The Islanders competed in the CIF San Diego Section Track & Field Championship Finals on May 20 at Mt. Carmel High School, with seven of the 10 competitors coming away with a medal, according to Coach Cameron Gary.
The last meet of the season had the Islanders competing in Division Three, which is based on enrollment, with 65 other schools that have a total enrollment of more than 34,000 student-athletes.
Coronado High School competed in five individual events and two relays, and the Islanders came away with medals (top six) in four competitions, Gary said.
Here are the winners:
Balsey double medalist
Junior Lindsey Balsley was a double medalist, repeating this accomplishment from last season.
She finished third in the girls long jump with a leap of 16’ 10.75”, and fourth in the girls 300 hurdles, with a time of 48.95 seconds.
Senior Saxton Sylvester placed fourth in the boys discus, with a throw of 117 feet even. This was his second time qualifying for CIF (first time making the Final).
The Islander boys 4×800 Relay (freshman Nathan Ayan, juniors Jack Shumaker, Rafael
Roos, and Detrik Heidt) placed fifth with a time of 8:50.26. For all the members, this was their first CIF championship experience.
Sophomore Reif Souder placed sixth in the boys 300 Hurdles with a PR (personal record) time of 43.75 seconds. This was his first CIF championship experience.
Other Islanders who competed in the CIF Finals included sophomore Sean Groeneveld in the boys 400m Dash. He finished eighth, and the boys 4×400 Relay (Groeneveld, senior Jaden Banner, junior Marco Velarde, and Souder), finished ninth.
Future looks bright
Although some results were better than others, competing in a championship meet is a “mixed bag,” said Gary.
“Only one person/team will leave the meet completely happy. Everyone else will experience some level of disappointment,” Gary said. “However, just making it to this meet is an accomplishment in and of itself. There were many other athletes who wanted to be there but weren’t. So, we should take pride in that.”
Gary added there was “no substitute for championship experience.”
“It is not surprising that the two individual event medalists had prior CIF championship experience,” he said. “This experience is invaluable. The Islanders will be graduating two of these athletes. However, the other eight will be returning next year. The future looks
bright for the Islanders.”
