On April 11, Aragon track and field swept Westmoor, with all four divisions winning the meet. Boys and girls varsity teams won the meet by at least 27 points. The boys team won 77-50 while the girls team won 80-47.
In addition to the excellent team performance, there were many outstanding individual accomplishments. On the pole vault, junior Jarod Nunnemaker and senior Erik Dodge battled it out. Nunnemaker initially broke Dodge’s previous school record of 14’ 2.5” with 14’ 7”. Dodge followed that by resetting the record with the top Central Coast Section mark of 15’1” for this season. Dodge also earned the top league mark in 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.91 seconds.
Additionally, junior Pia Cho broke the school record for long jump with 18’ 4.5”, the second best in the CCS this season. Cho also won the 100-meter and 200-meter runs with times of 13.18 and 27.57 seconds respectively. Another standout athlete was senior Avinash Schwarzkopf, who won the 200-meter and 400-meter with times of 23.48 and 51.51 seconds respectively. He also helped anchor the 4 x 400 relay.
Credit: Anna He
Credit: Anna He
Schwarzkopf was disappointed that he didn’t beat his personal record, but explained that he felt his preparation for the meet was to blame.
“We have a saying on the distance team, [that] the hay is in the barn,” Schwarzkopf said. “If you’re a farmer and you’re storing up … hay … you don’t show up some random day in the middle of winter when you get hungry and open the barn door and be like ‘God, I hope there’s hay in here.’ [Since] you harvested it beforehand, you show up that winter day [and see] … exactly [the amount] you put in. So when you show up on race day, you’re going to do exactly as well as you [have] earn[ed] with the work you put in. There’s no cheat[ing].”
With these standout performers leading the way, the track and field team looks to continue their momentum after a highly successful 2021-2022 season.
Last year, the Dons won many team accolades, with both boys and girls varsity winning the Bay Division. Aragon also sent a number of individual athletes to the Central Coast Section and beyond to compete at the regional and state level, displaying a wide array of talent among the events.
“We have two of the best vaulters in the CCS,” said head coach Greg Alvarado. “Erik Dodge and Jarod Nunnemaker got [third and eleventh] in the section [out of] … 120 schools. Erik went to the state meet last year [and] Pia [Cho] went to the state meet last year in the long jump. She’s ranked fifth in the state right now. Other strengths are Lloyd [Walter] and Albert [Zheng] in shot put and discus. Avi [Schwarzkopf] is ranked in the top five of this section in the 200 and 400. Our hurdlers are strong and the distance squad is solid.”
This success doesn’t happen overnight and one proponent of the team’s success can be attributed to Alvarado’s coaching philosophy.
“Work hard, be responsible [and] don’t expect to be good without putting in the effort,” Alvarado said. “If you put in the effort we will reward you. We’re not out here for socializing, but some kids are.”
“On race day, you’re going to do exactly as well as you [have] earn[ed] with the work you put in”
Despite the intense and competitive environment in track, there is still a sense of loyalty and support within the group.
“We have a really big sense of community [and] everyone here is always hyping each other up before races,” Cho said. “Everyone works together and we all celebrate our successes, but we also all give each other criticism.”
There are some challenges unique to track and field that the team must deal with, but the experienced coaching staff is an advantage.
“We have a lot [of challenges],” Alvarado said. “There’s 120 kids out here so it’s hard to coach everybody properly. [There are also] a lot of brand new [athletes] so it’s starting from scratch with a lot of kids. The weather’s been miserable [and] the trees took down our discus cage. But we have a really solid coaching staff, everybody’s been coaching for at least 25 years.”
After finding success last season, the Dons look forward to winning the league again.
“As a team, we are trying to capture another championship and we want the individual athletes to go as far as they can,” Alvarado said.
The Dons’ next track meet is on April 21 at 3 p.m. at San Mateo High School.
