By Kaylee Chan | Editor in Chief
Gabrielino is on top of the league going into finals, as the team is currently undefeated in all its league matches.
On April 15, the team participated in the 16th Annual San Gabriel Valley Track and Field Championships at Covina District Field. Gabrielino girls varsity got five points, with junior Paris Ngeam getting seventh in the 400-meter dash and sixth in the triple jump, landing the team in 20th place overall.
While boys varsity did not earn any points, the team gave it their all and saw good improvement. “I think most people PR’d– they got personal records,” stated senior Kevin Tanaka, sprints captain. Tanaka got his personal bests in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes during the Championships. “I think we all had a good time.”
Gabrielino played in a home dual meet against Marshall on April 13, with both varsity girls and boys taking the win. The team also held its Senior Night on that day to recognize graduating track and field athletes.
“We have a really small senior class but I feel like we really make up for it for how talented and hardworking a lot of the underclassmen are,” said distance captain Rachel Young, senior. “I can see in the future that if they continue improving, we will always be a name to hold in San Gabriel.”
The track and field team participated in Covina Invitational on April 1 at Covina District Field.
For varsity girls, Paris Ngeam placed sixth in triple jump, seventh in 400-meter sprints, and ninth in the high jump for a total of ten points to bring the team to 20th place. For varsity boys, senior Kory Yuen scored two points under pole jump, placing Gabrielino at 35th place.
On March 30, the team had a tri-meet with Mountain View High School and Arroyo High School. While both boys and girls won against Mountain View, the girls team lost against Arroyo by a narrow six points.
“[The season] has been mostly the same [as previous years],” said junior Chloe Chong, who competes in pole vault and distance. “We’re usually in top three where our biggest competitors Rosemead and Arroyo.”
Unlike last year, however, the track team is sitting at a comfortable overall first place. Their success this year is owed to the hours of practice the team members put in weekly to best their previous records.
“For distance, our training plans are mostly running mileage or doing speed workouts on the track,” Chong said. “Then for pole vault, some days we have conditioning where we work on speed or we focus on jumping power.”
