Gilroy
– Derek Pesta beat the heat and his personal bests in the seeded
varsity division of the 1,600 and 3,200 in the 37th annual Avis
Kelley Invitational.
Gilroy – Derek Pesta beat the heat and his personal bests in the seeded varsity division of the 1,600 and 3,200 in the 37th annual Avis Kelley Invitational.
The Gilroy High junior wasn’t pushed by competition in either of the distance races. And yet, he was able to push himself to times of 4:34 and 10:08 on a hot Saturday afternoon with temperatures approaching 90 degrees at Garcia-Elder Complex.
“I just stayed with the clock,” Pesta said. “My dad gave me splits and I just kept running against the clock. It was an excellent day.”
Elise Ogle also had an excellent day, although she wouldn’t acknowledge it after finishing second to San Benito’s Courtney Allen in the 1,600. After a successful competition for the field hockey team at Stanford University earlier in the day, Ogle turned in a personal-best and school record 5:13.30. Ogle pushed Allen to a 5:11.60, which was 14 seconds better than the Haybalers’ sophomore had ever run in the event.
Sarah Unadia continued to be slowed in the jumps and hurdles. And yet, the gritty freshman was good enough to get third place in the 300 hurdles in 50.73. Carmel speedster Thea Lee lived up to her top billing by running a 46.81.
Kathleen Miller also had a strong meet, finishing second in the 3,200 in 11:52.91, just .25 seconds behind Carmel’s Jessica Fenton, and fourth in the 1,600 in a personal best 5:21.71.
Also, Megan McAvoy was third in the seeded long jump at 15-03.25 and fourth in the invitational triple jump at 32-03.50; Steven Heisey was third in the seeded 400 in 53.13; Javin Charlot was third in the seeded triple jump of 39-03.50; and Matt Ondriezek and Ismael Gutierrez were second and third, respectively in the discus with tosses of 124-01 and 122-11.
Male athletes of the meet were Thomas Phillips and Steve Powell, both of Bellarmine Prep. Phillips won the 400 in 49.88 and 300 hurdles in 39.24, and also ran a leg on the Bells’ winning 4 x 400 relay team that won in 3:26.56. Powell won the shot put by three feet in 55-05 and the discus by more than 12 feet in 160-11. Female athletes of the event were Eileen Nguyen of Milpitas, who won the 200 in 25.46 and 400 in 58.14, and Jenica Hadley of Soquel, who set a record in the discus with a toss of 142-8 and won the shot put in 41-06.50.
