GHS is represented by Best and Amodeo
Gilroy – When the Central Coast’s best in track and field meet at the section finals this afternoon, Gilroy’s own Bobby Best and Miles Amodeo will be among the field.
Senior thrower Best, who qualified for today’s finals with his performances in shot put and discus in last Saturday’s semifinals, will be gunning for his second-straight state appearance.
Last year, Best qualified for the CCS finals just in discus. But heading into today’s meet, the Cal Poly-bound senior will also be throwing in the shot put competition. And though the shot put has been Best’s weaker event all season, Gilroy High head coach Jeff Myers said the Cal Poly-bound senior was looking strong in the event this week in practice.
“He’s had a more solid week in shot than discus,” Myers said. “(Monday’s shot practice) was probably one of the best practices he’s had. He actually had one throw close to 58 feet.”
Best will need throws with distance like that to finish in the top three and advance to the state meet. The event’s top-seed is Archbishop Mitty’s Drew Gordon, who qualified with a semifinal throw of 57-02.5.
In the discus, Best is capable of hitting the 170 mark. But he has yet to do so in the track postseason. The senior finished fifth in the semifinals with a 159-06. Homestead senior Will Tsai had the best distance in the semis with a 175-03.
Amodeo was a surprise qualifier in the 300 intermediate hurdles, beating out Palma hurdling specialist LJ Lumpkin in the semifinals for the eighth and final qualifying spot with a time of 41.14. The Gilroy senior did not beat Lumpkin all season, but overtook the Chieftain runner over the final two hurdles of the race and shaved an impressive 1.1 seconds off his personal record.
“I was feeling really good. I was really calm and I knew if I didn’t go all out, it would be over,” Amodeo said. “I saw (Lumpkin) slow down and it made me want to catch him.”
For the first-time CCS qualifier, it was revenge for just missing the CCS semis with a fourth-place finish at the Tri-County Athletic League finals last year.
“That’s what I was striving for,” Amodeo said. “I was so angry not to get in (last year).”
Qualifying for the state meet, which will be held June 2 &3 at Cerritos College in Southern California, would be icing on the cake for Amodeo. Myers said the absence of one of the section’s top hurdlers, Los Altos’ Eric Hersey, improves Amodeo’s chance of advancing. Sophomore Hersey had to pull out of his events after injuring himself in the semifinals.
The field events begin at 4pm, with the running events following at 6pm at San Jose City College.
Other Area Athletes to Watch
San Benito: Todd Merrigan and Josh Schroder (pole vault), Northern Arizona-bound Amanda Boyd (1600 and 3200), Jeff Weltz (100 and 200), Anthony De La Cerda (high jump), Rigo Vasquez (1600), Jackie Perrien (discus and shot put)
Ana Patejdl is the sports editor of the Gilroy Dispatch. She can be reached at ap******@gi************.com.