The Islander track and field team boys and girls won close contests against Morse on April 9. Head coach Cameron Gary supplies the details.
April 9 League Meet – Crawford/Madison/Morse
The Islanders were in action for a San Diego City Conference – Central League dual meet at Morse High School on April 9. Since the Central League runs League meets in a “double dual” meet format, there were four high school teams present (Coronado, Madison, Crawford, and Morse). In Track & Field dual meet individual events, five points are awarded for a 1st Place finish, three points for 2nd Place, and one point for 3rd place. In the relay events, the winning team scores five points and the losing team scores zero points. For the purposes of Central League standings, the Islanders were matched up against Morse high school. The Islander boys’ team emerged victorious with a score of 67-50. The Islander girls’ team was also victorious, winning 58–47.
The Islander boys’ team scoring was led by its distance crew (800, 1600, and 3200m Runs, and the 4x800m Relay event), outscoring Morse 26 to 1.
Islander distance event scoring was led by seniors Derick Ritter and Vincent Russo in the 800m Run, finishing first and second with times of 2:11.69 and 2:12.74, respectively. The Islanders swept the 1600m event with sophomore Ziggy Raunig, Vincent Russo, and freshman Evan Russo finishing in 5:04.40 (personal best “PB”), 5:04.48, and 5:11.47 (PB), respectively. In the 3200m Run, Evan Russo and freshman Ayrton Reyes took the top two spots, finishing with times of 11:56.30 (PB) and 11:57.46, respectively.
The 4×800 Relay team of sophomore Sebastian Tamariz, senior Oscar Alicandri, junior Ethan Schmidgal, and freshman Jacob Ingold emerged victorious with a time of 10:24.37.
The Islander boy sprinters swept both the 4×100 and 4×400 Relay events. The former, consisting of junior Xavier Marsh, senior Davin Collins, senior William Heyen, and sophomore Ah’Mahn Oliver held off the Morse quartet by 1/100th of a second, notching a time of 43.43 seconds. This effort bettered their previously set Islander school record by over half a second. It also ranks as the 19th fastest sprint relay time in the San Diego CIF section (just under 100 teams have times posted) this season.
The Islander 4×400 quartet of Marsh, Vincent Russo, Heyen and Oliver combined to win handily with a time of 3:33.46.
Other Islander top performances were notched by senior Spencer Reidarson, who won the 300m Hurdle event with a time of 45.29 seconds. This was Reidarson’s first foray into this event and he now sits as the leader on the Central League performance list. Reidarson also a notched 2nd place finish in the long jump with a leap of 19’5.50”, and 3rd place finishes in the triple jump (39’10.50”) and high jump (5’4”). Sophomore Jeremiah Albrektsen placed 2nd in the high jump, with a PB leap of 5’10”.
On the girls’ side, the Islander scoring was more evenly distributed. The field events were even, but the Islanders outscored Morse 42–30 in the running events. In the field events, Islander scoring was led by sophomore Lily DeSena, who notched victories in the shot put (22’6.75”) and discus throw (65’10”…PB) events.
In the running events, senior Summer Little and junior Maya Wilson swept the top two places in the 100m Dash event, notching times of 13.14 and 13.18 seconds, respectively. Little placed second in the 200m Dash (27.79s), and senior Micaela Gistaro won the 400m Dash (60.22s).
Juniors Carly DeVore, Lily Humphrey, and Edie Alicandri swept the top three positions in the 1600m Run, notching times of 6:33.22, 6:35.33, and 7:19.40, respectively. DeVore and Humphrey took the top two places in the 3200m Run, with times of 14:48.54 and 15:33.74, respectively. DeVore and Humphrey also finished 2nd and 3rd in the 800m Run, notching PB times of 2:50.11 and 2:50.14, respectively.
Islander sprinter Maya Wilson made her event debut in the 300m Hurdles, taking the victory in a time of 49.19 seconds. This was an auspicious debut, as Wilson’s time is the fastest in the Central League this year. And she defeated the next fastest hurdler in the league (from Morse) by over three seconds.
The Islanders return to action on April 16 for their final Central League meet of the season. They will be matched up against Crawford, Kearny, and Madison high schools. This meet will take place at 4 pm at Madison high school.
