As is often the case, track and field is among the first spring sports to get underway. The big event opening the season was the Big Cat Invitational, held at Santa Rosa High on Saturday, March 1. Last weekend came the Gaucho Relays, at Casa Grade High.
“We had 28 student-athletes compete, and there were many great performances and learning opportunities that the Big Cat often provides as a season opener,” said head coach Kate Guthrie.
“Checking in for events, timing the warm-up properly before a race or event, coming out of blocks, learning racing strategies and more are just a few of the ways our student-athletes gained valuable experience at the meet,” she added.
A number of Healdsburg athletes competed, and several of them did fairly well. Senior Kaeden Anderson, returning to the track after a long injury-related layoff, turned in a respectable finish in the 3200-meter race, finishing fifth with a time of 10.02.37. That was about 28 seconds off his personal best of 9:43 set in 2023, so expect to see some improvement as the season goes on.
Teammate Jake McWilliams, a junior this year, placed fourth in the 800m race (2:03.97) and 10th in the 1600m (4:44.43). Both times fall just short of his personal best from last year’s competition, so he too is just warming up.
Meanwhile, Teague Jasper finished third in the high jump with a 5-foot-10-inch leap. He tied at that height with both the first-place finisher Malachi Cole and second-place Isaiah Mange, both of Maria Carrillo, but they were scored ahead based on fewer misses. Not bad for a freshman—Jasper also played varsity on the football and basketball teams this year.
The Gaucho Relays is an interesting event, in that the track competition consists entirely of relay teams—four-person teams in distances of 100 meters each, 200m, 800m and 1600 meters. More than 200 high schools competed this year.
The March 8 Gaucho Relays brought improved performances for most Greyhounds, and some encouraging trends. In the grueling 4×1600-meter relay, Healdsburg’s Lucas Welty, Jack Beckman, Jake McWilliams and Kaeden Anderson finished second, behind Windsor’s fleet four.
In track, Teague Jasper upped his personal best in the high jump to 6 feet 0 inches, equalling the height by event winner Sam Newmeyer of Tampalpais.
Another freshman, Siena Jasper, is putting in the work to show up in the top girls’ discus and shot put competitions, both difficult sports to master.
Next time the team is scheduled to take to the track and field will be the Field Event Jamboree in Santa Rosa on March 15, and the Dublin Distance Festival a week later, March 22. With so many student-athletes turning out for the sport this year, returning coach Guthrie will have a lot to work with.
