Page 9 - Sanger Herald 4-5-18 E-edition

SangerSports
SANGER HERALD * PAGE 1B * THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2018
Apache throwers shoot for personal records in annual event
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Sanger’s throwers got together on Dodson Field during the Easter holiday and listened to music while the rest of the Apache track team participated in perhaps the most grueling training session yet in the 2018 season.
The throwers weren’t messing around but partaking in an inter- squad meet that’s become an annual tradition. The Sanger Throws PR Classic is meant to extract the best from Sanger’s finest — and, perhaps more important, to improve their personal records. More distant, qualifying records. The farther the better.
And that’s exactly what these throwers had in mind March 29.
“I try to PR every meet,” said freshman Matt Garza. “I compete every day, even at practice.”
Garza hit a personal record in shot put, and it got him on top with 36 feet 4 inches.
The throwers gathered
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Isaac Salas winds up with the discus during the Sanger Throws PR Classic last week at Tom Flores Stadium.
in two teams, named at the spur of the moment. One was called Wakanda Forever, a reference to the Marvel superhero movie breaking box office records. Suffice to say the other team was called something else that a member of the Wakanda squad called, “Appropriate.”
The mood was upbeat. But all participants took their mission quite seriously.
One exception to a regular meet, aside from the lack of other schools represented, was what the athletes brought to mark their farthest throws. The items ranged from a screwdriver with a message of some sort attached to a plunger decked out with frilly gift-wrapping ribbon. Markers also included a container of Gold Bond powder, an old shoe and various other items.
Then the greatest distances marked by one of those items were measured electronically.
One marker actually deteriorated during the event. The sun began to
climb higher in the sky and the moisture from the week before was still in the air. So the marker, which started as a white-bread sandwich in a Ziplock bag, started to fog up. Plus it got crushed a couple times.
Still, it worked fine.
Paisley Rodriguez arrived a little late. The competition began about 9 a.m., and the shot put competition had completed by the time she could get to the meet. The groups had moved to Tom Flores Stadium to begin the discus event.
Rodriguez is a senior and the veteran on the team. She has worked most of her high school life to get to the point where she can throw a heavy steel ball and whip a weighted disc farther than most.
And she’s almost there. Almost.
“I got mad. I’m still mad,” she said after some discus throws didn’t meet her expectations. “My goal? Still to be CMAC (County Metro Athletic Conference) champ in both events.”
She included shot put.
Throwers coach Wayne Richardson and assistant coach Brice Sandri watched their athletes, hoping they would do their best.
And junior Lupita Gonzalez and senior Brianna Alarrazabal both landed personal records in shot put. Gonzalez threw 25 feet 5 inches, and Alarrazabal threw 24 feet 9 inches.
“We do a lot of drilling and workouts to (increase) our strength,” Gonzalez said. “The goal is to throw farther every meet. You try to PR.”
Alarrazabal started throwing this year. She played goalie for the Apaches’ varsity soccer team this year and was advised by one of her coaches that including the field competition would improve her game.
The throws depend greatly upon learning the proper technique. And that’s what Alarrazabal worked to master. “They’re different,” she said.
Junior Victoria Melgoza
See Throwers, Page 2B
Holy Grail relay record has to wait
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
The bell rang, signifying the final lap in the boys’ four by 800 meter relay.
Mohamed “Mo” Saleh poured on the speed, his feet and others thundering on the track as they whizzed by at Dodson Field at the Sanger Easter Classic on March 27.
“Let’s go Mo,” yelled one his teammates.
And as Saleh kicked up dust in his blistering pace, distance coach Sean Marzolf added loudly, “We can break it today.”
Marzolf referred to the Sanger High School record of about 8 minutes flat.
Saleh, a senior, battled Colin Watamura, a junior from Redwood of Visalia, in second, and Alex Garcia, a senior from Reedley, in third. The Clovis West team and a second Sanger team finished in fourth and fifth places, respectively.
But the final time for Sanger’s team anchored by Saleh came to 8:05.46 minutes. Not a record but enough for first. Redwood clocked 8:19.81 minutes, Reedley 8:22.18 minutes, Clovis West 8:33.18 minutes and Sanger’s second team 8:38.87.
“That wasn’t a record. No,” said junior Isaiah Gaucin, who ran third for Sanger and passed off to Saleh. But he was smiling big, and his mom was proud. She called him “Baby Boy,” congratulating him at the finish.
But the 8:05.46 was significant. “That’s the fastest time in the Section,” Marzolf said.
Saleh has positioned himself as a significant factor in the 800 meters by running the race well under the 2 minute mark. “I feel great,” he said, still a little out of breath. “I was trying to make up the time (on the last lap).”
And he added, “We’ll break 8. I believe in our team.”
Trever Jones ran the first
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Mohamed Saleh crosses the finish line for the win, topping quite a few teams with substantial track tradition last week. Right, Kaley Cardenas assists teammate Toni Payton after another relay. Sanger's Apaches went all out for their home meet.
West and Tulare Western. In the girls’ 3,200 meter, Sydney Fox, now a senior at Buchanan, dominated. She finished the event in 11:30.32 minutes, far ahead of second-place finisher Haley Ulloa, a Highland freshman, with 12:04.99 minutes. The top Sanger finisher, freshman Jessica Recinos, came in 12th with
13:06.73 minutes.
Fox said the Sanger
event will always resonate with her. She ran it last year. “It was my first win,
ever,” she said. “I like this track.”
And Fox, who was nursing a hamstring injury, said she intends to make an impact at the state tournament this year, which would be her second trip to compete against the best.
Clovis dazzled in the boys’ four by 100 meter relay, pulling out a first with 43.02 seconds. “Our teamwork is amazing,”
See Track, Page 2B
leg and Juan DeSantiago the second in the race. Jones had said before the race they were attempting to massacre the school record and said his goal this year is to reach 49 seconds in the 400 meters. He clocked a 50.59 seconds for first at the Rafer Johnson Invitational in Kingsburg on March 17.
DeSantiago said he felt “excellent” after the race but indicated that he believes they can break that school record at some point.
So stay tuned.
As in any meet, multiple running events took place in rapid succession, while field competition jockeyed for attention. And Sanger’s
team looked as strong as ever.
But the Apaches didn’t dominate everything. The spring break event also drew athletes from Bullard, Buchanan, Frontier of Bakersfield, Kerman, Corcoran, Clovis, Highland of Bakersfield, Orange Cove, McFarland, Madera South, Kingsburg, Hanford