A handful of Escalon High School athletes were busy this past week, wrapping up competition in the spring season. A trio of tennis players came away with medal honors and there were also some outstanding efforts from a quartet of track and field team members.

TENNIS

Boys number one singles player for Escalon, Nate Rose, finished his season with a second-place medal from the individual CIF Sac-Joaquin Section state competition, while the girls number one doubles team of Emma Rangel and Marina Franzia took third place honors. Matches were at Oak Park in Stockton on May 19 and 20.

“Nate went 11-1 in league (Trans-Valley League play) and was 19-4 overall this season,” head coach Julianne Eavenson said.

At the individual Sections, he won his opening round 6-2, 6-2 and advanced through the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-0 win. In the semifinals, Rose was a 6-4, 6-2 winner before falling in a hard-fought final, 4-6, 5-7 to earn his second-place medal.

“He was also league MVP outright as a junior and he was our team captain,” Eavenson added.

For the girls, Escalon’s number one doubles pairing of Rangel and Franzia – both juniors – won their first round by a 6-4, 6-1 decision and earned a quarterfinal win by the same score.

“In the semifinals on Tuesday they lost to Bear River 3-6, 1-6, and won for third place, 10-3, in a 10-game pro set against Lindhurst,” said Eavenson.

The duo went undefeated in TVL play this season, 12-0, and put together a 21-3 overall record for the season.

TRACK AND FIELD

Friday, May 23 saw the Cougar track and field team suit up for the final time this school year, as several athletes took part in the Masters Meet.

“Senior Megan Silva ran well in the 200-meter sprint, but the field was stacked and only the top 10 move on to the finals and from there only top three move on to state,” said head coach Arend Jones.

Though not qualifying to move on, Jones noted there were several accomplishments for Silva this season.

“She ends her high school track and field career with a great last season, capturing two individual school records, the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints,” Jones said. “On Friday, Megan also anchored the girls four-by-400 relay with three freshmen, Ava Rodriguez, Addison Correia and Georgia Northcutt.”

The coach said there were a “couple of bad handoffs” during the relay but the team did very well, overcoming those miscues.

“They still managed a season best time of 4:15.41, fourth best time in school records,” Jones said.

Rodriguez kicked it off with a “blistering fast first leg” under 59 seconds, Jones explained, with Correia and Northcutt running the second and third legs, respectively, at 65 seconds each, and Silva running her anchor lap in 58 seconds.

The group was seventh in their heat.

“They finished 24th overall out of 29, a great performance from a mostly freshman relay team,” said Jones. “Now that the track season is over, the cross-country season begins with summer training.”