Track and field set records at PAL finals meet

On May 10, the Aragon track and field team ranked second, with a score of 86, for girls (4-3 league, 6-3 overall) and fourth, with a score of 70.5, for boys (3-4 league, 5-4 overall) at the Peninsula Athletic League championship meet.

Before the meet, they hoped to rank high and set some personal records. However, they did not feel that ranking first was realistic.

“We’ve [had a lot of injuries] this year,” said senior Noah Lin. “I’m not sure if we’ll be able to win PAL … but I know we can [still] do well.”

Athletes also expected good individual performances.

“My first goal would be to qualify for [Central Coast Section],” said senior Elaina Shao. “And then another bonus would definitely be [to] PR, because I would also like to build on the record.”

Shao broke the school record during a recent meet, and she aimed to update her record at championships.

After ranking high in several field events during trials, the results made the team more confident.
“[Trials] went really well,” said pole vault coach Norm Bennett. “We took second and third [in the boys pole vault].”

During the finals, the team followed up with similarly excellent performances. In pole vault, Shao took second place, senior Fern Aceituno took fourth and junior Ashley Alvarez came in fifth. Sophomore Mina Hwang tied for first in the girls long jump.

“The girls did outstanding,” said head coach Greg Alvarado. “We had tremendous efforts by them.”
On the boys’ side, sophomore Nikitas Telfer-Mantouvalos came in second in the triple jump and tied for fifth in the long jump. Junior Jayson Liu won fourth place in the discus throw, achieving a personal record twice in the same meet.

When asked about the reason for his great performance this meet, Liu mentioned concentration as a key factor.

“[There will be] a lot of things happening around you and a lot of distractions,” Liu said. “But the best way to throw … [is] just think about [your] own technique and … focus.”
Regarding field events, Hwang won two more individual first place medals in the girls 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash, winning by only hundredths of seconds in the 100-meter. Junior Madison Ketcham came in second place in the girls 400-meter. In the girls 4×100 relay, Aragon’s team took first place, pulling ahead early on and maintaining their lead. In the girls 4×400 relay, Aragon came in first, leading by almost two seconds.
In both relays, the girls missed the school record by a narrow margin. They were half a second off in the 4×400 relay and only two tenths of a second away from the 4×100 relay record.
“Our exchanges in the four by four relay for the girls … wasn’t too good,” Alvarado said. “We’re gonna work on those things for next week.”
However, they did break the school record in the boys 400-meter. Junior Charles Harger achieved a personal record by almost a full second and broke Aragon’s record despite coming in second overall in the race.
“I did almost everything that I was capable of doing,” Harger said. “And I definitely pushed myself farther than what I thought I was going to do.”
Adding on to the track achievements, senior Marcus Rife won first place in the 110-meter hurdles and second place in the 300-meter hurdles. Senior Miles Rokala took third place in the boys 800-meter run and sixth place in the 1600-meter. In the 4×400 relay, Aragon boys came in fourth place.
Overall, it was a rewarding day for the track and field team. Many athletes made the CCS championships, where they successfully competed in the semi-finals on May 17 at Gilroy High School.