With one powerful throw, Mackenzie Turnipseed put herself into the Sobrato High record books. The senior had a personal-record (PR) throw of 32 feet, 10 inches in the shot put in a dual meet against Evergreen Valley High on March 29. An ecstatic Turnipseed chalked up the performance to great weather conditions—temperatures were in the mid 80s—and continually putting in the work in practice.
“Because of the heat, it was a lot easier warming up,” she said. “My coaches have been helping me a lot with my technique, so I always know when I’m making a mistake and trying to fix them.”
What the Bulldogs lack in numbers—Evergreen Valley had a squad about twice their size—they make up for with talent and hard work. Other top Sobrato finishers included Emily Harris (first in the 800 and 1600-meter runs in a season-best 2:35.48 and 5:35.87, respectively), Zaria Kelley (first in the triple jump and long jump with season-best marks of 33-4 and 16), Jessica Faulk (second in 3200 in 13:11.50), Dina Mercier (first in the high jump in 4-10), Jamel Jones (second in long jump in 5-4), Ryan Monahan, Piet Rampf and Kevin Real (second in the 100 and 200 with season-best marks of 11.83 and 24.32).
Kelley actually donated blood before the meet, then went out and performed well. Kelley also runs the 100 and the 4×100-relay. Even though Kelley seems far off from her PR of 34-11 in the triple jump, she’s confident she’ll be able to hit or surpass that mark by the end of the season.
“I have to extend my phases and keep on practicing,” said Kelley, whose goal is to hit 35 feet. “The nice thing is we have a great support system here, and it motivates you to do your best.”
Armed with a positive attitude, Kelley comes from a family who are skilled in martial arts. Kelley, her older sister and their parents are all second-degree black belts. Real has a goal to break the school record of 11.25 in the 100; his PR is 11.59.
“If I put the work in, I’m pretty sure I can break the record by the end of the season,” Real said. “I look at my 11.59 mark everyday and try to beat it.”
Real, who might play soccer in college, also was Sobrato’s place kicker last season, and made three touchdown saving tackles. Real said sports—he also played on Sobrato’s football and soccer teams—have been a vehicle for him to grow socially and as a person.
“Sports really helped me be a better teammate and gain a bigger group of friends,” Real said.
The small numbers on Sobrato’s team lends itself to perhaps a greater camaraderie compared to larger squads.
“I’ve made a lot of friendships and grown closer to people that probably wouldn’t have happened had I not been on this team,” Turnipseed said.
In fact, since Turnipseed played softball during the spring sports season in her freshman and sophomore years, there was a distinct possibility that she was not going to try out for the track and field team. Turnipseed was a standout at Murphy Middle School, establishing a school record in the shot put.
“I decided to do track last year because I missed it,” she said.
Since it had been almost three years since she last picked up a shot put, however, Turnipseed needed time to hit some big marks. Last season, Turnipseed never hit 30 feet. But when Turnipseed cracked 30 feet for the first time this season, she felt a breakthrough had come.
“That is when I started to gain confidence that I could really throw it the way I wanted to,” she said.
Real, Kelley and Turnipseed all credited the Sobrato coaches for creating a great team environment that fosters friendships and self-improvement.
“They’re the kind of coaches you can go up to and they’ll be more than glad to help you out,” Real said.
