Saturday’s sunny weather set the stage for the fifth annual Bearcat Invitational, hosted by San Mateo High School.
The Dons showed off their skills on the track by earning numerous medals and achieving many personal records. One of the highlights for the Dons was the first place finish by the mens frosh-soph 4 x 100-meter relay, made up by freshmen Mark Rivera and David Prager and sophomores Charles Cao and Nigel Beckford. Later in the day, Prager and Beckford finished first and second, respectively, in the 100-meter dash. Prager also captured first place in the 200-meter dash.
Additionally, sophomore Magali de Sauvage captured first place in both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, and in the process, set a frosh-soph record for the 300-meter in a time of 49.47 seconds.
“I could hear the girl behind me catching up [to] me, and at first, [Coach Asif] Rahman was telling me to stride the race so I don’t fall again like last time and to just get over the hurdles. But by the time I got around the curve, I was like, ‘I should pick it up now,’ because I saw people passing me, so I all of the sudden I just sprint, and manage to get to the end without falling,” says de Sauvage.
“All I knew was that I had a personal record, because I saw a 49 [on the clock] and broke 50 seconds. But then I was signing up for the 200, and someone came up and told me [I got the record], and I was excited,” she says.
The Dons also excelled on the field, with many strong performances throughout the day. One notable finish was in varsity women’s discus, where senior Emma Mapa threw 110 feet, 5 inches to take first place. Another was in both the varsity mens and frosh-soph womens pole vault, with first place taken by senior Bobby Nicholson (12-foot-6) and sophomore Kristan Hilby (won at eight feet, by default).
“I felt really good especially because I’ve been adjusting to a new pole,” says Hilby. “I’m hoping to get 10 feet by the end of the season. Mainly, right now, I’m working on my form [so that I can improve].”
Overall, it was a good meet for the Dons. “The good thing about this meet is that it’s good for a lot of personal PRs (personal records),” coach Ron Berggren says. “And the good thing about running track is that each individual person, no matter how good you are, can always do better and improve each time. That’s what makes this meet good, and that’s what makes track really good.”
