GILROY—Christopher’s Natalie Gutierrez and Cody Oberlander along with Gilroy’s Nicole Holder and Tim Van Horn have been jumping together for along time. The quartet all attended middle school at Ascension Solorsano, where they helped each other develop their respective skills in the high jump.
“We were a high jumping posse,” Gutierrez said.
The cohesiveness the four showed back then is paying off now. Gutierrez, Holder and Van Horn all won a title in the high jump May 8 in the Monterey Bay League Track and Field Championships at Gilroy High, while Oberlander finished as a runner-up.
Isaac McCrimon and Haley Romero both captured titles for Christopher in the long jump, while Vanessa Koontz ran away with one in the 200-meter dash. Gilroy freshman Logan Flores took home the pole vault title for the Mustangs in the Pacific Division with an 11-foot mark.
The top three placers in each event from the Gabilan and the top two from the Pacific, along with the next best four placers from either division advance to Friday’s MBL Masters Meet at Gilroy High. The event begins at 4 p.m.
From there, the top five placers in each event advance to the Central Coast Section Trials on May 23. Neither Christopher nor Gilroy was in contention for a team title at MBLs, though the Gilroy girls won the 4×400-meter relay in 4:26.21 seconds.
But few athletes had a better meet than Holder. In addition to winning the high jump with a personal best mark of 5 feet, 4 inches, the Mustang captured the triple jump with a 34-02 mark—which was second only to the Gabilan Division winner.
Holder was ecstatic about her effort in the high jump, as she outdid her friend Gutierrez, who actually taught Holder the finer points of high jumping when they were at Solorsano.
“When I was a sixth grader and Natalie a seventh grader, she really helped me learn and improve,” said Holder, a junior who won the Pacific Division high jump title for the third consecutive year. “Natalie and I are really good friends and she usually beats me, so this is a first.”
Conditions weren’t exactly conducive for a personal record either. But while other competitors struggled to excel, Holder came through with the best jump of her burgeoning career.
“I was confident and just felt I could do better since I was jumping at my own school, the place where I practice all the time,” she said. “It’s definitely better jumping here than anywhere else.”
Although Gutierrez didn’t establish a new personal record (PR), she was satisfied with how she competed in her three events: the high jump, 400m and 4×100 relay. Because field events run concurrently with running events, Gutierrez was quite busy, shuffling between attempts in the long jump and running the 4x100m relay.
“It’s not one of my favorite things to do, but I’ve actually had a lot of experience in doing it,” said Gutierrez, who also finished second in the 400m. “I was happy Nicole and I both got first and hopefully we can both get PRs in the next few weeks. I’ve been stuck on 5-4 for a while, but I’m getting closer to 5-5 and 5-6—really close.”
Although Van Horn’s 6-0 mark won him the Pacific high jump championship, it was well off from his PR of 6-6. That also happens to be Oberlander’s career best and the two are tied with the third best mark in the CCS.
Oberlander had an off day, going just 5-8 to finish second in the Gabilan competition. Van Horn wasn’t satisfied with his mark of 6-0, but the senior was rather upbeat considering this was his first league championship.
“Last year Raymond Silver of Watsonville beat me out, so it’s nice to win it this year,” Van Horn said. “This year my goal was to get the school record—which I got—and now I want to one up that in CCS.”
Van Horn fell in love with the high jump after literally trying every track event and sport in middle school. At Solorsano, Van Horn tried out for the basketball, soccer and volleyball teams, but didn’t make any of them.
At 5-9, Van Horn realizes he’s one of the shortest high jumpers among the top jumpers in the CCS, but it hasn’t prevented the California State University, Bakersfield-bound athlete from reaching new heights.
Not everyone was as aware of his or her success at league finals.
Gilroy’s Flores didn’t even know he had won the Pacific title in the pole vault when he left the meet early. He came back, curious to see if he’d made the Master’s Meet, and was informed by a reporter that he’d won. He obliterated his previous personal best of 9-6, crediting recently switching poles.
“I had a lot of fun and hope I keep on improving,” Flores said.
Romero, who has advanced to the CCS Finals in the long jump the last two years, went 16-04 in the event to Gabilan title. While she was happy with her mark, she wasn’t satisfied.
“The PR is there; it just hasn’t happened yet,” said Romero, who also finished second in the 100m hurdles. “This will be the year where I hopefully make it to state. I just need to make a few tweaks and stay consistent.”
Her Cougar teammate McCrimon put it all together in capturing the Gabilan long jump with a career-best leap of 22 feet.
“I got most or all of the board and every inch counts,” said McCrimon, who advanced to the CCS Finals last year. “Today I just magically PR’d, really. God gave me wings for sure.”
McCrimon notched his PR on his first attempt, which is a rarity for him. The Cougar credited his mom for helping him warm-up.
“She was my ride, but I didn’t want to be late, so I ran the three miles or so to get here (Gilroy High),” McCrimon said. “So I got a good warm-up in and on my first jump, I attacked the board more than I usually do. I actually leaned into it (the line) and got some good air and length.”
Meanwhile, Koontz feels she has another PR within her; in addition to winning the Gabilan 200m in 26.30, she finished fourth in the 400m in 59.73.
“I think my best times are still out there,” said Koontz, who finished sixth in the CCS Finals in the 200m a year ago. “The plan is to always peak later and competition helps a lot if you want to set a new record. When you’re out in front all by yourself, there’s no push. Competition is great because it pushes you, and I like going fast.”
