04/22/2022
In spite of cold weather, rain, and HAIL(!), we had some amazing personal records set at the first Capital Athletic League meet last night, some gritty runs to protect team points, and some athletes showing extraordinary versatility. Here are a few highlights:
1. The literal last runner on the track was sprinter Alex Anderson. She ran the last leg of the 4x400 and helped secure an additional 8 points for the girls team. This is a great example of how you win league championships. Most of the schools dropped out or did not put a team on the track for that race, but the team that was ahead in points (Rio) did, and we had been chasing them all night. By running that race Alex, Nishka, Lainy and Vivian narrowed the gap. Even if they were last on the track, they got us that much closer to our ultimate goal of having everyone be a league champion.
Alex did this selfless 4x400 task after placing second in the Long Jump, second in the 200 (with a new PR) and helping the 4x100 team score points also. Alex is a textbook example for everyone about how to balance individual performance and supporting team goals.
2. The Girls Team placed second in points last night - 118 to Rio's 158. We have points up for grabs in pole vault and high jump, which may tip the scales in our favor at next week’s league meet.
3. Kimora Wiley can triple jump! Freshman Kimora has been working on TJ in practice and finally was able to put it together for a track meet and did amazing. Her new PR of 31'-5" is not just impressive, but for context, in 14 years we have only had 7 freshman jump farther and all but one of those girls ended up as a league champion or runner-up while in HS. ....Also our triple jumping girls placed 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th in competition.
4. Will Greene can high jump! Will joined a very small club of freshmen who have jumped 5'-10" at Vista....he is the third. He is also among just 11 total boys who've hit that mark. What is true for all high jumpers is that any time you reach a bar height within 4 inches of your own height, you are excelling, and Will did just that. Our boy high jumpers placed 2nd, 3rd and 7th-11th…and only one is a senior, so we have a great crew of jumpers for years to come.
5. Conner Hurley set new PRs in the 200 and 400 grabbing third place in each and moving into 15th place all time for Vista in the 400m.
6. Andrew Zimney set a new PR in the 800 (2:00.85). Now he and Silas Glynn (PR 2:00.42) are on the verge of cracking the 2 minute barrier, which sets apart great HS 800 runners from the very good.
7. Jakob Hollinghaus set new PR's in the 200m and shot put. Jakob is now 7th all time for Vista in Shot. Jakob - aside from being a great athlete - has in a short time become one of the most valuable members of our team for other reasons. He models how to prepare and take competition seriously, while remaining easy-going and fun-loving. His hard work over many years put him in position to have these great performances.
Finally, the varsity boys were big winners last night. They scored 170 points, with the second place team far behind at 109.
