By PETE SIMONCINI
Sports Correspondent
Thursday, April 6 turned out to be quite nice indeed in the Oakdale Corral, both in terms of weather and the results of the Valley Oak League dual track and field meet against the Sierra Timberwolves.
High school track and field meets in the state of California consist of 16 separate events at each of four levels: varsity boys, varsity girls, freshman/sophomore boys, and freshman/sophomore girls. Of those 16 events, six are field events and the other 10 are track, or running, events.
Showing impressive balance, the Mustang girls continued their incredible roll this season, by winning five of the six field events and eight running events in recording a 101-34 win over Sierra. Likewise, the varsity and freshman/sophomore boys’ teams and the freshman/sophomore girls’ team earned wins by scores of 87-48, 75.5-35.5, and 58-40 respectively. While the varsity boys’ team victory was predominantly earned in running events, the freshman/sophomore boys’ won five field events and five track events, while the freshman/sophomore girls’ won two field and five track events in recording their team wins.
All four Mustang teams won their respective iterations of the four by 100-meter relay, the 300-meter low hurdles, and the high jump. Three out of four Mustang teams also earned victories in the 3,200-meter run, the high hurdles races, and the pole vault. In the high jump, the Mustangs were perfect on the day earning the top three places at each level except for the freshman/sophomore boys where Mustang sophomore Selso Rodriguez was the lone competitor. Mustang athletes also recorded 1-2-3 sweeps in the varsity girls’ and boys’ 1,600- meter run, the varsity boys’ 3,200-meter run, the varsity girls’ 100-meter-high hurdles, and the freshman/sophomore girls’ 400-meter dash, dominating the meet.
Numerous Mustangs contributed to the victories over Sierra as well, including some noteworthy performances.
The Mustang distance teams continued in top form. Leading the way once again was Stanislaus State-bound senior Kassidy Fmura who won the 800-meter, 1,600-meter, and 3,200-meter runs for the varsity girls. Multi-talented sprinter and hurdler, senior Kylie Nunes, earned four victories for the Mustangs in the 300-meter low hurdles, the 200-meter dash, and as part of both the four-by-100 and four-by-400-meter relay teams. Lynsey McPhee won the triple jump and, like Nunes, ran on the aforementioned two relay teams. Memphis Carr is rapidly beginning to emulate her weight events coach, Mustang 2016 alumna Hannah Chapelle, by winning both the shot put and the discus throw events for the second consecutive week.
In the varsity boys’ events, Aidan Vargas earned victories in the 110-meter-high hurdles and the 300-meter-low hurdles. Distance sensation Ismael Dominguez emulated Fmura by storming to victories in the 800-meters, 1,600 meters, and 3,200 meters events.
The freshman/sophomore teams were also not lacking in multiple winning athletes. Katelyn Scharffenberg matched Vargas’s performance by winning the 100-meter-high hurdles and the 300-meter-low hurdles events. She also was a member of the winning Mustang four-by-100-meter relay team. Kayden Duenas is rapidly becoming a weight man to watch as he earned victories in both the shot put and discus throw events. Caden Adams and Jason Martinjo both won three events in the meet as well. Adams secured wins in both the triple jump and the long jump and was a member of the winning four-by-100-meter relay team. Martinjo won the 100 and 200-meter sprints and, like Adams, was a member of the 4 x 100-meter relay team.
Also earning victories in the meet were the following athletes.
Freshman/sophomore boys: Dirk Scott (3,200-meter run), Brock Boysen (300-meter hurdles and 4x100-meter relay), Owen Reynolds (pole vault), and Andre Galaviz (4x100-meter relay).
Freshman/sophomore girls: Hayley Kuppens (long jump), Libby Hector (high jump), and Jaelyn Ghiglia (400-meters). Comprising the winning four-by-100-meter relay team in addition to Scharffenberg were Ghiglia, Aubrey Thompson, and Jordan Wylie.
Varsity girls: Taylor Hay (high jump), Shelby Cotner (pole vault), and Brookelyn Baba (100-meter-high hurdles). Comprising the winning 4x100-meter relay team in addition to McPhee and Nunes were Rylee Harris and Brady Wylie and the winning 4x400-meter relay team, again in addition to McPhee and Nunes, were Kylee O’Neal and Gabriela Carranza.
Varsity boys: Spence Ballard and Tyler Cooley (high jump tie), Sonny Torres (100-meter dash, running an impressive 12.04), Grant Gardner (pole vault at 11 feet, six inches), and Caleb Cavanaugh (400-meter dash in 53.04). Making up the winning 4x100-meter relay team were Torres, Ballard, Rafael Rios, and Wes Burford.
During the spring break hiatus, some of the Mustang distance running team will participate in invitational meets. The next and final home meet of the season for the Mustangs will be on Thursday, April 20 against the East Union Lancers.
