By Charles Matarese
Special to the Outlook Valley Sun
Despite resting many of its top athletes, the La Cañada High girls’ track and field team completed its fifth straight undefeated season with a resounding 86-31 victory over visiting San Marino to capture the outright Rio Hondo League crown for a fourth straight year.
The boys also team rolled to a 100-17 blowout victory to secure a second place in the league and a one loss season, only falling to league champion South Pasadena, a state powerhouse that has not lost a dual meet in more than 20 years.
Sarina Parks, Katie McGuiness, and sisters Samantha and Naomi Hosford led the girls team.
Parks cruised to victories in the 100-meter race, as well as the 200 and 4×100 relay. McGuinness took first in the high jump, long jump and 4×100.
Naomi Hosford was a double winner in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles, and added second place in the triple jump, while sister Samantha Hosford won the 400 and finished third in the 200 with personal records in both events. Lily Bingham, who finished second in the 100, joined Kaitlin Creighton, Parks and McGuiness in the 4×100. Danica Eggleston continued her strong season with a victory in the triple jump and a second-place finish in the long jump.
The La Cañada pole vault army finished first through seventh, spearheaded by Erin Makhanian and Mia DiConti who both cleared 10 feet, 6 inches. Meital Negrin and Zoe Petropulos finished in a tie for third with 8-0 vaults.
La Cañada also finish first through sixth in the high jump, with Nora Anderson and Amy Kiang finishing second and third behind McGuiness’s victory. Yasmin Ghaneh and Haloe Ball finished second and third in the 800, respectively, while Kelly Sellman and Tina Lin finished second and third in the 1,600.
Kayla Buchok placed second in the shot put and Brittany Rivas finished third in the 400 to complete the La Cañada scoring. The girls’ 4×400 team of Ball, Ghaneh, Kaylee Roberts and Rhea Lamb clinched the championship in the meet’s final event.
Meanwhile, Jaimie Saunders and Eric Sentoso led the boys’ team to victory. Saunders claimed individual wins in the 200 and 400, and teamed up with Joshua Carruthers, Morgan Straus and Alan Razo in the 4×100 relay. Sentoso was the meet’s only four-event winner, finishing first in the long jump, triple jump, 300 hurdles, and 4×400 relay. Carruthers also had an exceptionally strong day, pairing his 4×100 victory with second-place finishes in the 200 and 400. George Hervey secured a win in the 800 over teammates Razzo and Aiden Guzman, while Guzman himself doubled back to take the victory in the 1,600 over teammates Caden Ho and Will Drobis. Nick Elftheriou took second in the 400 hurdles, while Nick Verace and Will Drobis finished second and third, respectively, in the 110 hurdles. Brandon Goldsby, Price Gilchrest and Harvey Wake swept the shot put, while Matthew Li, Joseph Whioley and Matthew Fan also secured a sweep in the pole vault. Ethan Alvarez-Salazar, meanwhile, finished the day with a new personal record to claim the high jump championship.
JUNIOR LEADS YOUTH RUNNING PROGRAM
For future Spartan track runners, or just kids looking to have some fun, Kelly Sellman, a junior on the girl’s team, is working on her Girl Scout Gold Award project.
Sellman is looking for boys and girls in the fourth through eighth grades for her nine-week summer running program Running on Confidence.
Participants will log the minutes they run throughout the summer starting in June and ending in August.
Those who run the most in each grade level will earn prizes, such as new running shoes, running watches and certificates to use at local businesses.
Sellman hopes to show students in the Crescenta Valley area that exercise is fun and that anyone can run no matter their athletic ability. Participation is 100% free. Anyone interested can visit Sellman’s program website at sites.google.com/view/runningonconfidence to sign up and learn more. Email her with questions at sherunsonconfidence@gmail.com.
First published in the April 25 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
