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Cougars
could prove fastest cats in league
By Phillip Brents
The Alpine Sun
The Steele Canyon High School track and field team could be in for something special this year. "If we beat Monte Vista on Thursday (April 28), our girls team will be league champions," Cougars head coach Gary Stathas said.
Steele Canyon got the opportunity to showcase its new-found prowess by capturing both the boys and girls team championships at last Saturday’s second annual Mustang/Phair Company Relays at Otay Ranch High School. The Cougars won the Blue Division girls team title with 91 points, outdistancing second-place Morse with 77 points and third place Bonita Vista with 76 points. Steele Canyon’s boys teams out-pointed runner-up Eastlake 79-77, with Sweetwater finishing third with 62 points.
What made the double team titles even more satisfying was that they came in the large schools division against perennial county powers like Morse, Bonita Vista, Eastlake and Sweetwater.
"We’re getting better. On the boys side, we’re slowly improving every year. Every year we’re improving on the girls side. We’ve made drastic improvement this year. We went from probably second worst in the league to challenging for the league title. We got a few girls out from the soccer team who have helped us. It’s been a fun year," Stathas said.
The Cougars competed alongside Bonita Vista, Calexico, Chula Vista, Eastlake, Morse, San Diego, Southwest (San Diego) and Sweetwater in the Blue Division at this year’s Mustang/Phair Company Relays.
On an individual basis, the Cougars engineered a one-two finish in the boys triple jump, with Micha Queja taking first with a jump of 42-7.5. Queja also finished third with a high jump of 5-10.
Ryan Pringle was second in the boys pole vault at 12-0. Anup Patel was eighth in the boys invitational 1,500 meters, timing 4:25.62.
In traditional girls relay events, Steele Canyon finished first in the 4x100 relay (50.36) and second in the 4x400 relay (4:18.02).
In traditional boys relay events, Steele Canyon finished second in the 4x400 relay (3:34.16) and third in the 4x100 relay (44.57).
In non-traditional relay events, the Cougars placed first in both the girls 4x800 and distance relays, second in the boys shuttle hurdles, second in the girls long jump relay, second in the boys 4x200 relay, second in the girls 4x200 relay, third in the boys 4x800 relay, third in the girls shuttle hurdles, third in the boys shot put relay, third in the girls shot put relay, third in the boys pole vault relay, third in the boys 4x800 relay, third in the boys shuttle hurdles, third in the girls triple jump relay and fourth in the boys sprint medley and fourth in the girls high jump relay.
Field event relays included three athletes from each school, with the best mark of each athlete from three ties tabulated in the final score.
Steele Canyon will host Monte Vista at 3 p.m. on Thursday, April 28, in its bid to put its name in the history books.
The Grossmont South League prelims are scheduled May 10 at Granite Hills High School, with the Grossmont Conference championship meet scheduled May 13 at West Hills High School. Both meets start at 3 p.m.
The San Diego Section prelims are scheduled May 21 at Mt. Carmel High School, with the CIF finals to follow on May 28 at the same site.
This year’s state championship meet is scheduled June 3-4 in Sacramento.
Maverick Relays
Mt. Miguel’s Karlin Stewart had the best marks in the boys long hump (21-5) and triple jump (44-11) in competition April 23 at La Costa Canyon High School. Matadors teammate Andrew Lundquist finished fifth in the boys discus throw (130-7). Stewart entered the meet with the third-best triple jump mark in the section.
Mt. Miguel finished sixth in both the boys and girls team standings. On the girls side, xxx Seals won the shot put with an effort of 36-0.
Section leaders
In top marks compiled through April 16, Helix’s Dax Danns led the section in the boys 200 dash with a time of 21.52 and also topped runners in the 400 dash with a time of 48.44. Granite Hills’ Chris Costa ranked second in the boys 100 high hurdles (15.19) and 300 intermediate hurdles (39.31). Monte Vista’s Roberto Archibald ranked fifth in the boys 300 hurdles (40.39).
In boys field events, Granite Hills’ Scott Finley ranked in a tie at 16-0 for the second best pole vault mark while Eagles teammates Curtis Smith and Clark Gordon ranked in a tie for third in the high jump with best jumps of 6-4. Monte Vista’s Kyle Briggs ranked fourth in the long jump (21-9.5) while West Hills’ Ryan Shumaker was fourth in the discus throw (158-9).
In relay events, Granite Hills ranked third in both the boys 4x100 (43.29) and 4x400 (3:27.36).
In girls running events, Helix’s Sharika Thompson had the best time in the 100 hurdles (14.92) and third-best time in the 300 hurdles (46.14) while Highlanders teammate Janie James ranked second in the 400 dash (56.59) and fifth in the 200 dash (25.61).
In girls field events, Monte Vista’s Daniella Thu had recorded the top discus throw at 139-2 while Helix’s Chastity Toilolo ranked second in the shot put (40-9).
Entering the week, several Grossmont Conference teams held lofty positions in the section rankings. Granite Hills and Monte Vista were ranked seventh and eighth in the weekly coaches’ poll as both teams vied for Grossmont South League supremacy. In the girls team rankings, Monte Vista, Steele Canyon and Helix rounded out the top 14 spots.
East
County Women
Several East County teams participated in the Jaguar Invitational April 16 at Valley Center High School. With a month to go before league and divisional meets, the event served as a midseason barometer for many athletes.
Helix competed in the morning session among Division 1 teams while West Hills and El Cajon Valley competed in the morning session among Division 2 teams. Granite Hills competed in the afternoon session among Division 1 teams while Mt. Miguel competed in the afternoon session among Division 2 teams.
For Granite Hills, Amanda Olah posted the second-best time pf 49.91 in the girls 300 hurdles and was third in her heat in the girls 100-meter low hurdles (18.67). Jessica Owens had the second-best time of 17.21 in the girls 100 low hurdles and the third-best time of 49.93 in the 300 hurdles.
In the girls 200 dash, Granite Hills’ Maisha Harris was second (27.93) and Rachel Jones was third (28.15). In the 100 dash, Harris (13.53) and Jones (13.54) had the third- and fourth-best times.
Also for the Eagles, Gabriella Black (5:49.09) was fourth in the girls 1,600 meters
The West Hills trio of Kristen Peters (5:27.52), Samantha Espinolda (5:44.39) and Mari Ehlert (5:46.67) finished third, fourth and fifth in the girls 1,600 run in the girls Division 2 morning session. Peters (third, 2:30.20) led Wolf Pack teammates Samantha Timanus (fourth, 2:36.62) and Megan Isaacson (sixth, 2:48.69) across the finish line in the girls 800 run.
West Hills’ Carrie Saccone (12:57.37) and Melissa Peabody (13:09.35) were sixth and ninth, respectively, in the girls 3,200 run.
For El Cajon Valley, Michelle Thompson was first in the girls shot put (35-6) and also first in the girls discus throw (119-0.5) while Markeshia Gilbert had the fourth-best time of 1:03.89 in the girls 400 meters.
In the girls Division 2 morning session, West Hills’ Julie Goetz was second (13.49), El Cajon Valley’s Latisha Chatman was third (13.50) and West Hills’ Caitlyn Conerly (13.60) was fifth in the 100 dash.
In the girls 300 hurdles, El Cajon Valley’s Bridney Wick (51.42) and West Hills’ Christina Glutz (52.86) finished first and second. In the 100 hurdles, Glutz and Wick tied for the second-fastest time of 17.51.
In girls relay events, Granite Hills was second in the 4x400 relay (4:19.86) and third in the 4x100 relay (51.98) while El Cajon Valley was second in the 4x100 relay (51.93) and West Hills was third in the 4x100 relay (53.14).
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