Give Gilroy High’s Kathleen Miller a little more room to run and
she likely breaks a school record.
PALO ALTO – Give Gilroy High’s Kathleen Miller a little more room to run and she likely breaks a school record.
At least that’s what GHS track and field coach Jeff Myers was saying after Friday’s 3,000 meter race at the Stanford Invite. Normally competing in the 3,200 during track season, Miller was on pace to smash a record which currently has her name on it.
“Her splits were all really good,” Myers said. “Basically, if she would have run the full 3,200 meters, she probably would have shattered the school record by 10 seconds.”
Finishing in seventh place with a time of 10 minutes, 20.62 seconds, Miller, a senior, was set to break her best mark in the 3,200 (11:10).
“She probably would have run 10:59, we were thinking,” Myers said.
Junior Sarah Unadia, the only other Mustangs to compete at the Invite, took eighth in the high jump by clearing 5 feet, 2 1/4 inches. Lacking a chance to get a true rhythm, Myers said, possibly prevented the junior jumper from matching her school record of 5-foot-4.
“It was just a matter of getting into a solid groove,” Myers said. “There was no pattern for her. She jumped and had to wait (a long time).
“The whole competition seemed out of sync.”
Myers added that Unadia didn’t have any trouble getting her body to clear the bar at her personal best height, but her heel clipped the bar on the way down each time.
A day earlier Gilroy had a Tri-County Athletic League dual meet at North Salinas, pitting two undefeated varsity girls teams against one another.
GHS was missing its top sprinter in freshman Chelsea Kalata but ended the dual tied 68-all with the Vikings.
“It was a true battle of two top teams,” Myers said. “We did not perform up to our standards in some events but did come through in others.”
The GHS 4×400 relay team of Savannah Silacci, Athena Alarcon, Brandie Rodriguez and Elise Ogle won its race in a time of 4:22.30, with three of those contributors winning individual events as well.
Silacci won the 400 in 62.60, Alarcon took the 800 with a time of 2:29.20 and Ogle captured a first-place finish in the mile at 5:24.70.
Other winners on the girls’ side for Gilroy included Zee Ruelas in the 3,200 (12:37.40), Unadia setting a personal record in the 300 intermediate hurdles (49.30) and Lindsey Foster clearing 14-9 in the long jump.
The GHS varsity boys fought hard on the track, but were overmatched in the field events, losing 77-59.
“I can live with that because almost all of our field event athletes are freshmen and sophomores competing on the varsity level,” Myers said. “We will be much better in the next two years, much more experienced.”
Juan Velasquez had an excellent meet for the track side, winning the 800 in 2:09.80 and the 1,600 in 4:4.10. Eric Martinez won the 110 high hurdles in 18 seconds flat.
Standout hurdler Peter Guenther, who is currently ranked fifth in state in the state in the 300 IH and sixth in the state in the 110 HH, according to Myers, did not compete due to a school performance at Carnegie Hall in New York.
North Salinas won both junior varsity duals.
The varsity Mustangs’ next dual meet will be Thursday at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex in Gilroy, with the boys taking on Palma and the girls squaring off against Notre Dame.
Gilroy’s junior varsity teams will be competing in the Frosh-Soph Classic at Los Gatos High School on Friday.
