LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Lamorinda at the Meet of Champions


Natalie Arnswald did not qualify for the MOC, but supported her team at the event. Photo Gint Federas

On May 17-18, 185 schools came together at Diablo Valley College to compete in the 2019 North Coast Section Track and Field Meet of Champions. Once again, the weather was a factor as many of the events were run under a driving rainstorm. Due to safety concerns, the boys pole vault and long jump events were delayed for two days and eventually run at Campolindo High School.

Campolindo head coach Chuck Woolridge, who saw the girls team finish second and the boys team finish in 25th place, came away feeling very positive about his team's performance at the MOC and prior to the tournament: "We had a great year. It's very satisfying to see how things have unfolded and to have our kids competing in this meet was exciting."

The girls team was led by senior Maddy Doane, who qualified for the state tournament in Clovis, California, by finishing second in the 200-meter and 400-meter races. Woolridge relied heavily on Doane all season: "Maddy is the athlete we tried to build on. It was a young relay team (two freshman, Emily Hatch and Sara Tabibian, and sophomore Terryal Bell) and she carried our relay team." The relay team finished in second and will also be going to the state tournament.

Woolridge also counted on Natalie Arnswald, who was a hurdler and sprinter for the Cougars: "Natalie was the heart of the team. Even though she did not qualify for the meet, she was working here and supporting her team."

Woolridge was optimistic about how Edward Buckley would do prior to the 3200 meter because "he likes the wet weather." Buckley did not disappoint by finishing in third and qualifying for the state tournament.

Lucas Moore, who finished in 13th, and Matai Bell were the team's key throwers all season.

Declan Bhagwat and Anish Visht were the leading sprinters and "were central to the core leadership of the team," said Woolridge.

Miramonte

Miramonte had a young team, having graduated six of their top seven distance runners last year. Still, the Miramonte girls finished in 15th and the boys in 16th place. Head coach Tristin Tool had a lot of depth on the girls team: "We had a pretty good season with the girls who won the league championship for the second year in a row. We had a good group of sprinters, jumpers and distance runners."

Audrey Allen and Cassidy Haskell were both strong factors all season in the 3200 meters, said Tool: "It's the first year I ever had two girls who ran under 11 minutes." Allen finished in sixth and Haskell finished in 13th at the MOC. Haskell, who will be running for California next year, and has run under 5 minutes in the 1600 meters, finished in second, qualifying for the state tournament with a time of 5:01.08.

Masina Mayo, who ran the 100 meters but did not make it to state, will be running for the University of Hawaii next year. The girls' 4x100 meter relay, finishing in fourth, missed going to state by seven hundredths of a second.

On the boy's side, the top performer coming into the MOC was senior pole vaulter Marcus Young, whose event was postponed for two days. The delay did Young no harm as he won the event by an extraordinary one foot, 10 inches and will be jumping again at the state meet.

Junior Trevon Sidlaukas finished in fifth in the discus, but has a great future, says Tool: "Trevon is a rising star. He throws the shot and discus and competes in all three jumps and runs well. Discus is his strongest event, but he could have a future in the decathlon if he wanted."

Tool had no shortage of leaders on the team: "We had 160 kids that came out for track and I had 12 captains on the team. They were a great group and they all earned the title."

Acalanes

Acalanes co-head coaches David Kohls and Joe Escobar had a lot of success in their first year leading the team. Said Escobar: "We had a great season and team experience. The kids did a good job in transitioning to the new program and were open minded and coachable across the board. There was a good commitment to the team."

The Dons were 5-0 and the Foothill Division champion. Leading the boys was Johnny Choi who jumped 6'7" at the MOC, finishing in third and qualifying for the state tournament. The boy's 4x400 meter relay team was comprised of all juniors (Irvin Chao, Aiden Mosley, Rayce Walton and Kevin Mlynek) and finished in fifth at the MOC. "The jumps were the strength of our team," said Escobar. "We did not give up a single point all year and Choi set the school records in the high jump (6'8")."

Also contributing all season were Keaziah Smith in the 100 meters and Chris Rogers in the long jump.

A number of the girls were very competitive at the MOC. Anna Weir was seventh in the discus and 13th in the shot put. Mila Mathias was eighth in the 100-meter hurdles. Nicole Frigon was fourth and Lauren Yee seventh in the 800 meters and Emily Sverak was eighth in the 300-meter hurdles.

Choi, Frigon and Anand Patel were the key leaders for Acalanes, said Escobar: "They did a great job in getting everyone on the same page and handling the intangibles."

At the state tournament this past weekend, for Miramonte, Cassidy Haskell finished 7th in the 1600-meter race and Marcus Young finished in 13th in the pole vault. For Campolindo, Maddie Doane finished 13th in the 200 meters and 11th in the 400 meters. Edward Buckley finished in 20th in the 3200 meters.