The EHS track and field team competed in their final dual meet against Riverbank on Wednesday May 3 at Riverbank. Both boys and girls captured wins. The girls had placers in every event, excluding the 3200 meters, an event senior Nora Nash usually competes in but opted that day to do the 800 meters instead. Nash finished with a strong second behind her teammate Yajaira Salinas who has been the league leader in the 800 meters all year. Salinas also switched up her usually 400/800 meter double and ran a 200/400 meter double; what didn’t change was the fact that she was able to earn two first place finishes. Sidney Lima championed both hurdle races, took second in the 100 meters and was a part of the winning 4X400 meter relay. First and second place in the shot put went to Ashleigh Strand and Shelby McCune, Jessikka Gonzales took first and second in the high jump and triple jump, Leila Phillips and Ivanna De la Torre were first and second in the long jump.
On the boys side, Thaddeous Stern had an impressive day earning first in the 100 meters and second in the 200 meters.
“It was exciting that our boys swept the 1600 meters especially since in previous years Riverbank has been such a force in the distance events,” said head coach Carrie Nash.
First place in the 1600 went to Emiliano Ramirez, second to Eduardo (Eddy) Calderon and third to Troy Bedell.
Other notable finishers were: Alex Jimenez second - 300 meter hurdles and third -long jump, Christian Brunetti first - long and triple jumps, Wesley Holmes third -triple jump, Sam Tompson second - pole vault, 4X100 - first, 4X400 - first.
Friday the freshman and sophomore student-athletes traveled back to Riverbank for the Frosh/Soph TVL League Championships. The boys finished second and the girls were sixth overall.
“The boys are a young team and were able fill more events than our girls, and at this point our girls team is typically led in points at competitions by the juniors and seniors, so it was a tough day for them,” added Coach Nash.
Solid performances came from sophomore Xavier Chavez who ran an impressive 52.9 in the 400 for second place and 2:16 in the 800 meters for a fourth place finish. Freshman Andres Cornejo was sixth in the 400 meters and the 800 meters. Freshman Juan Lopez sprinted to a first place finish in the 1600 meters and ran a personal best 10:42 for second in the 3200 meters. Alex Jimenez was fourth in both hurdle races, Zach Pickett was first in the high jump, Frank Leal and Carson Grogan earned fourth and sixth respectively. Chase Granis was third in both the long and triple jumps and Leal jumped his personal best of 34-10.5 for a fifth place finish in the triple jump. Third place in the girls high jump went to Alexia Johnson and a fifth place to Leila Phillips. Phillips also placed third in the triple jump.
It was a busy week for the track and field athletes and many of them competed in both meets. Next, the team travels to Ripon on Thursday for the varsity Trans-Valley League Championships, where field events lead off at 3 p.m. and running events follow beginning at 6 p.m.
