First-year head coach Luis Calderon didn’t express any disappointment following the Central Valley track and field program’s performance at the Western Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday at Johansen High School.
Central Valley’s boys and girls teams had a combined nine individuals and three relays qualify for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division-IV trials.
The top five finishers in each event at the WAC finals advanced to Divisionals.
“The expectation was to showcase our athletes,” Calderon said. “We were able to do that. We achieved really good results. I’m very proud of them.”
Central Valley’s boys finished in sixth place with a team score of 51 at the league championships.
Ceres High (123), Lathrop (110), Beyer (99), Livingston (86), Grace Davis (69), Pacheco (15) and Johansen (11) took first, second, third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
“The boys competed very hard in their events,” Calderon said. “They were motivated. They’re still hungry. If you have fun with the sport you love, you can always go far.”
Steve Duran placed first in the 300 hurdles, third in the 100 hurdles and 22nd in the 100.
“I’m not surprised,” Calderon stated while talking about Duran’s first-place showing in the 300 hurdles. “He’s a very talented kid. He’s a hard worker. Throughout the season, he kept on improving. He did more drills and exercises outside of practice to improve as an athlete. Coach (Latrisha) Jordan got Steve prepared for moments like this.”
Massimo Catalano placed third in the 100.
Ernesto Martinez placed third in the 400 and seventh in the 200.
David Alvarado placed third in the discus and 20th in the shot put.
Central Valley’s 4x100 relay team of Catalano, Martinez, Isaac Ramirez and Daniel Leon placed fourth.
Central Valley’s 4x400 relay team of Leon, Duran, Martinez and Blake Silva placed fourth.
Silva placed fifth in the high jump, 11th in the 300 hurdles and 14th in the 110 hurdles.
Elijah Plasencia placed fifth in the shot put and 26th in the discus.
Edgar Rivera placed sixth in the long jump.
Daniel Leon placed eighth in the 200 and 18th in the 100.
Central Valley’s girls finished seventh with a team score of 19 at the WAC Championships.
Lathrop (186.5), Beyer (153), Ceres High (55.5), Livingston (54), Pacheco (38), Grace Davis (34) and Johansen (12) took first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth, respectively.
“I’m happy with the results that we got,” Calderon said. “The hard work is paying off.”
Central Valley’s 4x100 relay team of Andrea Tejeda, Airieana Martinez, Sophia Alvarez and Aubrey Tyler-Pannell placed second.
“To be in the top three is a pretty strong showing,” Calderon said.
Tejeda placed fifth in the 400 and seventh in the 200.
Karla Sarabia placed fifth in the triple jump and 10th in the long jump.
Martinez placed fifth in the 100 and 11th in the long jump.
Angela Alvarado placed seventh in the shot put and 10th in the discus.
Tyler-Pannell placed eighth in the 100 and 13th in the 200.
