The CCS Last Chance Invitational, held at Mountain View High School on April 15, 2023, is the last chance to put up a mark before leagues…but it’s not really a last chance. We all have many more chances! But sometimes if we ACT like it’s our last chance, we can put up something special!
Clara Fan started the day for Monta Vista with a fine 35′-4″ triple jump, only three inches off her PR and good for third place and hardware. Clara got the jumpers off to a great start at the meet: Freshman Joseph Han went 5′-8″ for a personal record and a second place finish in the high jump, fellow freshman Ryan Shen was right behind with a 5′-6″ leap that matched his PR, sophomore Darren Lin flew 39′-9″ for a PR and a first place finish in the triple, and Joey Suresh had a PR in the triple. Clara was not done herself, as she had a season best 5′-2″ in the high jump to win it and a 15′-7″ long jump for another bronze; we worried she might strain her neck as she left with a burden of much, much hardware. Coach Samantha was pretty happy with the group! Lavinia Lei snagged a silver medal in the discus, and freshman thrower Alex Sharma heaved her discus 61′-8″ for a personal best.
On the oval, athletes felt the wind quite a bit. The sprinters rejoiced at a lovely tailwind; freshman Jayden Tang had a 11.95 PR in the 100m, and Katie Lee had a season best 13.34 in the 100 and a PR 27.67 in the 200. The athletes in the 800m did not let the wind bother them as Denny Dong, Tanay Parikh and Valerie Ayzenberg all had PRs (1:58.94, 2:08.21 and 2:30.22) and Avani Kalari had a season best. Tanay added a second place finish in the 1600m and Anika Bhandarkar gutted out a 12:27 and a fourth in the 3200, while Ethan Lu slammed out a 15.26 personal record in the 110m hurdles.
A special event at the Last Chance is the Can You Dip? 1600m. Boys who have never broken 5 minutes, and girls who have never cracked 6, are eligible to compete. There were six girls that broke the barrier, and defending champion and Monta Vista legend Margaux Francoeur was there to present the awards. For the boys, an astounding total of 18 athletes dipped under five for the first time, including Monta Vista’s own Ari Rajaram and Ravi Polisetti! What a set of races!
Overall, the Monta Vista teams combined to finish 5th out of 34 teams! The varsity girls and the frosh sophomore boys were both third with the varsity boys in 11th to achieve the combined fifth. We are still waiting for the official results to post.
As we roll into break, the team looks fantastic! So many MVTF athletes are finding something new inside themselves right now, and it shows in the wonderful performances and many PRs at Last Chance and at Fremont. Your coaches are so proud of what you are doing, and athletes look like they are having fun!
Official results for Last Chance have not been posted yet but should be up soon.
Break week practices for the entire team will be held at 4pm on the track, from Monday April 17 through Friday, April 21. Irina plans to be at practice on Wednesday and Friday. (BTW the weekend of April 22-23, Coach Flatow plans to be at the UAA Conference Championships held at his alma mater, the University of Chicago. What can he say, he loves track! And there will be an MVTF alum competing.)
When the team is back from break, we will immediately prep for League Trials and League Finals to be held at Wilcox on Wednesday April 26 and Friday April 28.
And don’t forget, the team awards banquet will be on Tuesday, May 16!
