Entering with the 23rd fastest time of all individuals running
in the 300-meter hurdles at the CIF State Track and Field
Championships being held today and Saturday at Cerritos Jr. College
in Southern California, Peter Guenther has nothing to lose.
Entering with the 23rd fastest time of all individuals running in the 300-meter hurdles at the CIF State Track and Field Championships being held today and Saturday at Cerritos Jr. College in Southern California, Peter Guenther has nothing to lose.
Riding a rollercoaster of emotion following his race in the Central Coast Section finals a week ago – Guenther placed fourth to just miss the three-man cut for state, but found out after the race that he would advance due to one competitor ahead of him dropping out of the event – the junior sprinter from Gilroy High plans to simply soak up the experience.
After all, the ticket to state was so shocking for Guenther and his family, simply being able to participate is a “blessing.”
“Everybody was just so excited.” he said. “It took a couple days to sink in.”
Now that a week of training has passed since his last race, Guenther is setting the bar high for himself.
“My next goal is to make state finals (on Saturday),” he said. That would require being in the top nine.
“I would have to PR [set a personal record] by half a second to a second.”
Last week’s time of 39.15 was the best of Guenther’s career by almost a full second, but hurdles coach Ron Seanez thinks there is a small chance another drastic time improvement could be made.
“It’s possible, but it’s a longshot,” Seanez said.
What makes the cut in time possible is the fact that Guenther has reserved more energy than most of the other runners in this weekend’s 300. Guenther trained primarily for the 100, 110 hurdles and 4×100 relay. The 300 was somewhat of an afterthought, and even a race coaches considered holding him out of at the Tri-County Athletic League championships. If that had happened, Guenther wouldn’t be spending his weekend with the fastest athletes in the state.
“We were going to hold him out (of TCALs) but he wanted to run them,” Seanez said. “He’s peaking at the right time now. He’s not tired or burnt out at all.
