Track & Field is just, really cool

Before we jump into how Monta Vista Track & Field performed at the Lynbrook Invitational on March 29th, 2025, I want to talk a little bit about two things that I observed at the meet and what I think these observations emphasize about our sport.

First, as I was on the infield over by the 200m start, I was watching our sprinters prepare for their races. Per usual, I was also watching other athletes in the area because 1. I didn’t want to take a wrong step in front of someone doing a practice acceleration and 2. I’m a people watcher. I noticed a kid from some school that I can’t remember, probably a freshman or sophomore, and he let out specific type of breath; one that you only let out when you’re really nervous for something you’re about to do. It made me think “Why are you so nervous? No offense, but the 2nd or 3rd heat of the frosh/soph 200m at the Lynbrook Invitational isn’t really a make-or-break type of moment. I mean, it’s not like you’re about to ask a date to the prom, right?” Then I thought back to when I would be in my final preparation for a race, and I remember being just as nervous. In this sport, every time you compete you have a chance to do something really amazing. You could pop off a crazy big throw, big jump, fast time, break a record, etc. The thought of being up against that possibility is enough to make anyone nervous. But what I think really does it for most of us is the fact that we don’t have help when we step on the track, step in the ring, or get on the runway. If you’re going to do something great, or something not-so-great, you do that alone, and that’s extremely hard. Of course that kid from whatever school needed to let out a deep breath and try to mentally prepare for a potential big moment.

That leads me to the second thing that I noticed – which is my favorite part of track and field. I’ll cover this more later, but Clara Fan had a pretty big moment today with a huge jump in the long jump! She was in the same flight as her teammate, Lelani Laruelle, and Ellie McCuskey-Hay from St. Ignatius (she’s like, super fast). After Clara’s big jump, she was so excited and immediately celebrated with Lelani who was equally as excited, which you could say is to be expected. But what was really cool was that Ellie lit up, jumped up and down, and cheered for Clara when she told her she just PR’ed. Ellie is an athlete who has done some very, very impressive things in the sport and could have an ego the size the moon if she wanted, but here she is being legitimately and honestly happy for a competitor for setting a new personal best. Now that I think about it more, all 3 of these girls had awesome long jump PRs and they each celebrated each other afterwards! It makes all the nerves that you feel before big moments worth it, and it makes you realize that’s it’s really the moments after the big moments that matter most, whether it was a big moment of something great or a big moment of something not-so-great. So don’t be afraid to buy into the community that exists at every track meet – we’re all on the same side!

Should we call it Field & Track??

Monta Vista had a pretty great day at Lynbrook! The girls in the field really took care of business led by Clara Fan but overall, our field event athletes shined on the day. For our point-scoring performances, Fan got a pair of 2nd place finishes, one in the long jump and one in the triple jump. She also earned a 3rd place in the high jump to top it off. Lelani Laruelle took top honors in the high jump and earned 3rd place in the long jump. Gillie Ross won the shot put and took home 5th in the discus throw while Allie Rummelhoff earned a 4th place finish in the shot put. On the boys side in the field, point scorers included Ryan Shen who got 2nd in the long jump and 3rd in the high jump. Eddie Fan earned a 5th place in the F/S triple jump while Adam Abdelrahman matched a 5th place in the F/S shot put. On the track, Tanay Parikh pulled off a 4th place in the 1600m and a 5th place in the 800m (super close to a PR!). Our F/S boys 4x400m relay also scored with a 4th place finish – that team was made up of Kento Murase, Sam Heinonen, Riu Yamada, and Jeffrey Choy. Full results can be found here: https://tiempo.trackscoreboard.com/meets/631/events

Nice job, Matadors!

Next weekend, we have two invitationals that we’ll be sending athletes to: Stanford Invitational and the “Don Bell” Quicksilver Invitational at Leland High School. After that, we’ll be back at Monta Vista for our next dual meet against Fremont High School!

9 PRs total!

5 Girls PRs

  • Clara Fan – long jump (2nd in school history!)
  • Lelani Laruelle – long jump
  • Allie Rummelhoff – discus throw
  • Meyra Olcay – discus throw
  • Allie Rummelhoff – triple jump

4 Boys PRs

  • Eddie Fan – triple jump
  • Jeffrey Choy – 400m
  • Jeffrey Choy – 200m
  • Tanay Parikh – 1600m