Locals coming off strong showing at Stanford Invite
MORGAN HILL — Keeping track of opposing teams’ records is a leisurely task for track and field coaches, but Fred Rios knows enough about the Santa Teresa Division to say his boys team at Sobrato High School is in contention for a league crown at 2-1 in dual meets.
“All I know is, the team that we lost to has also lost, so the boys are pretty much fine for giving it a go,” Rios said today. “But it’s all relatively speaking.”
The Santa Teresa Championship Meet held May 6 at Westmont High School is where the league title will be decided. Until then, each team is trying to score as many points as possible in head-to-head meets.
Bragging rights will be added to the pot Thursday when SHS and Live Oak square off at Richert Field. The 3:30 p.m. event should be a good one, seeing that both sides are strong in similar areas.
The opening 400-meter boys relay may be the biggest event. The Acorns’ foursome — Eric Tolson, Nick Sosebee, Taylor Alonzo, T.J. Ornduff — clocked a season-best time (45:92 seconds) against Piedmont Hills last week, and Sobrato’s 4×100 is coming together behind seniors Alan Rios and anchor Ralph Jackson. Adam Guerra and freshman Drew Glines have added a nice punch to the Bulldogs’ mix.
Saturday, Rios and Jackson placed 23rd (50.68) and 46th (52.17), respectively, in the 400 meters at the Stanford Invitational.
“The relays are going to be pretty darn close,” Live Oak distant coach Mike Sullivan said today. “We’re still trying to find our best four, too.”
Sobrato should come out on top in track events, but the Live Oak boys (0-2) have an edge on the apron. Ornduff, Alonzo and Daw have excelled this spring in triple jump, long jump and high jump.
The latter two join Tolson and Kean Vaziry on a mile-relay team that bested its previous best time by two seconds at the Stanford Invite. The foursome placed 22nd in three minutes, 32.43 seconds.
“All of our relays have made progress so far,” Sullivan said.
On the girls side, the host Acorns (1-1) and Bulldogs (1-2) will put on a show in sprints. Erika Rodriguez of Live Oak High School and Marissa Benjamin of SHS will go head to head in a 100-meter dash that will be their first of several meetings this year.
Section-final hopefuls Pauline Olsen (LOHS) and Cassandra Valenzuela (SHS) also will battle in the 400 meters.
“Pauline will be tough to beat, but I think it’s going to be a good matchup,” Rios said. “We’re hoping to place second and third in events Live Oak wins, so we keep the scores close.”
Rodriguez and Olsen set personal-record times at Stanford last weekend. Rodriguez clocked the 23rd fastest time (12.81) in the 100-meter prelims, and Olsen (58.41) placed 12th in the 400 meters. Teammate Stephanie Armstrong matched her best height — 5 feet, 5 inches — in high jump to take first in her flight.
