Acorn track and field teams fall to Palma/Notre Dame in TCAL
meet in Salinas
Morgan Hill – Live Oak freshman Olivia Duran stepped up for the Acorns and won both the 800 meter and 3200 meter events and finished second in the 1600 meter in the Acorns track and field meet against the Palma Chieftains and Notre Dame Spirits on Thursday afternoon in Salinas.
Duran filled the shoes of seniors, Cobbie Jones, who is out with a stress fracture in her leg and doesn’t know if she will be out for the rest of the season and Lisa Hererra, who was battling the flu.
“I’m really proud of what Olivia did,” said Live Oak coach Dean Raymond. “She’s a great role model for the team. In every race she was there. She could have said, ‘hey I’m a freshman, I can’t handle the pressure,’ but she didn’t.”
Palma defeated the Acorns boys team, 105- 31, and Notre Dame narrowly defeated the Acorns girls team, 67-61.
“I was really proud of the girls’ effort. They were competitive in every event,” said Raymond. “With the loss of both Cobbie and Lisa, for them to come out and compete against a team as big as Palma/Notre Dame was impressive. For the girls, I’m optimistic and excited about how the underclassmen are stepping up. For the boys, they have to look to the girls as role models. It can be done and they have to believe in themselves.”
Sophomores Katie Armstrong and Hannah Hart did a good job for the Acorns running the 110 meter hurdles and 300 meter hurdles. Armstrong finished first in the 300 meter hurdles (52.8 seconds) and second in the 110 meter hurdles (19 seconds), while Hart finished first in the 110 hurdles (18.6 seconds) and second in the 300 hurdles (53.8 seconds).
Denae Chappel won the shotput with her throw of 28’10” and Tiffany Baldwin finished first in the discus with a throw of 89’10”. Freshman Courtney Robinson finished second place in the 100 meter (13.7 seconds) and the 200 meter (28 seconds).
For the boys team, Dustin Muhn finished first in both the 100 meter (16.4 seconds) and the long jump (19’4″). Mando Medina finished the 3200 meter in 11:17 for first place and earned second place in the pole vault (10′). Jon Hart finished second in the 110 hurdles (18.4 seconds) and the 300 hurdles (45.1 seconds). Tom Russo finished second in the shotput (41’1.5″).
