Track & Field
The high school track season got off to a great start at the 27th annual Big Cat Invitational meet hosted by Santa Rosa High School, as an estimated 1,300 participating athletes overcame threatening skies and intermittent rain to log outstanding performances.
The meet, which serves as the unofficial start to the spring season, included a mix of seasoned veterans along with hundreds of athletes getting their first taste of high school competition. The big numbers made for several heats in many races and a long day on the track.
“It was a great chance for us to get our feet wet—quite literally in this case—against some very good competition,” Jag’s coach Brandon Bronzan reported. “I’m really pleased at how well we’re competing this early in the season. It was also fun to see that competitive fire get stoked a bit after a good month of training by ourselves.”
Among the many highlights was a second place finish in both the 1,600 and 3,200 meter events by senior distance star Lucas Chung and a third-place effort by sophomore Jaden Fernandez. Other standouts were senior jumper Vince Corday and senior hurdler Ralph Manalac.
“Lucas doubled while some of the runners he competed against only ran one race,” Bronzan noted. “I know Lucas is frustrated whenever he doesn’t finish first — and I absolutely love that about him — but he’s running great right now.”
Highlights for the varsity girls included a pair of eighth place finishes by junior sprinter Kendall Campos (200 Meters) and freshman Lilja Chung (3,200 meters). “I’m still waiting on official results, but we set a lot of personal records,” Bronzan said. “One highlights was freshman Savannah Burger, winning the JV girls shot put in her first high school meet.”
Next up for the Jaguars is the North Coast Extravaganza hosted by Montgomery High School this Saturday, March 9. The meet starts at 9 a.m.
