The Bonita High School boys’ track team won a tight victory over the top school in league play over Claremont, 69-67, while the girls’ team suffered another loss in league.
The boys were hoping to beat Claremont again after securing their league title over them last season. After hearing multiple times from their coaches about the slim odds of them beating them, the boys stepped up to the challenge and surprised everyone.
“I think we can beat them again. It’s going to take a lot of heart. I saw the times from Claremont and they’re stacked in every event. We’re stacked in events too, it’s just in different places. We’re still getting to hitting our peak late in the season but I think we can hit it,” said captain and senior Caleb Stanton.
Hurdlers like Stanton are part of the reason why the boys secured the victory. Stanton and junior Dylan McGarvey took both first and second place in the 110-meter hurdles race. In the 300-meter hurdles race, Stanton and junior Peter Green won the top two spots.
Another strength included in the boys’ 400-meter event was senior Charles Terrazas and sophomore Gypsy Mideiros, taking first and second, with 52.34 and 52.55 seconds respectively.
The boys fought harder in this meet because of the odds being stacked against them with the hype surrounding Claremont’s program and also the wind pushing them back. They had to fight harder against nature and against adversity.
“We can’t just be selfish, we have to work as a team to take first, second, and third. Just take every opportunity that we can to try and win it all,” said Stanton.
The future of the girls’ team is bright because most of the best runners are underclassmen. Sophomore Alyssa Ward was second in the 1,600 meter against this year’s cross country league champions. Long sprinter standout sophomore Ceci Julian did great in both her sprinting events.
“My goal is to get a new personal record in the 200, now that I’m running with blocks and spikes. So I hope to get second place for that and get a new time record for that and hopefully win this meet,” Julian commented.
She was able to establish a new personal record, 26.43, and take second place behind sophomore Amari Mosley. Mosley continues to dominate in the 100 and 200 meters and established a new record, 12.68. She is .10 seconds away from beating a school record that was set last year by a senior runner.
The future is extremely bright for the girls and this season remains as a rebuilding year for them. The boys have a great present and future and will continue to dominate in the next league meets.