Shorthanded Varsity Girls Outlast Sacred Heart while Top Boys Impress Against St. Francis
Posted: Friday, March 05, 2010
The upper school Track & Field team opened its season against Mission League foes St. Francis and Sacred Heart. The meet was definitely a success as the team looked strong on many levels.
The girls came into the meet as defending Mission League champions, but facing a stiff challenge against the upset minded Tologs. The amazing success of our winter sports coupled with the dance concert complicated matters as the Girls Varsity was missing five of the team's seven returning CIF finalists. This left everyone on the team aware that a big effort in a tight battle would be needed to get the job done.
The meet started in bizarre fashion as the Girls Varsity 4X100 actually had to be run twice after the starter launched the first running with only one Wolverine actually on the track and ready to go. Sacred Heart passed way out of the zone at the first exchange. So both felt frustrated and confused. After a short meeting between both head coaches and the starter, it was decided that the race would be re-run. This tested the poise and focus of a Wolverine squad running only one truly experienced athlete in the event. Lauren Hansson, Jennie Porter, Sam Ottavi-Perez and Kei Goldberg combined to hold off the Tologs by a mere .17. Only the first event of the day, but a key moment in the meet.
Multiple winners were the order of the day as leading Wolverines stepped up nicely to take care of business. Senior Jennie Porter ran on the 4X100 and then won both hurdle races in very impressive fashion. Junior Chelsea Edwards came up big as she performed valuably in multiple field events. Chelsea won the shot put, high jump and long jump competitions and also took 2nd in a key late meet triple jump event. Sophomore Amy Weissenbach settled right into the action as she won the 1600, 800 and 3200 meter events. Her distance triple was excellent for early in the season. Lauren Hansson added a win in the 100 meters to her relay work and also took 2nd in the 200 meters. Kei Golderg also added to her work as she won the pole vault in impressive lifetime best fashion.
The boys were not quite able to best the Golden Knights, but many of the Wolverine finest demonstrated exactly why they are well regarded. Senior Malcolm Caldwell-Meeks won the first event of the season by taking the discus throw with a strong season opening heave. Junior distance runner Kevin On opened up the boys highlights on the track with a big win over 1600 meters just a shade off of his lifetime best. Ben Saunders added a win over 800 meters and Charlie Stigler came up big with a huge PR win over 3200 meters. The boys 4X400 capped the day with a convincing win over the long relay. Jamias Jones, Ben Saunders, Judd Liebman and Matthew Bedford did the job in fast fashion.
Matthew also impressed with outstanding early season wins in the 400 and 200 meters. His times of 49.22 and 21.91 were truly excellent. The senior looks poised to go big this year. Not to be outdone, senior Andrew Tobias added a massive triple jump win with a PR of 44'4". Both will almost certainly be scaring school records in their specialities before the season closes out.
Welcome newcomers
Scoring performances by athletes new to the program:
Sam Ottavi-Perez - 1st V4X100
Correy King - 1st F/S100M, F/S200M & F/S4X400
Kathy Bolton-Ford - 1st JV100M & JV200M
Susan Wang - 1st JVLJ & JVTJ
Akosa Ibekwe - 1st F/S4X400, 2nd F/S400M & F/S200M
Lauren Schlussel - 1st JVHJ, 3rd JVLJ & JVTJ
Justin Berman - 1st F/S1600M & F/S3200M
Martin Riu - 1st F/SDT & 2nd F/SSP
Greg Zatzkis - 1st F/S4X400 & 2nd F/S800M
John Lee - 1st JV4X400 & 2nd JV100M
Jason Maccabee - 1st JV4X400 & 3rd JV1600M
Kristen Lee - 2nd JV400M & 3rd JV200M
James Wu - 3rd F/SLJ & F/STJ
Michael Rothberg - 1st F/SPV
Anthony Thompson - 1st JV4X400
Meghan Hartman - 2nd JV300MH
Jeremy Schreck - 3rd F/S100M
Kenneth Lopez - 3rd F/SPV
The Wolverines will return to the track on Thursday March 11th against Mission League opponent Alemany at Valley College. Meet time will be 3:15.