GILROY—Cougar athletes Haley Romero, Jordan Rodriguez and Vanessa Koontz are starting to peak and they couldn’t do it at a better time.
With the Monterey Bay League Championship behind them and a trip to the Central Coast Section tournament hanging in the balance, the trio of Cougars gave their best performances of the season at the MBL’s Masters Meet April 15 at Gilroy High. The Top 5 finishers in each event at this meet qualify for the CCS Tournament, which starts with the semifinals at 1:45 p.m. Saturday at San Jose City College in San Jose.
Christopher will send nine individuals and two relay teams to CCS, while seven from Gilroy will make the trip.
Rodriguez secured two first place finishes, which also set school records. He recorded one individually in the 100-meter dash and another with the 4x100m relay team of Tyler Parsley and Isaiah and Isaac McCrimon. Isaac also finished first in the long jump with a 21-03.50 leap.
Koontz and Romero were just as stellar, recording some of their best marks of the season. Koontz took first in the 200m and 400m dashes and Romero finished first in the long jump and in second place in the meet’s 100m hurdles event.
Koontz recorded her time of the season in the 200m, running a blazing 25.76. She was just shy of her league finals time of 59.73 in the 400m, but still claimed first with a time of 1:02.48. Gilroy’s Elaine Sausen will join her in the 400m, finishing the race in 1:05.72 to take fifth.
Romero, a two-time CCS finalist, set a personal best time of 16.44 in the 100m hurdles and found her stride in the long jump with a 17-02.75 mark. Christopher coach Jeff Myers said he was thrilled to see her result in the long jump, as she has been striving to hit that distance all season.
“Her jumps are getting way better,” Christopher’s Myers said. “She’s back in the 17s now, where she’s been the last couple years. She knows the meet we’re looking (to shine at is) May 29—the CCS Finals.”
Mustang senior Tim Van Horn took first in the high jump with a 6-foot mark, becoming the lone male athlete to qualify from Gilroy High.
Nicole Holder, a junior Mustang, leapt her way into two CCS events, qualifying in both the high jump (5-0), where she finished second to Christopher’s Natalie Guiterrez, and the triple jump (33-08) where she took fourth.
Gutierrez’s first place high jump finish was earned with a 5-foot 2-inch mark. The senior now has her sights set on 5-5, a height that will undoubtedly secure her a place at the state meet. Gutierrez had three attempts at 5-5 at the Masters Meet and Myers said she is just shy of getting there.
“We looked at the video and I told her ‘look, you’re right there. You’re so close’…She’s more confident because she can see it,” Myers said.
Back on the track, Rodriguez’s 11.18 time in the 100m dash was a personal best for the senior. He punched his ticket to CCS in the 200m as well, finishing in third with a time of 23.19. It has been a long season for Rodriguez, but Myers said he’s glad to see he has returned to tip-top shape after suffering an injury last season.
Speaking of injuries, senior jumper Cody Oberlander competed through one and still notched a 5-10 mark in the high jump for second place.
Gilroy’ s Monica Ruelas qualified in the 3200m with a time of 12:36.37 to take fourth. Anela Zamarron and Jasmin Rodriguez-Cruz qualified in the shot put (35-08) and discus (93-08), respectively.
Kyle Ettema matched his personal record of 12 feet in the pole vault to take fourth and qualify for CCS. The girls 4x100m relay team finished third (50.26) and Xavier Smith tossed a 121-09 in the discus for the Cougars.
All competitors look to advance to the CCS Finals 4 p.m. May 29.
“At this point, we have to be hungry,” the Cougars’ Myers said. “We know how long (the season has) been and we’ve been down this road many times.”
