Seven Los Alamitos High School Track and Field team members competed in the Southern Section Division 1 Finals at Cerritos College on Saturday and five qualified for the CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet.
In what many consider one of the most competitive high school divisions in the country, the Los Al girls team placed third in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1, which is their highest placement in school history.
“I am so impressed and proud with how the team competed”, said Head Coach Nathan Howard.
“The athletes competed extremely well, all of them had results at or better than their season bests. Meets like this justify all the work we do as coaches, rewarded by the sheer joy on the athlete’s faces. I have a great coaching staff that did great things to prepare the kids for yesterday.”
With so many runners pulling in top spots and medals, Howard had a lot to celebrate but he did mention a special moment that stuck out to him about the meet.
Howard said, “If I had to pick a favorite performance, it would have to be Faimalie’s discus. She was very disappointed with the shot put, and after only about 45 minutes she had to throw the discus. She was able to refocus and throw unbelievably, breaking the school record and qualifying number two overall. The Masters Meet next week is all about qualifying for State, but after this week and watching how these special athletes handled all that pressure, I expect to see greater things in the coming meets.”
Leading the way for the Griffins in the meet and qualifying for Masters:
Senior Jose Rubio
• 2nd in Boys Long Jump (22’-9.25”) o 4th in Boys 110m Hurdles (14.21) o 7th in Boys 300m Hurdles (38.28)
Junior Faimalie Sale:
• 2nd in Girls Discus (153’-10”–new School Record, # 8 All-Time Orange County)
• 2nd in Girls Shot Put (45’-03.5”)
Senior Brooke Anger:
• 2nd in Girls Pole Vault (11’-9”).
Senior Kallie Given:
• 2nd in Girls High Jump (5’-5”)
Junior Delaney Sanacore:
• 4th in Girls 800m (2:15.16)
Also competing in the CIF-SS Division finals were juniors Jade Galloway (fifth in Girls Long Jump) and Kevin Schmitt (seventh in Boys High Jump) .
The CIF Masters Qualifiers will continue their race to the State Meet at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 27 at Arcadia High School.
This article appeared in the May 24, 2017 print edition of the News Enterprise.