For the first time in school history, the Gilroy High boys track
and field team is section champion.
In the early stages of Friday night’s Central Coast Section Track and Field Championships, Jourdan Soares went through the Gilroy High boys’ team’s line-up of representatives.
Six athletes competing in seven events.
“Everyone needs to chip in on this one,” Soares said.
Everybody did.
The Mustangs maximized their presence, taking first in two events and holding down top-five spots in four others, and for the first time in school history, the GHS boys track and field team is section champion.
“I’m proud of everyone. We did this as a team,” GHS coach Ryan Johnston said. “Everybody did their part.”
Trailing St. Francis by one point heading into the evening’s climactic event, the 4×400-meter relay, the GHS squad – Julius Travis, Romeo Travis, Soares and David Guenther – had no choice but to outrun the Lancers.
Finishing second behind San Benito in the race, but ahead of St. Francis – who crossed in third – the effort landed the Mustangs the championship by the narrowest of margins, 53-52, in front of supportive hometown fanbase at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex.
“I just told them, ‘let’s go get it,'” Johnston said of his minimal pep talk prior to the mile-relay. “That was our whole season right there.”
The race took its toll on the Mustangs and all four sprinters hit the turf in exhaustion. When they finally caught their breath, the celebration began, and Eric Martinez, Chima Ikeme, Soares, Guenther, Julius Travis and Romeo Travis, took their spot on the medal stand.
“I’m really surprised that we were able to come out with this,” Guenther said. “I’m very proud of everyone who did their work. Everyone contributed. This is a family.”
Considering the tumultuous, drama-filled season the GHS track team endured, the top of the podium seemed an unlikely spot for the Mustangs to end their season. However, with the help of a dedicated coaching staff, the Mustangs were able to use the negatives as fuel to the finish.
“After the (former GHS head coach Alvin Harrison) incident, I think that was when everybody said ‘alright, we need to do this for ourselves,'” Johnston said. “We have good coaches. We have good athletes. We just needed to give them a little guidance and let them do what they could do.”
In Soares’ case, it was more like what couldn’t he do. On Friday, he did just about everything.
The 4×400 concluded a busy night for the junior, who began his meet with a second-place performance in the long jump posting an automatic CIF State Championship qualifying distance of 22-09 on his first attempt.
“It’s just fundamentals right now,” Soares said. “I need to be consistent on my big jumps.”
Later, Soares anchored Gilroy’s crowd-favorite 4×100 relay squad (J. Travis, R. Travis, Soares and Guenther) in another electrifying performance. The foursome smashed its own school record with a 41.77 to defend its CCS title of a year ago, and at the same time qualified them to state.
“It puts us in a good spot for state and that’s what we want right now,” Romeo Travis said. “To repeat means a lot. It’s like the first time wasn’t a fluke.”
A fluke, no, but a guarantee come to fruition, yes.
The 41-second-mark has been the goal all year. And after each race, one sprinter or the other, would say “41 is coming.” They were right.
Despite the fast time, which ranks them seventh in the state, the Mustangs immediately began critiquing their race, noting two subpar hand offs they think added a few tenths of a second to their time.
Soares sowed up a gold in the 100-meter dash, blistering the field in 10.66, a personal best and a time that places him at No. 5 in the state this season.
“My times have been dropping every week, so I came in pretty confident,” Soares said. “The last couple of times I felt fast, but never anything where I was pushing too hard, I just felt smooth. So I figured I could drop my time.”
With points crucial in each event, the biggest contributions of the night came off the track and in two field events.
Martinez held up his end of the deal, finishing fifth in the pole vault with a personal-record clearance of 13-06.
“It’s about time I got 13-06,” Martinez said. “I was stuck all season at 12-06, it was really killing me. I’m proud that I was able to PR here and help my teammates win CCS. What a way to go out my senior year.”
Though Ikeme had a pretty good idea of where his throw placed him on the medal stand, throws coach Brian Lopez was eager to share the news.
“You’re going to state,” Lopez said.
Ikeme added three feet to his previous season-best throw, posting a 153-04 to claim third place, secure valuable team points and punch is ticket to the state meet in one heave.
“Last year I didn’t even make it to CCS and now to even be a state qualifier is really great,” Ikeme said.
On the girls’ side, senior Angeline Kimbo medaled in two events, taking fifth in the shot put (37-08) and sixth in the discus (112-10.)
“I’m glad I medaled,” Kimbo said.
Coming into the meet as the No. 1-seed in the shot put, fresh off of a school-record through in the semifinals, junior Sarina Sandoval had an off day and just missed a podium spot, placing seventh.
“I’ve had better days,” Sandoval said. “I didn’t do as good as I thought I would, but I guess I still have next year.”
Samantha Una Dia clocked a 15.74 to finish seventh in the 100 hurdles.
The CIF State Track and Field Championships are set for Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High School’s Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in Clovis.
