With a pair of wins over host Hilmar, it was a successful week for the Escalon track and field squad.
Escalon varsity boys’ track team routed host Hilmar on Thursday 84–52. Individual winners for the Cougars included Alec Carpenter in the 400 (54.25), Lalo Cortes in the shot put (39’2”), Matt Gallego in the discus (118’11”), Julian Young in the high jump (5’4”), and Reese Huff in the 100 (11.73).
Outstanding performances were also turned in by Carlos Coreno (1st in the 110m high hurdles, 1st in the 300m intermediate hurdles, and 3rd in the long jump) and David Esparza (1st in the pole vault, 1st in the triple jump, and 2nd in the high jump).
“The guys had a great day,” said Coach Roger Beeman. “Most continued to improve on their season bests, and we placed in every event. Hilmar actually outscored us by a little on the track, but we crushed them in the field events. It was a great start to our league competition.”
On the girls’ side, the Lady Cougars swept by the Yellowjackets winning on the track 50–32 and in the field 43–11 for a total winning score of 93–43. Individual winners included Judzaya Davis in the discus (83’1”), Abby Liv in the triple jump (28’7”), Farley Moore in the 400 (1:10.49), and Patrice Rivara in the pole vault (7’0”).
A huge day was had by Katie Cavanaugh (1st in the shot put, 2nd in the discus, and 3rd in the high jump and pole vault), Sierra Lionudakis (1st in the 800, 1st in the 1600, and 1st in the 3200), Leone Rivers (1st in the 300m hurdles, 1st in the pole vault, and 2nd in the 200), and Samantha Shipley (1st in the high jump, 1st in the long jump, and 3rd in the 100m high hurdles).
“Our girls were amazing,” noted Beeman. “Hilmar has beaten us the last couple of years, but we destroyed them today. We only have a few veterans on the squad, and they are really solid. We have a lot of freshmen and some other first-year athletes, and they are starting to perform at a very high level. We looked really good.”
No frosh-soph score was kept. Hilmar was missing a few kids on their Spring Break, Beeman explained, and Escalon only had one bus for transportation. So they took as many members of the squad as they could and ran everything as varsity.
The team was also busy over the weekend, attending a meet in Atwater on Saturday, March 30. Highlights included:
Samantha Shipley (senior-first year track athlete) 1st high jump - 4’8”; Ryan Schuurman (freshman) 2nd Pole Vault-7’6”; Farley Moore (freshman) 3rd 400m- 107.08; Leone Rivers (sophomore) 3rd 300H- 52.04, 2nd Pole Vault- 7’6”.
Carlos Coreno had a solid performance, winning both of his heats in the varsity 110H and the 300 H.
The JV boys placed 4th in the 4X400 relay (4:14), the girls placed 3rd in the 4X400 relay (4:44.9), the JV boys placed 4th in 4X100 (50.02) and the JV girls placed 4th in 4x100 (50.02)
Reese Huff (sophomore) had solid performances in both 100m-12.10 and the 200m-25.0, while Lalo Cortes threw 40’6” in shot, Adrian Garcia went 39’5” in the shot and Jarod Blakely clocked a 13:13-2mile.
“Coach Beeman and I were impressed with how hard the kids worked. Most of them did multiple events and all of them showed up to compete. It was fun to watch,” said assistant coach Carrie Nash.
