The Otay Ranch High School track and field team has had to deal with more than just the coronavirus pandemic that shut down the 2020 spring season after just two weeks of competition.
While student-athletes and coaches were safely sequestered at home via distance learning, a cell phone/light tower collapsed on the visitors bleachers and track on campus during the long hiatus to further complicate matters.
All events normally held at the Mustangs’ stadium were cancelled or moved to other venue sites.
The Otay Ranch football team would up playing all its games on hostile turf while forging a courageous runner-up finish in the Metro-Mesa League standings.
Now it’s the track and field team’s turn to excel despite the odds stacked against it.
Mustang coach Julian Valdez said the team has not been able to hold one practice on the campus track due to the fallen light structure.
“So, we have a hectic schedule, and are very grateful to Sweetwater/Olympian coaches Jaime Romero and Morgan Stilwell,” Valdez said.
As a consequence, sleep schedules have had to be adjusted.
Distance runners practice Monday mornings, starting at 6 a.m., at Olympian High School while sprint-based events are Tuesday mornings, again with a 6 a.m. start, at Olympian.
Vaulters practice Monday and Tuesday at Sweetwater High School in National City.
The rest of the week the team practices on grass on campus.
Valdez said the timetable has brought the team closer together.
“The reality is these kids have battled all year, and are a family,” Valdez explained. “We are at the cap of how many students we can have due to district health guidelines and are hoping to be back to normal numbers next year.
“We are so proud of these kids handling a difficult situation and making the best of it. They have beaten very talented Olympian and Bonita Vista teams and look forward to the rest of the season. With a young core group of athletes and senior leaders we have had great success and are grateful for the drive they bring every day.”
Impact athletes for Otay Ranch on the boys side this spring include juniors Aydan Wohlford, Haydn Brotschi, Jayhalin Sanders and Isaiah Jordan, seniors Rogelio Flores, Grant Bice and Jacob Ursua, and sophomores Kaleb Bowler and Jake Shorey.
Impact athletes on the girls side include freshmen Arynn Sanders and Hazel Savaiinaea, juniors Jazmarie Rhodes, Ainsley Schafer, Elicia Arredondo, Kassandra Ramirez and Avianna Gil and sophomore Salma Franke.
The Mustangs competed last Friday in a Mesa League dual meet against Bonita Vista at Montgomery High School. The Barons are another team in need of competing off campus due to insufficient facilities (and it’s been that way for a few years now).
Otay Ranch recorded first-place finishes in 14 of the 16 boys varsity events and in eight of the girls varsity events.
The Mustangs also notched winning performances in 11 boys JV events.
Varsity event winners on the boys side for Otay Ranch included Brotschi in both the 100 meters (11.18) and 200 meters (22.69), Wohlford in both the 400 meters (54.65) and 1600 meters (4:38.36), Bice in the 800 meters (2:05.58), Shorey in the 3200 meters (10:13.21), Jordan in the 110 high hurdles (18.82), Bowler in the shot put (41-3), Ursua in the discus throw (117-3), Flores in the long jump (20-6) and Sanders in both the high jump (5-4) and triple jump (36-4).
Jordan (45.19) finished second to Bonita Vista senior Brendan Tovar (44.95) in the 300 intermediate hurdles.
The Mustangs swept both the boys 4×100 and 4×400 relays with winning times of 45.03 and 3:42.91, respectively.
Bonita Vista’s other first-place finish in the boys meet was courtesy of senior Kyle Gregg in the pole vault (11-0).
Varsity event winners on the girls side for Otay Ranch included freshman Alicia Parise in the 400 meters (1:08.69), Arredondo in the 800 meters (2:39.90), Franke in the 1600 meters (5:48.68), Gil in the 100 low hurdles (18.03) and 300 hurdles (55.94), junior Arramis Gonzalez in the discus throw (100-1), and Schafer in the long jump (14-0).
The Mustang ladies came up victorious in the 4×400 relay (4:42.88).
Bonita Vista captured first place finishes in eight girls events: junior Anissa Blea in the 100 meters (12.31) and 200 meters (25.93), senior Sequoia Kriss in the 3200 meters (12:01.48), senior Jayleen Rivera in the shot put (32-3), and senior Kayla Reynante in the high jump (4-10), pole vault (7-6) and triple jump (33-3).
The Baron ladies also scored a victory in the 4×100 relay (53.34) and came out with x first-place finishes in five girls JV events.
Flores compete in last Saturday’s elite Arcadia Invitational, placing 16th in the long jump at 16-8.5. His season best is 21-1 posted in a non-league dual meet against Canyon Crest Academy on April 14.
Final conflict
It looks to be a hectic final week of competition prior to the San Diego Section prelims (June 5) and finals (June 12).
The tentative schedule for league finals includes separate venues for Mesa League and South Bay League teams.
The Mesa League junior varsity prelims are scheduled Saturday, May 22, at Sweetwater High School, starting at 8 a.m. while the South Bay League JV prelims/finals are slated to be held the same day at Hilltop High School, starting at 8 a.m.
The Mesa League varsity prelims are scheduled May 22 at Sweetwater with a 2 p.m. start while the South Bay League varsity prelims are scheduled concurrently at Hilltop High School.
The Mesa League varsity finals are scheduled May 27 at 3 p.m. at Sweetwater while the South Bay League finals will be held concurrently at Hilltop.
