In their final Sacramento Valley League tune-up, track athletes from Colusa and Pierce showed that they are approaching top form heading into today’s championship meet in Winters.
At the fourth SVL meet in Paradise last Wednesday, the RedHawks’ varsity girls team edged Live Oak 103-102, while the Pierce varsity boys finished second to Willows, after tallying 77 points.
Colusa’s Salma Gonzalez once again swept the throwing events with tosses of 30’-06 and 93’-11 in the shot put and discus, respectively.
Teammate Rajdeep Shoker was a double winner in the distance races, setting a personal record in the 1600 with a time 6:21.5, in addition to crossing the line with a mark of 14:20 in the 3200.
The RedHawks’ other first place finish came in the 4 x 100 relay, where Bella Badaluco, Danica Chavez, Alena Sanchez, and Carlie Sanchez posted a winning time of 54.5.
Individually, Carlie Sanchez was second in the 200 (29.1) and additionally in the long jump (14’-05), while Chavez was second in the 400 (1:05) and third in the 200 (29.5).
Colusa also got third place finishes from Alena Sanchez (14’-03) in the long jump, and from hurdler Grace Graybill, who turned in times of 18.4 in the 100 meters and 57.4 in the 300 meter race.
The Pierce girls made their presence known in the field events, with Ysabel Charter taking second in the shot put (26’-11), and Kallie Stassi placing third in shot (26’-03) and third in discus, with a personal best of 67’-05. Maggie Reyna garnered a third place finish in the high jump (4’-2).
In the varsity boy’s division, the Bears’ got a win from David Aguirre in the 400 meters (55.5) and also from its 4 x 400 relay team, which edged Live Oak at the tape in a time of 3:59, and included Leonardo Andrade, Brant Boughton, Manuel Corona, and Kirk Shahan.
Eduardo Cuellar bested the long jump competition with a personal record of 19’-1.
Also setting personal best marks was Aguirre, who ran a 24.1 in the 200 meters to finish second, and Boughton, whose 57.0 was good for third in the 400.
Pierce additionally got a strong performance in the throwing events, where Daniel Bustamante was second in the shot put (38’-04), while Alfonso Orozco finished third in both the shot (37’-11) and discus (113’-03).
For the RedHawk varsity boys, distance runners Benji Granados (11:14) and Jose Ceron (11:54) were first and second in the 3200 meters, with Granados also taking third in the 1600, with a personal best of 5:08.
Sprinter Christopher Ruiz was second in the 100 meters (11.6) and anchored Colusa’s 4 x 100 relay, which finished second (47.8) and also included Charlie Santana, Phillip Santillan, and Isaiah Travis. ■
