Please RSVP for the season banquet on May 16!
The Monta Vista track and field teams scored an overall second place at the El Camino League Championships, held from April 26 to 28 at Wilcox High School.
Field event athletes lead the scoring for Monta Vista. Nine–9!!!–league championships were claimed by Monta Vista athletes, including eight in the field events:
- On Wednesday, April 26, freshman Lauren Moore got the party started for the MV field eventers as she recorded championship jumps in both the long and the triple jump for the junior varsity girls. Lauren had personal records in both the long (14′-4.75″) and the triple (clearing 30 for the first time with a 30′-0.25″ leap). Jenna Bergenhall also scored points for MVTF with a 26′-11″ PR leap for 4th place in the triple jump.
- Freshman Ryan Shen leaped a personal best 5′-8″ to win the frosh-soph boys’ high jump. Joseph Han joined him on the podium with a third place high jump of 5′-4″. Joseph and Ryan combined for more points in the long jump with their 3-4 finish–two PRs of 17′-7″ and 17′-5″.
- Sophomore Clara Fan wrapped up varsity championships in the long and triple, and shared the high jump championship with freshman teammate and partner in crime Lelani Lareulle. Clara and Lelani both jumped clean to 5′-2″, a PR for Lelani. Lelani has upped her high jump PR by a whopping 8″ during the season! Lelani also scored for MV in the long and the triple, while senior teammate Joey Suresh added points for MV with her fifth place finish in the triple jump. Lelani and Clara also combined with Maya Mizrahi and Katie Lee to take third in the 4x100m relay.
- Freshman Gillie Ross earned yet another championship for the MVTF squad, as she heaved the shot 33′-3.25″ to win the varsity girls’ division. The only other freshman to even compete in the finals was in 15th place a distant 10′ behind; a freshman throwing at this level is truly extraordinary. In the varsity discus, UCLA-bound senior Lavinia Lei took second place with a 104′-6″ PR while Alice Ross took 5th and Gillie took 6th, continuing to pile on points for MV. The JV girls added more points, as Michelle Zheng and Anika Manjesh placed 2-3 in the discus and 2-5 in the shot, including a shot PR for Michelle.
- The championship won by MVTF on the oval was claimed by Denny Dong, who ran a 50.97 mark in the varsity boys 400; Sean Basu (with a PR of 54.45) and Hayden Selvakumar were 5th and 6th as MVTF claimed three of six scoring positions in the VB400. Denny added a third place finish in the 800m race later in the meet, and Sean ran a PR in the 200m to place fifth. Monta Vista had a great day in the 400m, as Manas Kottakota (57.41) and Camille Yip (72.92) both had PRs to finish on the podium and add points.
- Valerie Ayzenberg and Nikhita Saldi combined to finish 3-6 in the varsity girls’ 800m race; Valerie looked strong the whole way and earned another crack at 2:30 at SCVALs. Sola Nojima had an 800m PR good for 5th place in FSB, and ran a stellar leg in the 4x400m relay to help the boys finish in third. The frosh-soph boys 4x400m relay was a blast to watch as MV fought back for an exciting third place finish; really, the 4×4 is the best and a good relay is a joy to watch! Ridhima Katare, Madi Polidoro and Ravi Polisetti all scored in the JV or FS 1600m for Monta Vista, and Madi added a 4th place finish in the JV girls 3200m. Two sophomores added points in the varsity division 3200m races–Anika Bhandarkar took fifth for the girls with a 12.25.44, while Tanay Parikh’s 10:13.32 earned a 6th place finish in the varsity boys race. Andrew Liu took advantage of an entry into the varsity race to run a solid 3200m PR. Ravi added a whopping 20 second PR in the FSB 3200m to score in the 6th position.
- And in the hurdles, Ethan Lu earned a fourth place for the varsity boys in the 300mH; a misstep in the 110mH while he was at the front kept Ethan off the podium in that event, but he will advance to SCVAL based on his prelim time and will have an opportunity for payback. Yvonne Chen and Raje Kenyan had matching 6th place finishes in the varsity and junior varsity 100m hurdle races, and Raje added another 6th in the 300mH.
As teams, the Varsity Girls and the Junior Varsity girls both finished in second place in the eight team El Camino League, while the Varsity Boys and the Frosh-Soph division boys’ teams were in fifth and fourth, respectively. Combined, Monta Vista finished in a nice second place position, between Mt. View and Santa Clara. The Monta Vista team is young–one junior, one sophomore, and four freshmen recorded all the MVTF league championships, so all those points come back! If the team continues to develop, recruit and work hard, the sky is the limit!
Complete results have been posted.
Post-season continues with the SCVAL Championships on May 6 to be held at Los Gatos High School. Athletes advance to SCVAL from the El Camino League and the De Anza League based on championship meet performances. Both of those competition are complete and there is a blog post with the athletes who will advance.
Well done, everyone! What a great day.
