On your mark, get set . . . 2022 Track & Field season is underway
Upstart team shows well at pre-season exhibition against Heritage High School
Junior Matthew Fuentes leads the charge in the varsity boys 300 hurdles at the Heritage High meet.
Menifee, CA—Yesterday, the Colton High Track & Field team traveled to Heritage High School for an exhibition showdown against the Patriots and showed real promise with the Skyline season set to start on Mar. 17.
“There’s a lot of improvements to be made, and a lot of work that needs to be done,” new head coach Roxana Lopez said. “This is a learning experience. It’s not a league meet, so it doesn’t count for CIF. This is just for fun, for us to get out here and experience what racing feels like . . . I had some of the kids fall today for hurdles, but it’s alright—get back up and finish your race. There’s no such thing as giving up.”
The meet started strong, with the JV girls’ 4×100 relay team taking first against Heritage. The team of Yara Vera (9), Angelina Valtierra (9), Diana Fernandez (12), and Mercy Mgbemere (11) finished with a time of 1:02.35. The varsity girls’ team of Glory Mgbemere (11), Jayda Porter (9), Arianna Aispuro (9), and Alanna Anderson (12) took second, running in 1:00.34.
Boys’ varsity took first place against a disqualified Heritage team. Dominic Rodriguez (10), Angel Losoya (11), Abraham Luu (12), and Edward Marquez (10) ran the heat in 52.56.
In the running events, several girls’ JV and varsity runners performed strongly. Diana Fernandez placed first in both the JV 100 with times of 13.93 and 29.35. Alma Vasquez placed second in the varsity 1600 (6:23.37) and third in the 400 (1:08.31). Diana Vera also showed strong, placing third in both the varsity 1600 (6:55.19) and 800 (3:05.49). Glory Mgbemere leapt to a third place finish in the varsity 100 hurdles, running a time of 21.03. And Briana Jimenez ran for first in the varsity 3200, with a swift time of 15:22.37.
The boys were overshadowed in the placing by the Patriot runners, save for Osvaldo Cortes, who placed second in the varsity 3200 with a time of 12:13.85. However, Abraham Luu ran strong in the 100 with a time of 12.63, and Matthew Fuentes finished well in the varsity 300 hurdles with a time of 58.14.
Track finished with a strong showing as well, with the boys’ varsity team winning the 4×400 relay. The team of Daniel Montes, Angel Losoya, Christopher Acero, and Marcus Perez ran the event in 4:35.15. The girls’ team finished second with a time of 5:17.21.
On the field, the shotput and discus teams also had a strong showing. Zamantha Moctezuma took first place in the JV girls’ shotput with a distance of 26 feet, 8 inches (8.12 meters). In the varsity girls’ division, Leea Palma placed second in shotput with a distance of 25 feet, 7 inches (7.79 meters). In discus, Kimberly Emilio took first place with a distance of 57 feet, 3 inches (17.44 meters) for JV. In varsity, Melanie Lopez placed third, throwing a distance of 68 feet, 5 inches (20.85 meters).
For the boys, Eddie Marquez placed second in the varsity shotput, throwing a distance of 37 feet, 4 inches (11.37 meters), and third in the discus with a distance of 101 feet, 8 inches (30.98 meters).
Shotput coach Mario Martinez was proud of how his team showed out today. “They did well. All of them did better than expected, especially since several of them were coming back from COVID. They did good. They placed.”
Ray Rodriguez, who coaches the discus team, echoed this. “The kids are doing well.” He noted the performances of Eddie Marquez and Adam Torres. “A lot of the kids are first time throwers . . . this is a big time learning experience for the kids.”
Currently, the field team is only participating in throwing events. They are still on the lookout for volunteer coaches for the long jump, high jump, and triple jump.
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