Last Saturday, the Islander Track & Field Team advanced one girl and nine boys to the CIF Finals at Mt. Carmel High School this Saturday. Head Coach Cameron Gary supplies the details below.
May 13 – CIF Prelims
Last year, CHS qualified five athletes to CIF Finals (three of whom medaled). All were individual event athletes, and no relays qualified. This year four individual event athletes qualified for CIF Finals, plus two relay teams, for a total of ten athletes. For all but one athlete, this was their first experience at a CIF Championship-level competition. One should consider this in the perspective that every athlete at this point represents the best athletes from their respective leagues.
The CIF Prelims meet is the method through which athletes qualify for the CIF Finals. Individual event placings are irrelevant, as long as the athlete or relay team places within the top nine in their event. No final event placings or awards are given out at CIF Prelims. And performances achieved at CIF Prelims do NOT carry over to CIF Finals. CIF Prelims is simply the competition to qualify athletes for CIF Finals. As we tell the athletes, one cannot WIN a championship at CIF Prelims… But one certainly can LOSE one. It is all about “surviving and advancing.”
Sophomore Sean Groeneveld advanced to CIF Finals in the men’s 400m Dash, with a time of 52.85s.
Sophomore Reif Souder advanced in the men’s 300 Hurdles with a PR (personal record) time of 44.02 seconds.
Senior Saxton Sylvester advanced in the men’s Discus Throw with a heave of 119’ 7”.
The Islander men’s 4×400 Relay (Groeneveld, senior Jaden Banner, junior Marco Velarde, and freshman Nathan Ayan) advanced with a time of 3:40.29.
The Islander men’s 4×800 Relay (Ayan, juniors Jack Shumaker, Rafael Roos, and Detrik Heidt) advanced with a time of 8:48.66.
Junior Lindsey Balsley was the lone women’s competitor to advance, with leap of 17’ 3” in the Long Jump and a 300 Hurdles PR time of 47.95s.
She advanced to the CIF finals as one of the top seeds in both the hurdles and the long jump.
Other athletes who scored PRs but did not advance were junior Tatiana Potter in the women’s 200m Dash (27.28s), and senior Emma Slaughter in the women’s Discus Throw with a heave of 85’ 3”.
