The meet came down to the last two events in the Boys track meet with the Colts last Wednesday. The Islanders had a one-point lead (57-56) going into the 3200-meter run and the 4 x 400 meter relay. Because there was little chance we’d get the five relay points, the working score was actually 61-57 in favor of Crawford. A Colt second place finish would win the meet.

At the starting line, however, there were no Crawford runners. Turner Stanley, Aaron White, and Dean Galliano finished 1-2-3 to garner nine points and lock the meet for the Islanders. The final score was 66-61, with Coronado winning the competition.

This was the second week in a row I’ve noticed the CHS football coaching staff in the stands, but I don’t think they were there for the 3200-meter run. The speed match-up of the day featured Islander running back Kyle Brown and the Colts’ Aaron Simpson. With two worthy opponents, and a brisk tail-wind, the Boys 100-meter dash figured to be fast and it was. Brown won in 11.0 (hand-timed), with Simpson crossing the finish line in 11.3. Hand times are rounded up to the next 10th of a second, but I had the winning time at around 10.92, which corresponded to what the official timers recorded. The time came as no surprise as Brown was clocking flying 30’s in training last week in 3 seconds flat.

The order of finish was reversed in the 200-meters, with both runners finishing in around 23.5 seconds. Brown had just long-jumped 22-9 and his back was bothering him a bit. In the triple jump, Kyle teamed with Kenny Twomey (who also won the 300-meter hurdles) and Tim Conway to take all nine available points. Again, no Crawford jumpers entered the event.

The other major factor responsible for the win was our dominance in the distance events. In addition to our sweeping the 3200 meters, Ben Enowitz, White, and Michael Davies went 1-2-3 in the 1600-meter run for nine points and the 800 was won by David Grimes, followed by Enowitz, for eight more points. Grimes also won the 400, followed by Stanley in third for six more points. In the shot put and discus throw, Tracy Cummings contributed six points by finishing second in both events.

With top San Diego Section athletes like Sarah Player, Danielle Eckert and Sallie Privett, along with a strong supporting cast, the Girls meet figured to be no contest. So, we put Player, Eckert, Neisha Scales and Danielle Gillberg in the 4 x 100 event at the expense of some of their individual events. They responded with a fine time of 51.9 in the relay, about a second off of our school record. This is pretty fast considering they have had no baton passing practice as a group this season.

Player was feeling tension in one of her abductor muscles in training and felt it again during this race, so we took her out of her events to be on the safe side. It’s better to yield a few points than to risk a season-ending injury.

Even with Player out, the Colts squad was no match with Coronado winning by the score of 79-42. Privett and Eckert each contributed 15 points, with Privett winning the 400, 800 and 1600-meter runs. Eckert claimed the pole vault, long jump, and the triple jump. Eckert’s long jump mark was 17 feet even, a personal best and only five inches off of the CHS school record.

Gillberg won both the 100 and 300 hurdles and placed second in the high jump for an additional 12 points. Scales added 11 points with wins in the 100, 200 and third place in the long jump. Briana Giorgione scored nine points by winning the high jump, placing second in the pole vault and third the 100 meters. Adrianna Davies added four points with a second place finish in the 1600 and a third in the 400. Brigid Twomey’s first place in the 3200 and Madison Rutherford’s third in the 300 hurdles rounded out the Islanders’ scoring.

Player was scheduled to compete in the invitational events at the Mission Hills Grizzly Relays Saturday, but we decided to let her mend over the weekend. Eckert did enter the pole vault and won the event with a vault of 10 feet, 6 inches. Privett placed third in the 800 in 2:25, followed by Davies in seventh place in 2:35.