The track season came to an end last Saturday at the D-3 CIF finals. Field events started at 3:30 pm, with track events beginning at 5:30 pm. Once again, we were at Valley Center High School. Lindsey Balsley and Zane Delcore were first up, with Lindsey competing in the long jump and Zane in both the long jump and shot put. Fortunately, the long jump pit and the shot put ring were close enough, so Zane didn’t have far to walk too far between the two events. The schedule for field events is structured so that athletes competing in one event don’t have to compete in another at the same time. For example, the shot put and discus throw don’t go off simultaneously as most shot putters also throw the discus. Zane, however, competes in both the long jump and the shot put, in addition to hurdles and sprints. Unless you’re a decathlete, you don’t usually compete in the shot and long jump. Both the shot put and long jump formats are the same; you get three initial trys. If you have a legal mark (don’t foul) in the first three attempts, you get three more. You don’t have to take all of your attempts. Zane had a great sequence in the long jump with several marks over 20 feet, culminating with a PR of 20 feet 4 inches. However, switching between the long jump and the shot put took a toll on the latter’s performance. He had to continuously check out of one event to check in to the other. In the preliminaries last week he PR’d in the shot put with a toss of 40 feet 4 inches but only managed 38 feet 9.5 inches in the finals. Still, it was good enough for sixth place and a trip to the podium (top 6). Later he came back and PR’d in the 300 hurdles for fourth place with a time of 42.54.
His freshman brother Jack Delcore was also in that race and placed eighth in 45.30. Earlier, Jack PR’d in the 110 hurdles with a time of 16.75.
Lindsey had a great sequence in the girl’s long jump. Her final leap of 16 feet 4.5 inches moved her into second place. Our only CIF champion was Claire Cook, who won the 300-meter hurdles with a PR of 47.05, over a second in front of the second-place girl. Lindsey was fourth in that race with a time of 50.28. Claire also placed fourth in the 400 meters with a PR of 60.14.
When you add up the points these two freshmen girls scored, it comes to 28. When you add the 8 points Abigail Hundley and Sofia Van Arsdale scored for fifth-place finishes in the 1600 and 800 meter runs, the total is 36, enough to place the girls fourth among the 47 teams competing in D-3 this season behind Sage Creek, La Jolla, and Madison.
Both Claire and Lindsey rank high among the top freshmen girls county-wide. Claire is ranked number one in the 300 hurdles and number four in the 400-meter run. Lindsey is ranked number two in the long jump, number three in the 300 hurdles, and number ten in the 100 hurdles. Our only other runner in the finals was Lily Clemons, who competed in the 3200-meter run.
We had our Cross Country and Track Banquet last Wednesday at Feast & Fareway at the golf course. We combined the two banquets so that we’d be able to have them both inside. At the end of the Cross Country season, we were still under restrictions that wouldn’t allow that. Besides, most of the track team included kids who also ran Cross Country. There were only ten kids on the track team who didn’t also run Cross Country. The Track MVP awards went to Zane Delcore for the boys and Claire Cook for the Girls. Rookie for the year for track went to Lindsey, Claire, and Jack Delcore.
The Cross Country MVP awards went to Abby Hundley for the girls and Conor Youngblood for the boys. In addition to having over a two-minute gap on our next runner, Abby placed third in the tough Western League Finals and was named Senior Western League Runner of the Year. Conor had nearly a two and one half minute improvement over his previous season and was our top boy finisher in every meet. The boys’ Cross Country Rookie of the Year was Detrik Heidt. Claire and Julia Mineo were both named Rookie of the Year for Cross Country. Senior awards went to Abby Hundley, Sofia Van Arsdale, Jack Weisbrod, Jasmine Chaney, Micah Arnott, and Aiden Baumann.
