Track coverage
Pumas Track Team members at the Stanford Invitational Meet. (Photo: Micah Cardona, The Puma Prensa)
By Micah Cardona, staff writer
As the track season has progressed since its February start, the Pumas have already competed in five invitationals and with one individual meet versus Montgomery High School. Despite the fact that it’s still early, our track stars have displayed some great talent with very high-intensity races and exciting memories from the past few weeks.
So far, our track squad has competed in the the Big Cat, Twilight, St. Francis, Bay Area Relay, and the highly anticipated Stanford College National invitationals.
A very talented sophomore, Jack Wilson, who competes in long-distance races (800 meter, 1600 meter, 3200 meter) said the Stanford Invitational was his favorite among them all. “There were a lot of pros at Stanford, and I enjoyed watching and competing in the atmosphere,” Wilson said.
Lily Mulligan, a star senior and San Diego State University pole vault commit, said her favorite invitational was Stanford, too, after coming first overall in the competitive event. “Last year at Stanford I no heighted for the first time, and this year I won, so that was pretty awesome,” Mulligan said, referring to the fact that last year she did not achieve her starting height and missed all three attempts before winning overall this year.
The short-distance runners are killing the competition in their events as well. In the most recent meet versus MHS, senior Jai Gray came first overall in the 100-meter dash, earning an impressive 11.23-second time. Gray said his most memorable race was last year at the Big Cat Invitational, where he hit his personal record in the 100 meter. “I tripped at my start but still managed to hit an 11.1,” Gray said. Despite not breaking his PR this season in the 100 meter, Gray shows his teamwork earning new PR’s and records in relay events. One of the most exciting and anticipated races in track and field are the relay events. This year’s relay teams have been producing outstanding results consisting of PRs and school records. In the Montgomery meet, the men’s 4x400 relay team earned first place with a 3:33.35 and earning the squad’s PR. Gray is also part of this team as well as senior, Xander Ong, junior, Alberto Garza, and junior, Baron Jepson. Ong said, “We had a solid performance as a team to pull away with the victory.”
Our Lady Pumas did outstanding at the Montgomery meet, too. First place for the 100 meter went to senior Kate O’Malley, who ran a 12.69-second race. Trailing closely behind her was Mulligan as well as three more MCHS students in the overall results. The talented women’s 4x400 relay team also pulled out first place in the Montgomery race despite not earning a PR with an impressive 4:09.86 time. During the Bay Area Relays, the Co-Ed 4x400 relay team won their event overall and set a school record with a time of 3:49.0. The squad consisted of Ong, Gray, O’Malley, and junior Emma Moore. They all had a blast running the event together and look to get even better performances in their next events. The four talented upperclassmen are having an outstanding season and performed so well, combining their speed together.
Finally, with the high jump, our very own senior Lexi Hunt shocked the nation at the dual meet versus Santa Rosa High School. Hunt jumped 5’8”, which earned her second place in California and fifth place nationally. “I went in confidently and wanted to try for my PR,” she said. Hunt, by that time, had already beat the rest of the competition, so she could jump without the stress of fighting for the lead.
The season goes by very quickly; however, if you choose to go out and check out any of the events, the Pumas will not disappoint. “I’m hoping we can go undefeated in the regular season this year to make up for last year’s loss to Santa Rosa High School,” Ong said. They are very excited to see how well they will do going forward toward North Coast Sectionals continuing our school's track and field dominance.