Ja'Quan Gardner, Terrence Sadler, Michael Luzinski and Tyree Jones, the members of Central Valley High School's 4x100 relay team, made no excuses following their 15th-place showing at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Varsity Boys Track & Field Championships on Thursday in Sacramento.
The Hawks' quartet finished the race in 43.94 seconds while taking fifth in Heat 1 during preliminaries.
"We did everything right," Terrence said. "The other people were just faster than us. There's nothing to be ashamed of. We made it this far. It was a good experience."
"We haven't seen that type of competition before," Tyree added. "It was unbelievable. We tried our hardest."
Jones finished 19th in the 100 in 11.28 seconds.
Ceres High's Le Hong just missed qualifying for the finals in the 110 hurdles. He took 10th in a personal-best 15.50 seconds. The top 9 individuals advanced.
Le placed 22nd at Master in 2010.
"He made a big jump from last year to this year," Bulldogs head coach Bill Curlis said. "We worked on some stuff at practice and it helped."
Union Mine's Nick Rankin, the ninth-place finisher, edged out Hong by six one-hundredths of a second last week.
"He (Le) was upset," Curlis said. "He's a competitor."
Ceres High sophomore Cecilia Carretero set a personal record en route to a 20th-place finish while competing as an alternate in the 800 meters. She completed event in 2:26.83.
"She did a great job," Curlis said. "She'll be back at that meet again. Hopefully, a couple of times."
Gardner, Sadler, Luzinski and Jones ate at On the Border Mexican Grill before heading home to Ceres.
Central Valley's 4x100 relay team finished second overall at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV-V Meet the previous week.
Ja'Quan, Terrence, Michael and Tyree bested all challengers at the Western Athletic Conference Championships on May 7.
"I built three great relationships," Jones said. "It was an honor and privilege to race with them. I don't think any team worked harder than us. We missed birthdays and Disneyland. We're proud of what we accomplished."
Added Sadler: "Track brought us closer together. It was fun getting to know each other. We worked really hard. We practiced in the rain and cold weather. Our time dropped a lot over the season. It was all worth it."
The Hawks' quartet finished the race in 43.94 seconds while taking fifth in Heat 1 during preliminaries.
"We did everything right," Terrence said. "The other people were just faster than us. There's nothing to be ashamed of. We made it this far. It was a good experience."
"We haven't seen that type of competition before," Tyree added. "It was unbelievable. We tried our hardest."
Jones finished 19th in the 100 in 11.28 seconds.
Ceres High's Le Hong just missed qualifying for the finals in the 110 hurdles. He took 10th in a personal-best 15.50 seconds. The top 9 individuals advanced.
Le placed 22nd at Master in 2010.
"He made a big jump from last year to this year," Bulldogs head coach Bill Curlis said. "We worked on some stuff at practice and it helped."
Union Mine's Nick Rankin, the ninth-place finisher, edged out Hong by six one-hundredths of a second last week.
"He (Le) was upset," Curlis said. "He's a competitor."
Ceres High sophomore Cecilia Carretero set a personal record en route to a 20th-place finish while competing as an alternate in the 800 meters. She completed event in 2:26.83.
"She did a great job," Curlis said. "She'll be back at that meet again. Hopefully, a couple of times."
Gardner, Sadler, Luzinski and Jones ate at On the Border Mexican Grill before heading home to Ceres.
Central Valley's 4x100 relay team finished second overall at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV-V Meet the previous week.
Ja'Quan, Terrence, Michael and Tyree bested all challengers at the Western Athletic Conference Championships on May 7.
"I built three great relationships," Jones said. "It was an honor and privilege to race with them. I don't think any team worked harder than us. We missed birthdays and Disneyland. We're proud of what we accomplished."
Added Sadler: "Track brought us closer together. It was fun getting to know each other. We worked really hard. We practiced in the rain and cold weather. Our time dropped a lot over the season. It was all worth it."
