James Lick Track 2015 Season Summary

The 2015 Track season was a colossal step forward for the team. Not since 2002 had either the boys or girls teams have a winning record. In 2015 the boys went 4-3 and the girls went 6-1. In past seasons the most athletes from James Lick who qualified for BVAL championships was 5 in 2014. In 2015 13 athletes qualified to compete at BVAl championships. The last time the Comets had more than 1 athlete qualify for CCS trials was 2003, in 2015 5 athletes accomplished the feat. Robert Rios in boys shot put, Paloma Contreras in girls 400, Daniela Camacho in girls 800, Andrea Ortiz in girls 300h and Davion Thomas in boys 200.

The comets were a surprise in the WVAL for how quickly they turned from a last place team, to a team to be reckoned with. The additions of Coach John Quasarano, and the larger role of Coach John Vela were huge in developing and recruiting athletes. The 2015 season saw the team dramatically improved in many areas.

It had been exceedingly rare for the team to have more than one athlete score in an event at WVAL finals as only the top athletes in the league score. This year however, two athletes scored in girl’s long jump, girl’s shot put, girl’s 100h, girl’s 300h, girl’s 400 girl’s 3200, boy’s 1600, and boy’s 3200 with 4 girls scoring in the girl’s 800! The team had two individual league champions this year, with Robert Rios winning the boy’s shot put and Paloma Contreras winning the girl’s 400.

The boys top 10 all time list is a difficult list to crack in most events, since it has 65 years of athletes competing. This year however, several additions were made, whereas none were made since 2009. Davion made it onto 10th in the boys 100 list with a wind aided time of 11.42, (converted to 11.48 wind legal). He made 8th place in the 200 list with a wind legal 23.19 at BVAL championships for both times. Karan ran his way onto the boy’s 3200 8th place with a time of 10:23.00 at WVAL Finals. Robert Rios also achieved 8th place in the boy’s Shot Put with a throw of 43-2 inches at WVAL Finals. The 300 hurdles, being a more modern event allowed Gustavo Aguilera to move into 10th at 48.93 and Jon Rodriguez into 7th at 47.34.

The girl’s lists were largely re-written as this was the closest the team has ever come to winning a Track league title on the girl’s side. Maria Mendoza, Paloma and Andrea are now 7th 8th and 10th respectively with Maria at 28.73 for the team’s seasons best. Paloma moved into 3rd on the team’s 400m list with her PR of 1:02.54. Daniela Camacho, Cierra Gutierrez, Maria Mendoza and Gabriela Aguilar are 6th, 7th, 8th and 10th respectively.

Daniela had a historic season in which she set school records in multiple events. She is the best 800m runner in school history with a time of 2:27.64. Paloma moved up to 4th with a time of 2:37.14. Brianna Flores, Maria, Daisy Nava and Cierra  hold spots 6-10 now. The 1600 is lead by another school record by Daniela: 5:27.54. Brianna moved into 6th by taking her PR from 6:51 to 6:13 this season. Cierra is now 8th at 6:18. Daniela holds the school record for 3200 at 12:18.09. Brianna is 5th at 13:46.

Maria and Andrea are now 4th and 6th on the 100h list. Andrea now holds the school record in the 300h with a time of 50.20, with Maria second at 51.28. The 4×100 team ran the 3rd fastest time in school history, clocking 55.04 this season. The girl’s 4×400 had the 2nd best time in school history at 4:31.12 both marks at WVAL Finals. Lyndel Ventura, Crystal Nguyen, and Elyse Elder are now 3rd 4th and 5th on the school’s triple jump list. Lyndel is also 7th on the school’s long jump list. Elyse is 6th on the girl’s high jump list as well. Charli Chircop and Alejandra Ceron are 8th and 9th on the school’s discus list. Alejandra is 6th on the school’s shot put list and Charli 8th.

The year was a great step forward for the Comets. They will lose high scoring seniors such as Karan, Paloma, Daniela, and Robert, but with young up and comers like Nathan, Maria, Daisy, and Daniel, the team will strive to fill their loses and be even better because of the groundwork laid down by the team of 2015. The one team that beat the JL girls was Prospect and with them moving up to the Santa Teresa division, the team can set their focus on going after the league title in 2016 on the girl’s side, and rising to a top 3 finish on the boy’s side as well.

A great season for the team. Many of the Comets who ran track will be joining Coach Vela in football, or Coaches Benny Reeves and Coach Quasarano in Cross Country in a few weeks. Here’s to a great season and congratulations to all our seniors, everyone of whom is graduating and attending college next year.

JLTF Sends 5 Athletes to CCS from BVAl Championships

Robert Rios Throwing the shot put

The Comets had 13 different athletes compete at BVAl Championships. While it must be noted 5 of the 13 only made Champs as part of a relay team, the 8 individuals is also the highest number since the creation of the BVAl Championships meet was created in 2002.

In recent years it had been a struggle to send any athletes to the meet, and none had finished in the top 8, earning a trip to CCS outright, since 2008 when Ruth Lebeau did it in both Horizontal jumps. This year however 4 Comets were able to clinch a top 8 spot, and a 5th is going to CCS because of a scratch.

The meet began with the girl’s 4×100 team placing 14th out of 16 teams, a fair showing for the team in their first girls 4×100 BVAl Champs appearance since 2004. All 4 members of the team, Maria Mendoza, Gabriela Aguilar, Karen Montes and Andrea Ortiz are returning next year.

The team’s two top milers struggled mightily, running nowhere near their top times. Karan Singh ends the season with a PR of 4:39 for the distance. Daniela Camacho battled the flu in her final high school 1600, so she ends her seaso witha  PR of 5:27.54. Later in the girl’s 800, Daniela battled to finish 9th in 2:35, and due to a scratch by Santa Teresa, she will run the 800 at CCS.

The girls 400 held the first CCS qualification for the team, Paloma Contreras did not run a PR but her time of 1:03.54 was good for 7th place and a trip to CCS. Davion Thomas followed Paloma’s race with a very strong 100m race, finishing 11th in a wind aided 11.42. Davions time converted to wind legal adjusts to 11.48, good for the 10th spot on the school’s all time list.

Later in the day Davion also ran a huge PR in the 200 of 23.19, for a wind legal PR and position on the top 10 list as well. Davion clinched 8th place and a trip to CCS as a result. The girl’s 300 hurdles was the first event in many years in which the comets sent two athletes to BVAL champs.Maria managed to take 10th in a solid 51.60, a very impressive showing as a sophomore. Andrea however, ran 50.42 to take 8th place and make CCS, making it 4 comets on the day.

In the field events Alejandra Ceron and Robert Rios threw shot put for the team. Alejandra received the honor of making the meet as a freshmen, though she was unable to match her great throw from a week ago. Robert placed 6th, to be the 5th CCS qualifier, and he had the highest placing of any comet at BVAL championships since 2008. His throw of 42-6 was not a pr, but a 2nd best career throw.

All of these Comets will head to CCS Trials on May 23rd, looking to end their season’s (and in some cases, careers) with a final PR. CCS Trials begins at 2:00 p.m. May 23rd at San Jose City College.

The Track and Field Team Banquet will be May 22nd, at 5:00 PM by the playground in Alum Rock Park.

JLTF Ends season with best WVAL Showing in years

Girls 4×400 after their race

JLTF had a strong finish to the season with day 2 of WVAL Finals. The Lady Comets finished 3rd with 91 points to seal a 2nd place league finish. The Boys scored 51 Points for 5th to clinch a 4th place finish in the standings.

The Meet began with the field events. Charli Chircop was able to score 6th place in the girls discus, while Elyse Elder was able to get 7th in the girls long jump, events where no girl scored for the team over the last 5 years. The most impressive field performance by far however, was Robert Rios winning his second WVAL league championship with a best of 43’2. This beats Robert previous PR of 41’11 showing that he is hitting his top form at the right time. The throw moves him onto 8th on the school’s top 10 list in the event.

Both 4×100 teams ran big seasons bests at the beginning of the running events. The boys ran 46.69 for 5th, breaking 47 for the first time in 7 years. The girls made BVAL championships with a 4th place finish in 55.04.

Karan Singh lost a battle with Jason Morrow in the 1600, but took 2nd in a PR of 4:39.91. Nathan Bernardo had a PR of 4:52.19 for 7th place, giving the comets two scorers in the 1600 for the first time in 10 years.

The hurdling duo of Maria Mendoza and Andre Ortiz scored 5th and 6th in the 100 hurdles and will both be returning next year. The team’s most impressive running performance was Paloma Contreras taking the league title in the 400 with a PR of 1:02.54. Paloma came into this week with a best of 1:03.75, ran 1:03.34 in trials on wednesday then another PR to move onto 3rd on the school’s top 10 list. Cierra Gutierrez took 8th in the 400 to add a second scorer.

Davion Thomas ran a brilliant PR of 11.69 in the 100m to place 4th and qualify for BVAL championships. Davion has worked hard this season to go from 12.20 on March 7th, to 11.69 2 months later.

The girl’s 800 was the team’s best event with 14 points scored. Daniela Camacho lead the scorers with a 2:27.64 for 2nd place. This gives Daniela the final school distance record, and is a 5 second PR. Paloma managed to place 6th only 20 minutes after her 400. Brianna Flores took 7th in a PR of 2:46, and Daisy Nava ran a big pr of 2:48 for 8th. This is the first time in school history the lady comets have had 4 girls score in the same event at league finals.

The boys 800 held big PRs for Inteus Castro-Lopez 2:26 and Jesus Deloya: 2:18. Karan had a tough race to place 6th and score in all 3 distance events with the placing.

The girls 300 hurdles has been an area of strength all year and two girls were able to qualify for BVAL champs, with Andrea placing 3rd in 51.26 and Maria taking 4th in a PR of 51.28. Andrea followed this up by scoring a point in the 200 despite her fatigue. Davion qualified for BVAL in the 200 as well finishing 4th with a time of 23.97. The girls 3200 had two scorers, Daniela in 4th at 12:34, and Brianna with a PR in 13:46.

The days ended with epic runs in the 4×400. The girls 4×400 had been ranked 2nd but lost 2 members of the A team before the race. Daniela immediately after her 3200, and Daisy had to step in and run. Despite the substitutions the Comets battled their way to 4th place on the back of Paloma’s dominant anchor leg, the team will go after the school record at BVAL championships this thursday.

The boy’s 4×400 was similarly exciting. The boys were ranked 7th but ran an 11 second seasons best of 3:40.13 the team’s best 4×400 time in over 6 years. Bith relays demonstrated the tremendous strength of teammwork the comets have demonstrated all year.

Following the meet I was approached by multiple coaches who commented that the JL track team was wonderfully friendly and supportive and really stood out this season. Nothing could make me prouder of this year’s crop of Comets who’ve pushed JL into a transition, both in competition and culture. We will be looking to build on the groundwork laid by this year’s seniors next season, and are excited to see what the future holds. The 11 comets who made BVAL championships will compete thursday May 14th at Mt. Pleasant high school in pursuit of the first BVAL champs points scored by JL in 6 years.

WVAL Finals Day 1 Summary

Elyse Elder triple jumping

Day one of WVAL Finals featured all prelims for lane events, as well as finals in two distance events and 5 field events between both genders.Only the top 8 athletes in each event move on to finals on friday, since the top 8 athletes in each event score points at league finals. The top 4 athletes in each event not only score, but qualify for BVAL championships next week. The meet started with great performances in the  sprint hurdles. Andrea qualified for finals with a PR of 18.73, despite not being ranked in the top 8. Maria also PRd running 18.45 to advance herself. Susie Peterson ended her season with a PR of 20.39. Last year Maria ran 20.53 to qualify for finals, showing how much stronger the league is this year that Susie did not get in.

Hadji Yono-Cruz ran 19.32 for a strong PR and qualafied for finals on friday despite being ranked 10th. Sadly Hadji has a previous commitment and will have to miss the meet. Jon Rodriguez ended his season with a PR of 20.30. Gustavo Aguilera had a poor race by his standards and did not advance either.

Paloma Contreras showed why she is ranked #1 with a win in her heat of the 400 in PR fashion, 1:03.34. Cierra Gutierrez made finals with a 3 second pr of 1:07.59. Gabby Aguilar did not advance but ran a 2 second pr of 1:09.39. The boys performed strongly as well. Cesar Azevedo was ranked 9th, but is now ranked 5th after PRing to 55.36 to make finals. Gustavo Parra did not advance, but ran a solid PR of 57.38.

The girl’s did not have anyone compete in the 100. In the boy’s 100 however Davion Thomas advanced to finals with an official PR of .13, 11.78. He is ranked 5th for friday and has a good chance of making BVAl champs. Stanley Nguyen ended his season with a solid PR of 12.28. Ralph Sanchez battled injury but ran his race bravely regardless.

Meanwhile the jumpers were hard at work. Lyndel Ventura placed 3rd in triple jump with a leap of 29’10.25″ She clinches a spot at BVAL champs as a freshman in the process. Crystal Nguyen had a solid PR of 28’4.25″ to place 6th. Elyse Elder jumped inches from her pr. She did however manage to score a point in the high jump by clearing 4’3. Davion struggled in long jump,scratching all 3 attempts in an event he was expected to score highly in. Hadji jumped 16’11 to end his season.

No event was a more impressive showing for the team than the girl’s 300 hurdles. Andrea Ortiz came in ranked 7th and is ranked 2nd for fiday after winning her heat in a PR shattering 50.20.  She takes the school record from teammate Maria Mendoza in the process. Maria remains ranked 3rd after winning her own heat in 51.80 to PR as well. The boy 300 hurdlers had a rough day, with Jon narrowly missing advancing, placing 9th in 49.01. Jesse Chircop looked poised to PR but came to a complete stop at the last hurdle,an issue he will work to fix for next season.

The 200s saw Gabby end her season with another PR of 31.09. Andrea also PR’d running 29.22 despite having just finished the 300 hurdles. Davion managed to again advance to finals as the #5 rank. He broke 24 for the first time for the event, clocking 23.99. Cesar also ran a PR in the event, running 25.94.

The throwers showed their mettle again with Pablo Segovia throwing a PR in Disc to score 8th in 98’8.5. Alex Alonzo ended his season with a PR of 78’8.5 as well. Isaac and RObert also competed. The girl’s shot was outstanding for the team. Alejandra Ceron threw 29’6.5″ A PR by 2 feet to place 3rd and qualify for BVAL champs. Charli Chircop placed 6th with a solid throw in 27’10. These freshmen girls will be a big factor in the league for years to come.

The meet came to a close with 2 heats of the girls 1600 as finals, and ythe boys 3200 final. Brianna Flores ended her 4 year career by winning the 1st heat in 6:13.65, an 11 second PR. Daniela Camacho placed 3rd in the fast jeat to qualify for BVAl champs in 5:29.55. A strong performance for both girls.

The boys 3200 had Karan Singh running 10:23.00 to move onto the school’s top 10 list in the event and place 3rd. Nathan Bernardo scored a point at 10:45, an 18 second PR. Hector Ramirez had a 7 second pr of 11:01, placing 12th, showing the league’s depth in the event. Guillermo Villalobos ended his season with a solid 11:30.

The Comets had a great day 1 overall and are looking ahead to Friday’s finals to far exceed last year’s combined point total of 63 points between the boys and girls. Stay tuned for finals results.

WVAL Finals Meet Program

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0prxd911jnzj5g6/2015%20Meet%20Program.pdf?dl=0

 

JLTF 2014 Season Vs. 2015 Season

The 2014 Track season was a good step for the team. It yielded the first dual meet wins for the girl’s and boy’s teams in 5 years en route to 1-6 seasons. The 2015 Season however has been a complete leap forward. Here is an event by event breakdown of just how much better the team is this year than last, using the best marks/ times going into WVAL finals 2014, compared with the best marks/times of the team this year as it prepares for finals.

2014

Event	Name	Time/Mark	Place in meet	Date
100m	Mac Dual	12.44	1st	4/10/14
200m	Darwin Cano	25.15	2nd	4/10/14
400m	Armando Aguilar	0:56.08	3rd	3/20/14
800m	Nathan Bernardo	2:25.8	2nd	3/6/14
1600m	Nathan Bernardo	5:18.08	36th	4/5/14
3200m	Jose Jimenez	12:01	3rd	3/20/14
110hh	Cesar Azevedo	20.84	2nd	4/3/14
300h	Nathan Bernardo	52.65	2nd	3/6/14
LJ	Brendan Nforbi	16’7	3rd	3/13/14
TJ	Nathan Bernardo	37’4.5”	1st	4/10/14
HJ	Juan Gutierrez	5’0	3rd	3/28/14
Shotput	Robert Rios	39’1	1st	5/9/14
Discus	Brando Melchor	97’10	2nd	5/1/14
4×100	Dual,Cano,Baltazar,Aguilar	48.34c	2nd	3/13/14
4×400	Cano,Bernardo,Dual,Aguilar	3:48	1st	3/20/14

2015

Event	Name	Time/Mark	Meet	Place	Date
100m	Davion Thomas	11.74c	James Lick @ San Jose	1st	4/30/15
200m	Davion Thomas	24.14c	James Lick @ San Jose	1st	4/30/15
400m	Nathan Bernardo	55.60	Live Oak Vs. James Lick	1st	4/16/15
800m	Karan Singh	2:07.38	Bear Cat Invitational	16th	4/18/15
1600m	Karan Singh	4:41.92	Bear Cat Invitational	13th	4/18/15
3200m	Karan Singh	10:49.09	Quicksilver Classic	10th	4/4/15
110h	Hadji Yono-Cruz	19.75	Prospect Vs. James Lick	1st	4/23/15
300h	Jon Rodriguez	47.34c	James Lick @ San Jose	1st	4/30/15
LJ	Davion Thomas	19’10	Quicksilver Classic	3rd	4/4/15
TJ	Nathan Bernardo	38’1	CCS Top 8 Meet	18th	4/17/15
HJ	Karan Singh	5’8	James Lick@ independence	1st	3/26/15
Shotput	Robert Rios	41’11.5”	Prospect Vs. James Lick	1st	4/23/15
Discus	Pablo Segovia	96’7	Live Oak Vs. James Lick	3rd	4/16/15
4×100	Nguyen,Rodriguez,Sanchez,Thomas	47.84c	James Lick Vs. Gunderson	2nd	3/19/15
4×400	Aguilera, Parra, Bernardo, Singh	3:51	Prospect vs. James Lick	1st	4/23/15

2014

Event	Name	Time/Mark	Place in meet	Date
100m	Maria Mendoza	14.49	2nd	5/1/14
200m	Paloma Contreras	30.61	1st	5/1/14
400m	Paloma Contreras	1:07.30	1st	4/10/14
800m	Daniela Camacho	2:36.90	2nd	3/27/14
1600m	Daniela Camacho	5:40.61	1st	4/10/14
3200m	Daniela Camacho	12:53.05	13th	4/5/14
100hh	Maria Mendoza	20.27	1st	5/1/14
300h	Maria Mendoza	0:56.54	2nd	3/27/14
LJ	La-Ree Tea	14’11	1st	4/3/14
TJ	La-Ree Tea	30’	1st	4/3/14
HJ	Paloma Contreras	4’3	1st	3/27/14
Shotput	Karina Venegas	23’7	1st	5/1/14
Discus	Karina Venegas	74’3	1st	3/27/14
4×100	Lopez,Aguilar,Flores,Mendoza	0:59.64	2nd	3/20/14
4×400	Mendoza, Rodriguez,Camacho,Contreras	4:38.80	2nd	4/10/14

2015

Girls

Event	Name	Time/Mark	Meet	Place	Date
100m	Maria Mendoza	13.94	James Lick@ independence	1st	3/26/15
200m	Maria Mendoza	28.73	K-Bell Invitational	38	3/14/15
400m	Paloma Contreras	1:03.75	Bear Cat Invitational	8th	4/18/15
800m	Daniela Camacho	2:32.68	K-Bell Invitational	16th	3/14/15
1600m	Daniela Camacho	5:27.54	Bear Cat Invitational	3rd	4/18/15
3200m	Daniela Camacho	12:18.17	Willow Glen Invitational	5th	3/7/15
100hh	Maria Mendoza	18.54c	James Lick @ San Jose	1st	4/30/15
300h	Maria Mendoza	52.37	Quicksilver Classic	4th	4/4/15
LJ	Lyndel Ventura	14’10	Prospect vs. James Lick	1st	4/23/15
TJ	Lyndel Ventura	29’11	James Lick @ San Jose	1st	4/30/15
HJ	Elyse Elder	4’6	Yerba Buena Vs. James Lick	1st	4/2/15
Shotput	Charli Chircop	27’11	James Lick @ San Jose	3rd	4/30/15
Discus	Charli Chircop	76’2	Prospect vs. James Lick	2nd	4/23/15
4×100	Mendoza,Ortiz,Montes, Aguilar	55.84c	James Lick @ San Jose	1st	4/30/15
4×400	Mendoza,Aguilar,Camacho,Contrer-	4:33.04c	James Lick Vs. Gunderson	1st	3/19/15

In 2014 the three top entires from James Lick in Boys shot put were Robert Rios at 39’1, and two senior teammates at 32′ and 30′ respectively. This season however Robert has thrown 41’11” and freshman Daniel Medina has a best of 35’1.5″ and Mario Perez has improved over 4 feet to 32′. Similarly Karina Venegas was the leading female thrower at 23’7, and she narrowly missed scoring at league finals. This year two freshmen standout, Charli Chircop at 27’11” and Alejandra Ceron at 27’5″. Karina’s best discus throw was 74’3, Charli and Alejandra however are at 76’2 and 75’8 respectively. The boy’s discus last year had strong senior Brando Melchor who entered finals with a best of 97’10 (and would throw 105′ to place 2nd.) Pablo Segovia has been at 96′ for some time and is due top break through. Robert is close behind at 93′ comparable to the 90′ best of Lick’s 2nd best disc thrower last year. What is dramatically improved this year is the depth, with 6 different boys at 77′ feet or higher, and Isaac Jiminez at 84’11 is the 3rd best disc thrower. The throws team has excelled in two years under Coach Vela, and has truly blossomed this year with him being their primary coach. The throws are the only area in which the team has gotten more than half of dual meet points available to them both in 2014 and 2015.

The jumps have improved thanks to a good batch of newcomers and a lot of hard work. In high jump, Paloma Contreras consistently clears 4’4 compared to 4’2 last year. Elyse Elder has PR of 4’6 meaning the duo will likely score points at league finals. Karan Singh has high jumped 5’8 despite not focusing on the event, a great improvement from last year when no guy could legally clear 5’0.The triple jump last year had Nathan Bernardo entering finals with a PR of 37’4, compared to his seasons best of 38’1 this year. His focus on distance will make his huge league finals performance of 39’5 difficult to replicate however. Hadji Yono-Cruz gives the team a solid 2nd jumper with a PR of 36’6. Last year the team had one strong female jumper in La-Ree Tea, she had a best of 30′ in triple jump but was not able to compete at league finals. The next two best jumpers were both 21 foot triple jumpers. This year Lyndel Ventura 29’11, Elyse Elder 28’1, and Crystal Nguyen 27’9 have worked themselves into a position to all score at league finals.

The long jump is improved as well with Lyndel at 14’10, Elyse at 14’2 and Crystal at 13’7 while no girl long jumpers even competed at finals last year. The boys long jump best entering lague finals last season was 16’7. While Nathan would go on to jump 19’1 this still isn’t as far as the best jumper this season, Davion Thomas at 19’10. Hadji is again a solid 2nd jumper at 18’1.

Beginning with the relays, both 4×100 teams, but especially the girls are vastly improved. The boys have twice broken 48 this season compared to a mid 48 PR last season. Last season the girls never officially  ran under 1:00 but this season the team of Maria Mendoza, Gabriela Aguilar, Karen Montes and Andrea Ortiz are down to 55.84. This 4×100 improvement is down to much stronger 100m runners this year. Last season’s best time heading into finals was Maria at 14.49. She has run 13.94 this season while Andrea Ortiz 14.34 and Paloma Contreras 14.37 are all faster than last year’s best. The boy’s standout is Davion Thomas, who has several times broken 12 seconds while last season’s best time in the event was 12.44. Davion is down to low 24 in the 200, and Stanley Nguyen has also broken 25 while last season 25 was not broken until finals.

Last season the Comets did not even enter a boy in the 400 final, though two comets, Armando Aguilar and Nathan Bernardo both ran in the 56 second range. This season Nathan has run 55.6 and Cesar Azevedo is at 55.87. The girl’s 400 is an event the team has not lost all season. Paloma Contreras ran 1:07.30 before finals last year and peaked well to run 1:06.74. This year she has run 1:03.75 and should attack the league title in the event. Daniela Camacho has run 1:07.3 and Maria Mendoza has run 1:07.9, compared to Daniela being the 2nd best last year at 1:09.

In the high hurdles last season the team’s best was from Cesar at 20.84. 3 Boys (all sophomores) are faster this year with Hadji at 19.75, Gustavo Aguilaera at 20.35 and Jonathan Rodriguez at 20.57. In the 300 hurdles last year’s seasons best was 52 seconds. This year 4 boys are faster with 2 under 50, Gustavo at 48.83 and Jon at 47.35. Jesse Chircop also has a PR of 51 but is ready to break 50 at finals. The girl’s 100h best last season heading into finals was Maria at 20.27 (she would run 19.75 to place 6th). This season she has run 19.09 (and is ready for a huge pr now that she can 4 step) and Andrea has run 19.40 compared to 21.27 last year. Susie Peterson is a solid 20.80 as a freshman. The 300 hurdles has Maria ranked 2nd in league at 52.35 compared to her PR of 56.36 last year, and Andrea is down to 54.14 herself. Daisy Nava is a strong 3rd girl in 59 seconds giving the comets great depth where last year only one girl could break 60.

No event group is more improved however than boy’s distance. Last year’s best 800m time was by Nathan at 2:25. This year Nathan has run 2:11, and is one of  8 boys faster than 2:25. He also had last season’s best 1600 with a time of 5:18.05. This year 3 comets are under 5 minutes, a 4th is at 5:00.73, and a 5th at 5:02.25. Karan Singh leads the way at 4:41.92. Three other comets also have better times than 5:18 this year.The 3200 best last year was by Jose Jiminez, 12:02. Karan has a time of 10:49 to lead a group of 7 comets who are under 12 this season. The Distance boys have gone from the weakest group last season, only grabbing 14% of points available, to the strongest group of the team this year, nabbing 60% of available points.

The girls are stronger this year as well. Last year in the 800 the gir’s entered finals with the 3 best times being Daniela at 2:36.9, Paloma at 2:43, and Gabby at 2:59. This year it’s Daniela at 2:32.6, Paloma at 2:37 and Maria at 2:46. 8 girls are under 3 this year compared to only 6 in school history 2 years ago.

The 1600 has Daniela down at 5:27.54 compared to 5:40 last year. The 2nd and 3rd milers entered at finals last year had times of 6:46 and 6:52 compared to 6:26 and 6:31 this year. In the 3200 Daniela has run 12:18 compared to her Pre finals best of 12:53 last year. Brianna Flores is at 13:58 to give the girls two sub 14 runners on the same team for the first time in school history. Below you can see the scoring by event breakdowns from 2014 compared to 2015.

The James Lick Comets are well on their way to restoring the school to a power in track and look to solidify themselves at league finals. League Finals preview coming soon.

Boys Scoring By event 2014

Opponent/ Total	100	200	400	800	1600	3200	110h	300h	SP	DC	LJ	TJ	HJ	4×100	4×400
San Jose / 29 Points	1	3	0	3	0	0	8	4	6	0	3	1	0	0	0
Prospect/ 47 Points	1	3	4	0	1	0	6	5	9	9	1	3	0	0	5
Yerba B/           23 Points	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	8	3	1	3	0	0	5
Independ/22 points	0	0	8	0	1	0	1	0	8	1	0	0	3	0	0
Del Mar/56 points	5	5	5	3	3	0	4	1	9	8	3	4	1	0	5
Gunderson/77 Points (win)	8	4	0	0	1	9	9	9	9	9	0	8	0	5	5
Live Oak/24 points	0	0	0	1	4	0	8	3	5	3	0	0	0	0	0

2014

Average Points Per meet by event/ Total Points For season

100	200	400	800	1600	3200	110h	300h	SP	DC	LJ	TJ	HJ	4×100	4×400
2.14	2.14	2.57	1	1.43	1.43	5.14	4	7.71	4.74	1.14	2.71	.57	.71	2.86
15	14	18	7	10	10	36	23	54	33	8	19	4	5	20

282 Total Dual Meet Points. 63 Total Points available per event. 35 For relays.

Event Group	Average Points Per Dual Meet	Average points as percentage of available.	League Finals Points
Distance	3.86	14.3 %	0
Hurdles	9.14	50.7%	0
Jumps	4.42	16.3 %	14
Relays	3.86	35 %	3
Sprints	6.85	25.3%	0
Throws	12.45	69%	18

2015

Boys Scoring By event 2015

Opponent/ Total	100	200	400	800	1600	3200	110h	300h	SP	DC	LJ	TJ	HJ	4×100	4×400
Del Mar82 Points	6	5	5	6	8	8	4	4	8	8	4	4	5	5	5
Gunderson72 Points	4	4	6	1	1	8	8	9	9	9	4	5	0	0	5
Independence39 Points	0	1	0	8	5	6	0	1	5	3	0	5	5	0	0
Yerba Buena58 Points	5	5	3	5	6	4	1	1	6	3	3	3	5	0	0
Live Oak 77 Points	3	5	8	8	8	9	9	9	5	1	1	6	5	0	0
Prospect46 Points	0	0	1	4	3	4	9	4	5	1	3	4	3	0	5
San Jose68 Points	5	6	6	9	8	4	1	5	5	0	6	1	3	5	5

Average Points Per meet by event/ Total Points For season

100	200	400	800	1600	3200	110h	300h	SP	DC	LJ	TJ	HJ	4×100	4×400
3.28	3.71	4.14	5.86	5.28	5.86	4.57	4.57	6.43	3.57	3	4	3.71	1.43	2.86
23	26	29	41	37	41	32	32	45	25	21	28	26	10	20

63 Total Points available per event. 35 For relays.

436 Dual Meet Points Scored.

Event Group	Average Points Per Dual Meet	Average points as percentage of available.	League Finals Points
Distance	17	60.7
Hurdles	9.14	50.7
Jumps	10.71	39.6
Relays	4.29	42.9
Sprints	11.13	41.2
Throws	10	55.6

2014

Girls scoring by event 2014

Opponent/ Total	100	200	400	800	1600	3200	100h	300h	SP	DC	LJ	TJ	HJ	4×100	4×400
San Jose / 35 Points	1	1	6	8	8	6	0	0	1	3	0	0	1	0	0
Prospect/ 38 Points	1	8	3	0	1	3	0	3	5	5	1	5	3	0	0
Yerba B/     46 Points	3	1	3	8	5	9	1	3	1	1	0	1	5	0	5
Independ/44 Points	3	1	3	3	1	4	0	3	6	6	0	4	5	0	5
Del Mar/49 Points	0	1	6	6	8	6	1	3	0	1	5	6	1	0	5
Gunderson/61 Points	0	1	5	8	8	9	5	6	0	1	5	5	8	0	0
Live Oak/54 Points (win)	3	9	9	8	6	N/A	5	3	5	5		0	1	0	N/A

Average Points Per meet by event

100	200	400	800	1600	3200	100h	300h	SP	DC	LJ	TJ	HJ	4×100	4×400
1.57	3.14	5	5.86	5.29	6.17	1.71	3.29	2.57	3.14	1.57	3	3.43	0	2.14
11	22	35	41	37	37	12	21	18	22	11	21	24	0	15

333 Total Dual Meet Points. 63 Total Points available per event. 35 For relays. (56 for 3200)

Event Group	Average Points Per Dual Meet	Average points as percentage of available.	League Finals Points
Distance	17.32	64.1%	13
Hurdles	5	27.8%	3
Jumps	8	29.6 %	0
Relays	2.14	21.4 %	4
Sprints	9.71	36%	8
Throws	5.71	31.7%	0

2015

Girls Scoring By event 2015

Opponent/ Total	100	200	400	800	1600	3200	100h	300h	SP	DC	LJ	TJ	HJ	4×100	4×400
Del Mar90 Points	6	6	9	6	8	8	4	9	5	3	6	4	8	5	5
Gunderson82 points	6	5	5	9	8	9	8	6	6	1	1	8	5	0	5
Independence64 points	6	5	5	1	1	3	5	5	6	6	8	3	5	5	0
Yerba Buena85 Points	6	5	6	8	6	6	3	5	5	8	8	6	3	5	5
Live Oak 79 Points	0	1	6	9	4	8	9	9	8	8	5	3	4	0	5
Prospect 58 points	3	3	5	6	3	3	1	4	8	4	8	9	1	0	0
San Jose71 Points	4	4	8	9	6	5	5	8	1	1	3	3	5	5	5

Average Points Per meet by event/ Total Points For season

100	200	400	800	1600	3200	110h	300h	SP	DC	LJ	TJ	HJ	4×100	4×400
4.43	4.14	6.28	6.71	5.14	6	5	6.57	5.57	4.43	4.14	5.14	4.43	2.83	3.57
31	29	44	47	36	42	35	46	39	31	29	36	31	20	25

63 Total Points available per event. 35 For relays.

511 Dual Meet points scored

Event Group	Average Points Per Dual Meet	Average points as percentage of available.	League Finals Points
Distance	17.85	66.1
Hurdles	11.57	64.2
Jumps	13.71	50.7
Relays	6.4	64
Sprints	14.85	55
Throws	10	55.6

Comets Final Dual Meet yields wins at San Jose High

The James Lick Track team ended their season with a pair of victories, meaning that for the first time in the West Valley league, both the boys and girls of JLTF had winning seasons. The boys wrapped up their season with a 4-3 record, and the girl’s finished a very strong 6-1.

The meet against San Jose was a close battle. In the week before WVAL finals, the focus was largely on preparing for strong performances next week. Both 4×100 teams showed they are primed for big races at finals, beating the bulldogs in both events. The girl’s team of Maria Mendoza, Gabriela Aguilar, Karen Montes and Andrea Ortiz ran 55.84 to break 56 for the first time. The decision to switch Andrea and Gabby’s legs paid immediate dividends with the seasons best  time.

The 1600 was won in strong fashion by Karan Singh in a negative split 4:55 in 90 degree heat. Gustavo parra finished in 2nd in 5:04. The girl’s 1600 was won by a coasting Daniela Camacho in 6:06, Brianna Flores finished 3rd with a PR of 6:24. Susie Peterson also Pr’d running 7:34. The 100 hurdles was won by Maria Mendoza in a huge breakthrough. Maria has spent every race of her hurdles career using  5 step technique but at San Jose she was able to 4 step between every hurdle, using alternating legs. This is coming for the right time as Maria will be ready to shatter her personal record at league finals next week. Daisy Nava broke 22 for the first time clocking 21.8. Hadji Yono-Cruz placed 3rd in the 110 hurdles.

The 400 was won by Daniela in a pr of 1:07.4, Maria followed in a close second of 1:07.89, meaning Maria is now on the school’s top 10 list in every event from 200-1600 and both hurdle races. The duo gave Paloma a break from running the 400 to help her rest up and work on endurance for finals. The boys 400 was won by Karan in a pr of 57.3 following his victory in the mile. Jesse Chircop placed 3rd in a solid run of 1:00.16.

Andrea and Karen took 2nd and 3rd to score well in the 100 for the girls.Diana Ramos, and Elizabeth Perez both had big PR’s for the event. Davion won the boy’s 100 in a 11.2 hand time. While it cannot stand as an official PR, Davion looks poised for a big run at finals next week. The girl’s 800 was won by Paloma Contreras in a big PR of 2:37, moving her into 4th on the school’s Top 10 list. Daniela was 2nd and Cierra Gutiereez 3rd. Gabby ran a PR of 2:58 in the race. Nathan Bernardo won the boy’s 800 in a 2:12, a strong dual meet mark. Jose Jiminez was 2nd in a 5 second pr, 2:16. Gustavo P took 3rd in 2:22.

The 300 hurdles race was won in PR fashion by Andrea. She ran a 54.14c, for over a second PR and should score highly at league finals. Maria cruised to 2nd behind her. Daisy Nava achieved a small PR of 59.4. The boy’s 300 hurdles was won in an exciting manner by Jonathan Rodriguez. Jon ran 47.34c for a small pr and won the race over the last hurdle. Jesse looked to be on pace for a huge PR but in a freak mishap was tripped up by an opponent’s hurdle. In any case both the boy’s and girl’s 300 hurdlers are ready to represent the school well at league finals following year in which no points were scored in the event.

Andrea took another 2nd place finish in the 200 just minutes after the 300 hurdles. Daniela took 3rd in a PR of 31.04c, working on her speed in this final week of the season. Analilia Regla ran a pr breaking 34 for the first time. The boy’s 200 was won again by Davion Thomas who should break 24 at finals next week with automatic timing. Karan followed him in 3rd with Nathan in 4th both running low 25s, as they prepare their finishing speed for finals. The girl’s 3200 was won conviningly by Brianna, while Hector Ramirez took 2nd in the goy’s event. Inteus Castro-Lopez took 3rd in a pr of 12:21 despite the sweltering heat.Both 4×400 teams had victories to finish off the running events.

San Jose has a strong group of athletes in the field events. Robert Rios won the shot put ot finish his season 7-0 in the event. No other Comet boys were able to score howeer in either event though Alex Alonzo did throw a pr in shot, clearing 30 for the first time. Jeremiah Mendoza also finished his season with a pr of 25 feet. Charli Chircop scored 3rd in both of the girl’s throwing events, and tossed a big pr of 27’11 in shot put in the process.

Karan placed 2nd in high jump clearing 5’2. Paloma won the girl’s high jump at 4’4.

Lyndel Ventura placed 2nd in both horizontal jumps and achieved a PR of 29’11 in triple jump. Lyndel should score highly at finals and will hope to break 30 in the event. Nathan scored 1 point in the boy’s triple jump. Davion won the boy’s long jump in 19’7, by far his best ever dual meet jump.Hadji placed 3rd in 17’4.

The Comets have worked hard to turn themselves from a perpetual cellar-dweller to a team to be reckoned with in the West Valley league. They will head to Del Mar next Wednesday and Friday for the WVAL Finals to prove themselves further. The team is aiming for high point totals on both teams, and to send as many athletes to BVAL Championships (The top 4 athletes in each event at WVAL Finals) as possible.

WVAL Finals preview, and 2014 vs. 2015 Track comparisons coming soon!