Act Like It’s the Last Chance
This past weekend, Mountain View High School hosted the CCS Last Chance Invite and Monta Vista Track & Field was represented by 22 athletes. It was another cold day, but we still had great performances that will carry us into the championship season with the right mindset. Overall, these 22 athletes ended up finishing 3rd overall in team scores with 121 points. Efforts were led by event winners Denny Dong (VB 800m – 1:56.86 which is a new meet record!), Dylan Hwang (VG Triple Jump – 35’5″), Clara Fan (VG Long Jump – 16’4″), and Ryan Shen (FSB Long Jump – 19’4.75″ & High Jump – 5’10”, which ties the meet record!). We should all be proud of the way our team has competing at invites this season! One more, then it’s onto the big time!
Girls Performance
Last Chance does not feature a FSG division, so all competitors were Varsity. We had # top 8 finishers which among the aforementioned event winners of Hwang and Fan included Madi Polidoro who placed 2nd in the Can You Dip 1600m with a certified dip and PR of 5:54.71, Fan who also locked in a 2nd place finish in the triple jump, Lelani Laruelle who finished 3rd in the triple jump and 8th in the long jump, and Anika Bhandarkar who PR’ed in the 3200m to place 5th. Great job to all of the ladies who competed on Saturday! Also, in case you are not aware, the Can You Dip 1600m is an event specifically designed for athletes who have not yet dipped below certain minute thresholds in the 1600m this season – 6 minutes for girls and 5 minutes for boys. Polidoro had a previous PR of just below 6 minutes, but she did not run that time this season. It one of the biggest highlights of the day watching her and watching the clock and cheering our heads off as she crossed the line with a huge time, dipping below 6 minutes by 6 seconds!
Boys Performance
For boys, Last Chance does feature both Varsity and Frosh/Soph. Starting things off on the Varsity side was Tanay Parikh who finished 5th in the 1600m followed by Dong’s record-breaking 800m performance, a 2nd place finish by Agasthya Kothuri in the triple jump, and a 4th place finish by the 4x400m relay of Manas Kottakota, Ben Chen, Kothuri, and Dong! Along with Shen’s double victory in F/S competition, we also had Graham Ischo who placed 2nd in shot put and 6th in the discus throw, Eddie Fan who spun out a 3rd place finish in the discus throw, Alex Frefel earned a 3rd place in the 300m H and a 7th place finish in the 65m H, and Adam Abdelrahman who got a pair of 7th places in shot put and discus throw. The F/S boys had the best division-specific team performance with a 3rd place finish overall – nicely done!
Next Up
Our next competition will be the CCS Top 8 meet this Saturday at Los Gatos High School. Field events start at 9am and track events will start at 10:30am.
7 PRs in Total!
5 Girls PRs
- Margaux Francoeur – 1600m
- Madi Polidoro – 1600m
- Anika Bhandarkar – 3200m
- Dylan Hwang – Triple Jump
- Lelani Laruelle – Triple Jump
2 Boys PRs
- Alex Frefel – 300m H
- Eddie Fan – Discus Throw