Armstrong, Olsen first at Avis Kelley Invite
MORGAN HILL — You could say a friendly rivalry exists between Live Oak and Sobrato’s girls sprinters, but even that would be a stretch.
There is no rivalry, not when you consider the way each member of Morgan Hill’s talented short-track crop pushes one another during meets.
Before they took the blocks for the 100 meters Thursday at chilly Live Oak High School, Sobrato junior Marissa Benjamin and LOHS senior Erika Rodriguez asked how the season was going. They even said good luck.
“It’s like that before every race,” Rodriguez said. “We want to see each other do well. Every time we race it’s close, even in these smaller meets.”
Thursday’s 100 and 200 meters were no exception. Rodriguez edged her younger counterpart by a tenth of second to win both races in 12.6, and 26 flat. There were no hard feelings afterward.
“I’ve been trying to catch her since I was a freshman,” Benjamin said. “I hope we have a few more races against each other this year, like at (the Central Coast Section championship meet). I have to get a lost faster, though.”
On the girls’ side, sprints comprised the main event of Thursday’s Santa Teresa Division dual, which the Lady Acorns (1-2) won 87-48. On a bigger stage Saturday, the locals put on a greater show in the 32-team Avis Kelley Invitational at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex.
Pauline Olsen headlined the bunch, clocking 58.5 in the 400 meters to earn one of her most impressive wins yet. The Live Oak senior, ranked No. 6 in the section, was a tenth away from a new personal record.
“She ran really good,” Acorns distance coach Mike Sullivan said. “The meet was slower for the most part, but she still had a good race. She rose up.”
Rodriguez shook off a nasty cold to place third (13.17) and fifth (26.77) in the final heats of the 100 and 200. She finished less than a second off her goal in the latter event.
“I really want to go 25 in the (200),” Rodriguez said.
The Bulldogs’ Cassandra Valenzuela shaved a second off Thursday’s time in the 400 to take 17th (1:04.55) Saturday. Benjamin finished right behind Rodriguez again in the 100 (13.38), placing sixth, but missed the cut for finals in the 200.
“We use Erika as sort of a gauge for her, so she’s really starting to come on,” SHS coach Fred Rios said. “I think Marissa is close to turning the corner.”
Valenzuela and Benjamin ran the final two legs in a 400-meter relay with freshman Kate Van Keulen and Diamond Jankela. They clocked the ninth fastest time (53.84); less than two seconds behind Live Oak’s No. 9-ranked foursome of Catherine Sparling, Lauren Drewniany, Olsen and Rodriguez, who placed third (51.39). Sparling also took 16th (13.9) in the 100, and Drewniany recorded the 22nd best leap of 13 feet, 9 inches in long jump and placed 21st (29-00 1/2) in triple jump.
Sobrato’s distance runners also impressed Saturday. Sarah Gilbert ran a 5:26.49 mile that was good for ninth with teammate Lauren Nuttall following in 23rd (5:51.61) out of 39 entries.
Live Oak throwers Gaby Cimino and Nikki Dronek were sixth (31-09) and 23rd (24-02) in shot put and 15th (85-02) and 19th (78-02) in discus, respectively.
Sobrato junior Jennifer Hinman launched 7-06 to take 11th in pole vault.
St. Francis Invitational champion Stephanie Armstrong won her flight in high jump for the third straight weekend. The LOHS senior was the only girl to clear 5 feet, 4 inches.
Armstrong is one of few select local athletes who will compete Saturday at the nationally competitive Arcadia Invitational in Los Angeles.
