The Phair Co./Mustang Relays celebrated their 15th anniversary season last Saturday at Otay Ranch High School with a reduced field of 11 teams. But for the teams that participated, the event was topped with good marks — and a lot of fun given the user-friendly format.
“The important thing for us this this year was to make sure the event happened,” Otay Ranch coach Julian Valdez explained. “We had an exit of some teams and some loyal teams that came back to participate.
“We were excited it happened. The schools that did come here turned in some great performances. We also had good weather.”
Valdez wanted to thank former Sweetwater High School track coach Tim Latham in particular for coming out of retirement to serve as tournament director to help ensure that the meet ran smoothly and efficiently.
Top marks
Eastlake and Otay Ranch topped the team standings in the intimate event that featured just one division.
Eastlake recorded the top girls team score of 143 points, followed by Otay Ranch with 97 points. Sweetwater finished third with 66 points, followed by Serra in fourth place with 42 points and Bonita Vista in fifth place with 34 points.
Six Metro Conference teams competed, with Mar Vista and Chula Vista also part of the 10-team field. Three teams from Imperial Valley made the trek to Chula Vista. Calexico finished sixth with 27 points, followed by Brawley (seventh) with 26 points.
Mar Vista finished eighth with 23 points, followed by Central Union (ninth) with 23 points.
Otay Ranch out-pointed runner-up Eastlake 131-91 to claim first place in the boys team standings. Central Union finished third in the 11-team field with 63 points, followed by Brawley in fourth place with 48 points.
Serra finished fifth with 40 points, followed by Southwest (sixth) with 30 points, Bonita Vista (seventh) with 27 points. Sweetwater and Mar Vista tied for eighth place with 24 points. Calexico (10th) and Chula Vista (11th) brought up the rear.
Otay Ranch junior Dylan Zolezzi finished the meet with four medals — first in both the 4×400 relay and 4×200 relay and second in both the 4×100 and sprint medley relays.
Mustang teammates Edric Picastoste and Steven Filippi each sported three shiny medals around the necks at the conclusion of the meet.
Filippi and Picatoste were members of Otay Ranch’s triple jump winning relay team. Picatoste also competed on the Mustangs’ victorious 4×200 and 4×400 relay units.
Filippi earned a silver medal in the 4×100 relay and long jump relay events.
Teo Fears, Zolezzi, Picatoste and Adrian Cobian each ran legs on the Mustangs’ 4×400 relay team that timed 3:32.55.
“We all PR’d,” Zolezzi said, smiling.
In field events, Eastlake captured first place individual marks in the girls shot put (Aaronique Simpson, 32-8), girls pole vault (Renna Cozza, 10-9), girls long jump (Cimone Manson, 16-3.5), girls triple jump (Manson, 33-9.25) and boys long jump (Jalyn Jackson, 22-3.5).
Cozza came close to matching the school record in the pole vault (11-0).
Otay Ranch recorded top individual marks in three field events: boys shot put (Dominic D’Andrea, 46-7), boys discus throw (Faufano Autele, 143-1) and boys pole vault (Nathan Sison, 13-0).
Sweetwater’s Illiana Cortazar recored the top mark in the girls discus throw (98-10).
In running events:
Southwest’s Jacob Fierro won the boys invitational 1500-meter run in 4:05.54 while Eastlake’s Patricia Miessner won the girls race in 4:55.01.
Otay Ranch’s Aidon McKee won the boys 300-meter dash in 37.42 while Sweetwater’s Stephanie Corona won the girls race in 44.86.
Otay Ranch’s Alani Johnson won the girls 300 hurdles event in 49.55.
Southwest won the boys distance medley (legs of 1200,400,800, 1600) in 11:11.79 while Otay Ranch won the girls DMR in 14:09.14.
Eastlake won the girls sprint medley relay in 1:53.90, the girls 4×100 relay in 50.42, the boys 4×100 relay in 40.04, and the girls 4×400 relay in 4:18.53.
“The kids who competed did very well,” EHS coach David Koopman noted. “It was enough points to make for a successful day.”
The high jump events proved extremely popular this year. The boys event attracted 30 entries while the girls event attracted a field of 24 athletes.
Central Union’s Steven Marquez won the boys high jump by clearing 6-4 to match the height he cleared at the previous weekend’s Jaguar Invitational. Brawley’s Daniel Gonzalez finished second by clearing 6-0.
Four jumpers tied for third place by clearing 5-10: Brawley’s Austin Brewer, Eastlake’s Kevin Bateman, Otay Ranch’s Darian Williams and Serra’s Jaylan Gallaway.
Brawley’s Emily Godsey won the girls competition at 5-3. A pair of Eastlake jumpers tied for second place at 4-10: Kalah Bateman and Ana Mercado.
Runner-up marks were recorded by Eastlake’s Carson Lively in the boys shot put (126-7), Bonita Vista’s Vince Cruz in the boys pole vault (11-6), Southwest’s Keyshawn Smith in the boys long jump (21-9), Mar Vista’s Leah Washington in the girls shot put (32-6), Otay Ranch’s Kaylee Hewat Lanier in the girls dicsus throw (92-5), Eastlake’s Natalia Cortes in the girls pole vault (8-6), Eastlake’s Lauren De Leon in the girls long jump (15-2) and triple jump (33-7.5)
Otay Ranch’s Leusumanu Ta’a finished third among individuals in the boys shot put (43-1.5) while Eastlake’s Jalen Graham posted the third best mark in the boys discus throw (124-2).
Eastlake’s Tanner Moulton finished third among individuals in the boys pole vault (11-6) while Otay Ranch’s Zeek Cruz finished third in the boys long jump (21-3).
Otay Ranch’s Williams recorded the third best triple jump mark among individuals (39-0).
There were 33 entrants in the boys triple jump and 31 entrants in the boys long jump.
Eastlake’s Sydney Kelly finished third among individuals in the girls shot put (31-7.5) while Eastlake’s Simpson took third overall in the girls discus throw (90-11).
Bonita Vista’s Cameron Gregg posted the third best individual mark in the girls pole vault (8-0) while Otay Ranch’s Johnson was third overall in the girls triple jump (33-1).
Website: www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/324935/results
Mesa League Championship Schedule
Junior Varsity Prelims – Saturday, May 5, at Otay Ranch High School, 9 a.m.
Varsity Prelims – Tuesday, May 8, at Otay Ranch High School, 3 p.m.
JV Finals – Wednesday, May 9, at Otay Ranch High School, 3 p.m.
Varsity Finals – Thursday, May 10, at Otay Ranch High School, 3 p.m.
