On Friday and Saturday of this past weekend our Men's and Women's Track Teams were at it again, running strong and preparing for the Region and Conference meet this coming weekend. Our Devils took their talents down south, of Iola, to Pittsburg for the 2nd Annual Indoor Gorilla Classic with both teams competing in a wide range of running and field events they were able to take home a lot of season bests, personal records and even a couple more school records!
For our Lady Devils it was Hannah Johnson, Kaitlyn Shoemaker and Vicky Ibarra with standout performances in the 800 meter run, 3000 meter run and the 5000 meter run. Hannah Johnson after struggling in her first few meets of the year picked up the pace and ran a 2:27.48, beating the recently set record of Maria Puente by roughly 3 seconds. Next up was Kaitlyn Shoemaker and her first season attempt to take down the 3k school record! Kaitlyn went out with some very elite women in her seeded heat and did her best to hold onto the pace, although she wasn't able to hold onto the leaders of the race Kaitlyn was able to run a personal best and break the school record. She ran a time of 10:21.59, a time she looks forward to bringing down even further! Last but not least was Vicky Ibarra in the women's 5k, Vicky who finished as the Lady Devils 2nd cross country athlete regularly through the season was looking for a new personal record on the track. Vicky was able to do just that by escaping the 19 minute with a time of 18:58.86.
Others who competed are as followed…
Naudia Stancil in the High Jump / Asha Alvarez in the Triple Jump / Shatorri Faison in the 60 meter dash / Keshema Fleming in the 400 meter run /Abby Steinhauser in the 5k / Kristina Silvers in the 5k
Our Men's was also able to make the most out of the weekend meet with some strong performances from Ka'Ven Berry in the 400 meter dash, Philip Lagemann in the 1mile and Ricardo Banuelos in the 5000 meter run. Ka'Ven Berry was entered in the seeded 400 meter dash with a strong field of athletes and was able to perform to his ability with an impressive time of 48.972. Ka'Ven looks to become one of the fastest long sprinters in the Region this upcoming weekend. Philip Lagemann took the track next in his 1 mile run, although Philip wasn't in the strongest heat he was able to fight to the front and run away from the field. He was edged out in the last 30 meters by one of the athletes from the chase pack. Philip finished with a time of 4:20.22, a second place victory that is now an Indoor school record. The final stand out performance was by sophomore leader Ricardo Banuelos. Ricardo, like Ka'Ven, was set to run in the fastest heat of the day and stepped on the track with a combination of D1, D2 and unattached runners from Brooks running team. Ricardo was forced to go out faster than usual and for his first race back it just pushed him past his limits. Ricardo was able to just stay strong for the second half the race and still ran a very impressive time of 15:13.93.
Others who competed are as followed…
Tommy Jacobs in the 60 meter dash / Carlton Tarpley in the 400 meter run / Caleb Lovejoy in the 600 yard dash / Ryan Yarde in the 800 meter run / Cole Brockman in the 800 meter run / Chris Martin in the 800 meter run / Vinny Butera in the 800 meter run / Eddie Gutierrez in the 1mile run / Paul Becker in the 3000 meter run / Ludreche Bouanga in the 5000 meter run