By PETE SIMONCINI
Sports Correspondent
Taking three of four from the visiting East Union Lancers, the varsity boys, varsity girls and frosh/soph boys were winners for Oakdale High track and field, hosting their VOL rival in the Oakdale Corral on Thursday, April 20.
The Mustang varsity boys’ team earned 50 points by sweeping (first, second, and third places) five out of the 10 track events, winning the 4 by 400-meter relay race, and earned another 29 points by sweeping two of the six field events and winning two others. By adding in the 10 points amassed by three second-place finishes and one third place finish, the Mustang total was 89 points compared to the 46 scored by East Union, giving the Mustangs their fourth dual meet victory of the season. Leading the way for the Mustangs was junior Cameron Guthrie who won the 110-meter-high hurdles in 15.70 seconds, leading a Mustang sweep, and the 300-meter low hurdles in 42.27 seconds, also leading a Mustang sweep. Senior Caleb Cavanaugh earned first place in the 800-meter run, leading another Mustang sweep, complemented by a second place (52.69) in the exciting 400-meter dash. Cavanaugh, normally an outstanding distance runner, has been concentrating on middle distance races this season and was edged out by an East Union sprinter in the event. Junior Jackson Oliveira led Mustang sweeps in both the 1,600-meter run and the 3,200-meter run. In the field events, the Mustangs’ Gavin Gleason won both the discus (125 feet, 10 inches) and the shot put (43 feet, 9 ¾ inches) as Oakdale swept the former event while adding a third in the latter. Senior Tyler Cooley led a Mustang sweep in the high jump while Aiden Vargas scored a win in the pole vault. The race of the day was the final event, the varsity boys’ 4 by 400-meter relay. The two teams battled it out, changing leads several times throughout the four-lap race. On the final lap, the Mustang anchor runner overtook his Lancer counterpart with about 80-meters to go and prevailed by about five meters in 3 minutes, 45 seconds.
The varsity girls were dominant for yet another meet crushing the Lancers 115-11 despite not having the total services of two team leaders, middle distance and distance phenom Kassidy Fmura and sprint sensation Kiley Nunes, both due to sickness. Fmura sat out the day while Nunes limited herself to but two events. Regardless, the Lady Mustangs swept eight of the 10 track events, including winning both relay races, and four of the six field events while finishing first and second in a fifth event. Hardworking veteran Brookelyn Baba led the Mustang sweep in the 100-meter-high hurdles in 16.57 seconds. Audrey Scott, Brady Evans, and Ava Calandro went 1-2-3 in the 1,600-meter run. The Mustangs also swept the 200-meter dash (Lynsey McPhee winning in 26.29), the 300-meter-low-hurdles (Nunes winning in 46.53), the 400-meter dash (Brady Wylie winning in 1 minute, 3.76 seconds), and the 800-meter run (Evans winning in 2:32). In the field events, Memphis Carr was again dominant in both the shot put and discus, leading Mustang sweeps in both events. Carr hurled the discus 102 feet, three inches and put the shot 37 feet even in her winning performances. The dynamic duo of Stueve and Cotner went 1-2 in the pole vault. The Mustangs also swept the triple jump, finished 1-2 in the long jump, and earned second and third place points in the high jump.
Said head coach Dave Bacigalupi about the varsity girls’ team: “The girls must beat Kimball next week to win their 17th championship in the last 20 years, and one of those years was the pandemic year when there was no championship.”
Led by a strong sprint effort by Jason Martinjo, outstanding hurdling and dominant distance running, the freshman/sophomore boys’ team ran over East Union by the score of 89-30. Martinjo won the 100-meters in 11.97, the 200-meters in 24.02, and anchored the winning 4 by 100-meter relay team. Brock Boysen earned victories in the 110-high-hurdles event and the 300-meter-low-hurdles event. Dirk Scott (5:12) led a Mustang sweep in the 1,600-meter run, while Gomez won the 400-meters in 56.39, Meza won the 800-meters, and Peterson won the 3,200-meter run. Kayden Duenas earned victory in the shot put with a heave of 41 feet, 2 ½ inches, Cadan Adams (36 feet, 8 ½ inches) won the triple jump and finished second in the long jump (16 feet, 5 ½ inches), and Ballard won the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 4 inches.
The freshman/sophomore girls lost to East Union by a score of 82-48 but were not without some excellent individual efforts. Once again, Katelyn Scharffenberg was the toast of the hurdling events, leading Mustang sweeps in both the 100-meter-high and 300-meter-low hurdles races. Mustang runners also swept the 400-meter dash, Jaelyn Ghiglia winning in 1:08.07. Hayley Kuppens prevailed once again in her specialty event, the long jump, with a leap of 13 feet, 4 inches.
The Mustangs complete the 2023 dual meet season on Thursday, April 27 when they travel to western Tracy to face off against the Kimball Jaguars. On May 4, all VOL teams will descend on Sierra High School in Manteca for the 2023 Valley Oak League championship meet.
Next week, a recap of the team’s outstanding effort in Sacramento at the Meet of Champions.
