Ceres High’s and Central Valley’s boys track and field programs had a combined 14 individuals and four relay teams extend their seasons last week after turning in standout performances at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division-IV Meet.

“We were motivated,” Hawks’ head coach Luis Calderon said.

Cashton Almeida, David Rodriguez Ochoa, Estevan Diaz, Josiah Martinez, Anthony Santillan, Sergio Torres, Samuel Nieto, Adrian Huesca, Jamesdean Robertson, Andrew Alfaro and Julian Barrera helped lead the Bulldogs to a fifth-place finish in the team standings at the section trials on May 9 at Oakmont High School.

Ceres High took first at the Western Athletic Conference Championships and in the league dual standings earlier this year.

The Bulldogs claimed the Hughson Vintage Invitational title.

Ceres High was third at the Stanislaus County Meet.

“It’s not a surprise at this point,” Ceres High head coach Paul Smith said while talking about his team’s run of success. “It’s the expectation.”

Two of Ceres High’s three relay teams set school records.

“That was nice to see,” Smith said.

Ceres High’s 4x100 relay team of Huesca, Diaz, Almeida and Santillan placed third in record-breaking fashion.

Smith has had to make changes to his 4x100 relay team seven times this season due to injuries, availability and tactics.

“And they’ve never ran slower than 44.86 seconds,” he said. “We’ll never see anything like that again. That’s wild.”

Ceres High’s 4x800 relay team of Torres, Robertson, Alfaro and Barrera also made program history while finishing in third place.

“It’s pretty awesome considering we didn’t have one (a 4x800 relay team) coming into the season,” Smith said.

Almeida placed second in the 400 and triple jump, and 15th in the 200.

“He loves to compete,” Smith said. “He has aspirations to continue this in college.”

Rodriguez-Ochoa placed second in the 110 hurdles and seventh in the 300 hurdles.

“Mechanically, he’s running smooth,” Smith said. “He’s a machine.”

Diaz set a personal record while placing sixth in the 100.

Martinez managed to place sixth in the pole vault despite competing with a sore elbow and back.

He sustained both injuries at practice when his vaulting pole shattered into pieces.

Santillan set a personal record while placing eighth in the 200.

He also took 11th in the 100.

Torres placed eighth in the 800.

Nieto placed eighth in the shot put.

Slowed by a knee injury, Saragun Singh placed 12th in the discus.

Central Valley had one individual and one relay team break school records at the section trials.

Steve Duran placed fourth in the 110 hurdles and fifth in the 300 hurdles.

He made program history in the 300 hurdles.

“He set a personal record and broke the school record again,” Calderon said. “It’s his fourth time doing that this year.”

“Steve is a hard-working athlete,” he added. “He gets what he wants because he works hard for it.”

Central Valley’s 4x400 relay team of Duran, Daniel Leon, Blake Silva and Ernesto Martinez set school and personal-best records while placing fifth.

“That’s something they worked hard for all season,” Calderon said.

David Alvarado set a personal record while placing fifth in the discus.

Martinez placed fifth in the 400.

Massimo Catalano set a personal record while placing seventh in the 100.

Central Valley’s 4x100 relay team of Leon, Martinez, Catalano and Isaac Ramirez placed 10th.

Blake Silva placed 11th in the high jump.

Elijah Plasencia placed 17th in the shot put.

The Division finals will be staged this Saturday at Sacramento City College’s Hughes Stadium.