GILROY – The Gilroy High boys’ track and field team tied the
best finish in school history, placing fourth at the Central Coast
Section Championships on Friday night at Garcia-Elder Sports
Complex.
GILROY – The Gilroy High boys’ track and field found themselves in a full-fledged soap opera Friday at the Central Coast Section Championships at a Garcia-Elder Sports Complex.
There was the thrill of victory, and yes, the agony of defeat – in this case, it was the pain of injury.
The night was broken down into separate edge-of-your-seat episodes each with different storylines. As the saga unfolded the intensity never subsided. Each segment of the evening held an obvious significance, and in the end, was characterized by the boys standing atop the podium.
Part One: The ending doesn’t tell the entire story.
The last time a GHS boys track and field team grabbed a spot on the podium at the CCS Championships was in 1982. It was a fourth place finish.
On Friday night, the 2010 Mustangs matched that 1982 team, finishing with 32 points to take fourth place at the section’s premier meet.
“It’s an honor to get a team on the podium,” head coach Jeff Myers said. “With everything that we have been through, we feel like we could have done better.”
With two events remaining, the 3200-meter distance race and the always thrilling 4X400 relay, the Mustangs sat in second place. But without a representative in those final events, the Mustangs dropped to fourth place.
Despite all of that, there were no heads were bowed in disappointment. It was a team celebration.
However, how they ended up there is what ultimately carries this story.
Part Two: The relay team.
In the weeks prior to Friday’s CCS Championships, the boys 4X100 relay team began hitting their stride, not only on the track but off of it as well. Building a strong foundation of unity – and not forgetting to mention a whole bunch of fast – David Guenther, Julius Travis, Romeo Travis and Jourdan Soares, started to turn heads as the postseason approached.
The group posted a school record at the Tri-County Athletic League finals with a 42.54 and entered the CCS Championships ranked third in the event.
They knew what they wanted – a trip to the state meet. And they went out and got it.
Sending the hometown crowd to its feet, the foursome topped their previous school record and bested the field clocking 42.42 seconds to become CCS champions in the relay.
“We are going to state in first place,” Soares said catching his breath moments after anchoring the team to victory.
“They underestimated us,” Romeo Travis said. “We came out feeling good, saying we had dreams about it. We made them come true.”
The Mustangs edged Bellarmine (42.47) and St. Ignatius (42.53), which came into the meet ranked second and first, respectively, in the section.
“Our main thing was to get it around the track because we knew we had speed,” Soares said.
Part Three: The injury
Less than an hour after the thrilling triumph in the relay, Soares was set to compete in the long jump. The sophomore was the top qualifier in the event and looked poised to secure a trip to the state meet in a second event.
However, on his first jump of the competition his left heel slipped on the board on his approach. Soares flew through the air almost sideways, grasping his left knee as he lie motionless in the sand pit for more than a minute.
In pain, Soares was unclear as to what happened.
“I don’t even know,” he said, being tended to by a trainer.
Instantly, the news hit the rest of the team and their thoughts – along with hoping Soares would be all right – turned immediately to the relay team that just won.
“The track gods are cruel,” Myers steamed after the meet. “We have some possible replacements, but I don’t want to say yet. But, we have some people in mind who can step in. I don’t want to say yet. Because I’m hoping he can run.”
Ironically, and unfortunately, if Soares had been able to compete in the long jump and duplicated his preliminary jump (22-02.25) he would have finished third in the event and given the Mustangs six more points and a third-place finish.
“That’s life, you know?” Myers shrugged. “There are always bad things that happen to every team and there are always good things. We happened to have good and bad happen on the same frickin’ day. It’s a roller coaster sometimes.”
Part four: The Julius Travis hour
If you haven’t seen Julius Travis race before, it’s probably because you blinked and he already crossed the finish line.
Travis consistently moved onto the short list of favorites in the 100- and 200-meter dashes leading to Friday’s section showdown. And his performance left no doubt that he was right at home among the best around.
His goal in the 100 was 10.7, he did that and nearly grabbed the section championship.
The junior and Valley Christian sophomore Byron Marshall engaged in the closest race of the night in the 100-meter dash. Both had official times of 10.67 but with a slight lean at the end, Marshall’s 10.662 eked out Travis’s 10.664 to take the gold.
“My start wasn’t good at all,” Travis said. “I started picking it up at 15 yards. I was trying to stay calm and focus on my form. The last 10 yards I was in the lead and he came out of nowhere and got me.”
Travis found redemption in the 200, torching the rest of the field with a 21.83 to top the podium.
Travis took the corner for the final 100 meters of the race and began to pull away. Nearing the finish line the rest of the runners began to close, but this time there would be no photo finish.
Travis will compete in three events at this weekend’s state meet.
Part Five: Una’Dia to state as a senior
She said she felt like crying.
After receiving her bronze medal, senior Sarah Una’Dia had this look of content, yet a hunger for more.
She had just punched her ticket to the state meet, placing third in the high jump with a clearance of 5 feet, 3 inches. But the school record 5-05 escaped her again.
So why did she feel like crying?
“I’m upset I didn’t make the school record, but qualifying makes up for it,” she said. “It means a lot considering I have been close the last two years. I put everything together this year and used my experience to get me here.”
Part Six: Promising futures
Sophomore Patrick Hughes narrowly missed a spot at state in the pole vault, Hughes cleared 13-06 but so did four other competitors. As a result the podium positions are based on misses at that height. Hughes missed his first attempt at 13-06 and the third place competitor cleared on his first run, resulting in Hughes’ fourth place.
“Obviously the vault was exciting,” Myers said. “A sophomore 13-06 is amazing.”
Sarina Sandoval, who as a sophomore, reveled in the chance to compete against seniors in the shot put. Sandoval’s best throw of the day was a 35-06.
The 2010 CIF State Track and Field Championships are this Friday and Saturday in Clovis at Buchanan High School.
