WEEK 3: Athletes of the Week

JOHN KREIFELS
John had a great meet at the MJC Invitational where he anchored the F/S boys 4x100m Relay team to a 1st place finish and placed a strong 5th in the F/S 100m dash.
KARINA REDDING
Karina placed 19th in her first venture into the 400m this year and improved her previous best time by over 5 seconds. The meet was cancelled due to bad weather just prior to her best event, the 300m hurdles.

MJC Invitational

Another weekend, another soggy track meet!

The Downey Knights took to the rain soaked oval at Modesto Junior College this past Saturday to compete against some of the best track athletes in the area. During the abbreviated competion some fine marks were acheived (especially considering the weather and track/fields conditions.

The F/S Boys
The boys place 4th overall and had eleven individuals/teams place in the top ten.

The 4x100 Relay team (Kreifels, Vaa-Ayala, Zambrano, Harris) started off the day for Downey on a high note by winning the event in 46.87 and earning the gold medal
.
The sprint core again represented well in the 100m dash. John Kreifels placed 5th in 12.54 and Mario Sanchez was 9th in 12.71.

Downey dominated the 400m with Blake Lopes again turing in a solid 2nd place effort in 55.14 with Richard Lopez close behind in 4th, 56.16.

In the 800m Anthony Garcia led the race at the 400m mark but faded and crossed the line in 4th place, 2:13.31.

In the field events Alex Vele finished fifth in the shot put with a throw of 39'1".

Like the sprints, Downey dominated the high jump with three jumpers in the top nine. Herman Harris again won the event with a hieght of 5'2". Richard Lopez placed 8th (5'0") and Mitchell Evans was 10th (4'8").

In the long jump Francisco Solorzano placed 8th with a jump of 15'9.25".

The Varsity Boys
The varsity boys also represented well and pulled out a very strong 7th place.

The 4x100 Relay (Lowe, Cummings, Mitchell, and Hackett) team ended up in the second heat, which they won (due to a huge anchor leg by Jacob Hackett), but it left them with a slower overall time and a 5th place finish.

In the 110 hurdles Kylo Vaught finished 5th in 17.69 and Caleb Lowe was 10th in 19.79.

Following up after his strong anchor leg, Jacob Hackett turned in another strong performance in the 100m by finishing 4th and becoming the first Knight this season to break twelve seconds with his time of 11.91.

Aaron Zwahlen turned in a strong performance in the 400m with a 7th place finish and a time of 54.91.

In the 1600m Andrew Osgood battled the rain and the competition to finish 6th in 4:44.65.

In the field events Malcoln McCloud earned a 4th place with his Discus throw of 110'8".

Ty Cummings leaped 18'3" to grab 5th place in the long jump.

The Girls
The only Downey girls to garner a top-ten finish was Sierra Durham with her 2nd place in the 1600m in a time of 5:45.19.

The girls finished in 17th place with 8 points.


Below is the complete list of Downey results:

Link to pictures from the meet:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55795&id=1807850130&l=8c02b0d3c5

Link to complete results:
http://rise.espn.go.com/track-and-xc/california/2011-track/Results/March/26-Modesto-JC.aspx?pursuit=TrackAndXC

WEEK 2: Athletes of the Week

Week 2 included a F/S only dual meet at Downey against Gregori and and the Brenda Athletic Clubs Invitational at Stanislaus State. There were some superior performances by a number of Knight track athletes.

HERMAN HARRIS is the male selection as track athlete of the week. Herman won the F?S high jump at the Brenda Athletic Club Inv. in 5'4". He also anchored the F/S 4X100 relay team that place second.

TAYLOR WILSON placed 6th in the 300m hurdle race at the Brenda Inv. Consequently she was the only female Downey athlete to score a point for the Knights.

Congratulations to both of these fine athletes.

Brenda Athletic Club Inv @ Stanislaus St

The day was wet, cold, and windy; but the Knights still managed to turn in some impressive performances. I will summarize the Downey athletes who finished in the top ten in their event. At the botom of the page will be complete results for all the Downey athletes who competed.

On the Girls' side:
Taylor Wilson was the highest placing female Knight with her 56.93, 6th place finish in the 300 hurdles. She was the only Downey girl to "score" a point.

The girls 4X100 relay team (Simone Wend, Maddie Finch, Felicia Romo, and Micayla Lowe) turned in a solid effort successfully getting the stick around the track in 55.26 and placing 9th overall.

Sierra Durham was the only other female Knight to crack the top ten with her 10th place, 6:01.98 finish in the 1600m.

The Varsity Boys
In the 100m Jacob Hackett broke into the top ten with his 9th place, 12.63 very solid effort.

Andrew Osgood ran a tough 1600m race in difficult, windy conditions to finish 3rd (4:45.19)

Kylo Vaught was 8th in the 110 HH (18.17) and 3rd in the 300 hurdles in 45.75

Conner Fenton was 5th in the High Jump with a height of 5'6".

In the varsity Long Jump, Ty Cummings finished in 10th place with a jump of 18'5.75"

F/S Boys
The young Knights double dipped with John Kreifels (3rd 12.46) and Kai Zambrano (8th 12.89) in the 100m

Blake Lopes turned in one of the most impressive efforts of the day with his victory in the 400m in a time of 56.99.

In the 800m Anthony Garcia blazed through the first 400m and then hung on to place second in 2:15.53

Aaron Zwahlen placed 10th in the 110HH in 21.81 and 3rd in the 300 hurdles in 44.23 (#6 all-time F/S at TDHS)

The 4X100 relay team (John Kreifels, Aaron Zwahlen, Kai Zambrano, Herman Harris) impressively finished 2nd in 46.75.

The young Knights strongest showing of the day came in the high jump with three athletes cracking the top ten. Herman Harris won the event with a jump of 5'4". Mitchell Evans' 5'2" was good enough for 5th, and Richard Lopez' 4'10" put him in 9th.

picts of the meet:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55225&id=1807850130&l=486564e6e1

Downey v Gregori

Still no results yet but here is a link to the pictures of the meet:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55189&id=1807850130&l=799275fd97

 

T+F ATHLETES of WEEK ONE

Only a handful of Downey T+F athletes participated during the first week of competition, however there were some outstanding early season marks set by those athletes.

ANDREW OSGOOD--debuted at The Tom Moore Sierra Relays with a 4th place finish in the 1600m. His time of 4:42.18 was a personal record. With this mark Andrew is currently ranked #2 in the county at the 1600. He was one of only two Downey runners to earn a medal at the Tom Moore Relays.

SIERRA DURHAM--debuted at the Pitman Distance Wars in Turlock with a 1st place in the 3200m in a time of 12:35.31. She won her race by over one minute. The next day she placed 6th in the 1600m at the Tom Moore Relays in a medal winning time of 5:47.03. Her 3200m time is currently the top mark in the county and her 1600m time is currently #3.

WEEKEND RESULTS (Pitman Distance Wars & Tom Moore Relays)

A small but mighty group of Knights competed over the weekend in two different meets: the Pitman Distance Wars and the Tom Moore Relays at Sierra HS.

First, the Pitman Distance Wars (Note the "Star Wars" theme) at Turlock, where four Downey distance runners took to the track under the lights on a perfect Spring evening. Jake Crenshaw got things rolling in the 1600m by winning his heat in a personal best time of 5:13.54. He won a T-shirt for his performance. His time would eventually place him as 28th out of 79 runners in the event.

Sierra Durham was the next Downey runner to compete. She took the lead in the 3200m race at the gun and never looked back. Her time of 12:35.31 was over one minute faster than the second place competitor. She won a T-shirt and a light saber. Since this was the first running of the meet, her time will act as the initial meet record.

Tyler Bingham was in the first section of the boys 3200m. He hung tough throughout the race, hanging on to a pack of about 5 runners competing for 2nd place. As they entered the home stretch, he and another runner would eventually catch the runner who had led from the gun. Tyler would battle to the tape for a hard earned 2nd place and a new personal record of 12:25.59. He also won a T-shirt for placing in the top two of his heat. His time would eventually be 39th out of 54 runners in the event.

Alfonso Urbano capped the night for the Downey contingent. He also ran the 3200m, but he was in a faster heat than Tyler. Alfonso went out too fast and paid for that mistake over the second half of the race. He did finish strong in a personal record time of 12:21.41. This time would be good for 37th out of the 54 athletes in the event.

Saturday was the Tom Moore Relays at Sierra HS in Manteca. A skeleton crew of Downey athletes was on hand.

The 4X100 team of Caleb Lowe, Juan VaaAyala, Jacob Hacket, and Shane Gorman had a strong showing in there heat. Shane got the baton trailing the leaders but pulled out a first place finish in the heat. Their time of 45.82 would place them as 9th overall in the final results.

Sierra Durham took to the track next for the VG 1600m. She would battle much of the race in 5-8th place. She passed two runners in the home stretch to finish a hard fought 6th place and earn a medal.

Andrew Osgood finished up the afternoon for the Downey athletes in the VB 1600m. He was in last off the line and gradually worked his way forward for a tough 4th place, 4:42.18 finish to earn a medal and a personal best time.

Although limited Downey athletes competed this weekend the results were encouraging (three t-shirts, two medals, and one light saber) and hopefully will be building blocks for a successful season.

PICTURES of the meets can be found at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=54028&l=443fef3616&id=1807850130