Both the Pierce and Colusa High School track teams traveled to Live Oak last Wednesday to compete against six other schools in the first Sacramento Valley League meet of 2022, turning in strong performances as the Bears garnered 20 top three finishes in the varsity divisions, while the RedHawks had nine.
In the men’s sprints, Pierce’s Daniel Gonzalez (11:47) and Alexis Palomares (11:63) took the top two spots in the 100 meters, with teammate Adrian Avila (26:44) taking second in the 200, and Colusa’s Jacob Cerney (1:01.69) crossing the line third in the 400.
Two Bears claimed third in the women’s sprints, with Andrea Barba posting a 13:94 mark in the 100 meters and Cindy Corona running a 1:09.61 in the 400.
Colusa had some of its best results of the day in the men’s middle and long-distance races, as Neo Harter (2:28.70) finished second in the 800 meters, just ahead of teammate Kevin Sarabia (2:30.63) in third.
Sarabia (5:19.21) was second in the 1600 meters, while fellow RedHawk Lupita Perez logged a pair of second places in the women’s races, with a time of 7:06:99 in the 1600, then followed up with a personal best of 16:21.78 in the 3200.
After finishing third in 1600, the Bears’ Diana Huerta (7:08.97) came back strong to win the 3200 meters, clocking a time of 15:40.
Pierce also picked up two wins in the 300-meter hurdles, with Sebastian Ambriz (45.62) in the men’s division and Corona (55:16) in the women’s.
Dominating the women’s throwing events was Colusa’s Salma Gonzalez, who won the shot with a toss of 27’2 and the discus with a distance of 87’2.
The Bears’ Kallie Stassi finished third in both events, with throws of 23’5 and 58’1 in the shot and discus, respectively.
In the men’s competition, Pierce’s Jose Gonzales grabbed third place in shot, with a heave of 35’1, then placed second in discus, with a toss of 98’, outdistancing teammate Belsazar Haro (91’10) in third.
To round out the competition, Barba (13’9) and Cassandra Sanchez (12’8) were second and third, respectively, in the long jump.
Both teams were in Winters on March 23 for the second SVL meet.■