters at Elk Grove High School on Thursday, May 25. The meet brings the top 24 athletes from all divisions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin section in order to determine who qualifies for state.

The women’s 4x400 meter relay team had another impressive outing, running a personal best of 4:07.08, shaving a second and a half off of their run the previous week to further improve their school record.

Jackie Lau got the team off to a good start running the first leg in 62.2, followed by Gabby Rigg in 64.2, Yajaira Salinas made up some ground running the third leg in 59.4, and Sidney Lima wrapped up the season with a 61.3 final 400 meters.

The team, made up of a senior (Salinas) and three juniors further impressed by finishing the trials round ranked 11th overall out of the field of 24 teams, a significant jump from their 21st ranking entering the meet.

The relay’s success came shortly after a disappointing result in the women’s 800m run, as Yajaira Salinas missed qualifying for finals by place. She finished with a time of 2:19.87, narrowly missing third place in her heat by three-hundredths of a second.

“While not the result that was hoped for, the relay’s success was a fitting end to a fantastic season, and now Salinas is able to look forward to her next season as she will be running cross country at Stanislaus State in the fall,” assistant coach Michael Bower said.