Reader Submission: Eagles Run Down JSerra on St. Patrick's Day

(Submitted by Sean Zeitler, assistant coach for the Santa Margarita boys track and field team.)

The Eagles needed no luck from the Irish this St. Patrick’s day as they took care of their first Trinity League match up against J Serra at home with 12 first-place finishes and five event sweeps in a 94-40 victory on Thursday.
 
The meet started out on a good note with the varsity 4x100-meter relay team of Ryan Wolpin, Logan Sweet, Matt Scott, and Cory Thomson getting the baton around the track cleanly with a seasonal best 43.59 seconds. The 1600 was won by sophomore Jason Engel in a pedestrian 4:36.7 to lock up the win, points, and remaining fresh for the 800 that was to be contested later in the day. Guido Marasigan hung in there for a third place finish to secure one more point for the Eagles on the scoreboard. Junior Brentano Giuliano finished in 4:53.2 while Adam Enochs continued his sub-5 minute efforts with a 4:59.4.

In the 110 high hurdles, senior Sam Hewitt took home one of the Eagles many first-place finishes with a time of 17.42. The varsity 400m was run by senior Connor Prior with a debut by junior Josh Baldus, who looks to move up in events to help the Eagles with their depth at the 400. Connor placed second in a time of 52.82 while Josh finished in a 55.36 to secure a point for the Eagles with a third-place finish in his first time ever running the race. At the end of the race, Josh would go on to say, “The 400 feels like a lot longer than the 200.” We all agree with Josh’s assessment.
 
The first sweep of the day came with the deep core of 100m sprinters. Cory Thomson, Logan Sweet, and Matt Scott finished one, two and three with times of 11.14, 11.42, and 11.50. Junior Matt Graban and sophomore Ryan Wolpin finished closely in times of 11.76 and 11.77. One of the more highly contested and exciting races of the day came in the boys varsity 800. Fresh off his win in the 1600, Jason Engel showed his strength with a come-from-behind win down the homestretch to take home a double victory on the day with a time of 2:01.77. Derek Giemont finished third in a time of 2:02.16.

Another double winner on the day, Sam Hewitt, showed much progress in the 300 hurdles in the first half of the race and finished in a time of 44.72 to take home 10 individual points for the team. The second sweep on the track belonged to the short sprinting trio of Cory Thomson, Matt Graban, and Ryan Wolpin. Cory finished in a wind-legal time of 22.88, his first wind-legal sub 23 second effort on the season. Continuing their 'battle of the hundredths,' Matt Graban edged out Ryan Wolpin again with times of 23.69 to 23.70 to round out the sweep.

In the final race of the day for the Eagles, Guido Marasigan took home the win in the 3200 with a time of 10:19.32 with Captain Brentano Giuliano securing a point by finishing third with a time of 10:40.20.
 
In the field events, the Eagles had their best day on paper as a collective group. Pole vaulters swept the event with a winning jump by Tyler Frank at 13 feet, with freshman Parker Curry's P.R. of 12-01 taking second, and sophomore Mike Anderson finished third with a jump of 10-01.

The big boys of the throws swept both the shot and the disc. Double-winner Frank DePietro won both throws with marks of 113-08 in the disc and 39-00 in the shot. Senior Captain Aaron Chancellor took home second place in the disc with a throw of 111-03 and a third-place finish in the shot with a throw of 34-11. Karim Boukai took third in the disc with a throw of 110-07 and Jason Martinez claimed the final spot in the shot with a throw of 38-10. In his first-ever chance at high jump competition, senior Logan Sweet won the event with a jump of 5-06 as he continues to learn the event.
 
In the frosh-soph competition, the football tandem of Vince Hernandez and River Cracraft went 1-2 with times of 12.11 to 12.14, and swapped positions in the 200 with River's 24.91 to Vince's 25.06, both the first time those two raced that event (200m). Freshman Eric Abowd took home a P.R. in the 800 with 2:14.72 and 11:13.46 in the 3200.
 
This Saturday, select Eagles will participate in the Laguna Beach Invitational at Laguna Beach High School. The next Trinity League action will be Thursday, March 24, against Orange Lutheran at Concordia University. That meet will start promptly at 2:45pm.