On Saturday, March 3, fourteen of Coronado’s Track and Field athletes competed in the Mt. Carmel Field and Distance Meet, San Diego’s first meet of the season. The meet consisted of all field events and all running events with distances greater than 800 meters.
The Track and Field season is off to an excellent start with a long jump record already shattered by junior Alysah Hickey. Hickey is a versatile athlete, as she has usually competed in the high jump, the 100-meter dash, and the 200-meter. “In retrospect, Alysah was last year’s CIF champion in both the 100-meter dash and high jump, so she had the needed speed and ‘hop’ for a big jump,” says Coach George Green. Taking a total of three attempts, her farthest jump was nineteen feet and five and a quarter inches (19′ 5 1/4″). The school record has been held by Maddy Hopson since 2013, until Hickey surpassed her by one foot and nine inches at the Mt. Carmel Meet. She not only set the state-wide record in California for the long jump but is now ranked fourth nationally.
Related: The World Is Yours: The Alysah Hickey Story by Albert Lee of SD Prep Track
Hickey also won the high jump event at five feet and four inches. Junior Ruthie Grant-Williams followed in second place with a high jump at five feet and two inches.
In the distance events, the 800-meter race went particularly well for Coronado’s runners. Junior Teresa Perez placed second with a time of 2:20.14, followed by freshman Sofia Van Arsdale (4th) clocking 2:25.91 and junior Madden Hundley (7th) clocking 2:28.07. Finishing behind Hundley was senior Natalya Gomez with a time of 2:33.7. Annie Holland ran in the freshman 800-meter race and placed second with 2:31.25, while Abigail Hundley competed in the freshman 1,600-meter, placing third with a time of 5:24.55.
In the boys’ races, Ian Hurlburt won the 800-meter after maintaining his third-place lead among the fastest heat. His time was 2:00.39.
The final event for Coronado’s athletes was the Girls’ Distance Medley Relay consisting of a 1,200-meter leg, 400-meter leg, 800-meter leg, and 1,600-meter leg. Coronado’s runners in the relay were Madden Hundley, Abigail Hundley, Van Arsdale, and Perez, respectively. Cathedral Catholic rivaled Coronado in this race, but Perez’s last kick at the end put them eight seconds ahead and gave Coronado the victory. The relay time was 12:50.71 and gave the quartet the school record. Coach Green shared that although “Teresa’s kick won the race, the big School Record can be attributed to a 9 second improvement by Maddie Hundley from her 1200 leg last year, and Freshman Sofia Van Arsdale coming back from running the 800 to post an even faster 800 time in the relay.”
Upcoming Meet:
Thursday, March 15 vs. Crawford, Lincoln, and Mission Bay High Schools at Mission Bay @ 3:30 PM
