HS Dominates En Route to League Championship! Amy Peters named Coach of Year!

By Amy Peters

Last Thursday, the Lake County High School boys track and field team accomplished a feat that hasn’t been achieved by a LCHS team since 2011- they won the Frontier League championship.  The last Lake County team to win that honor was the boys soccer team.  After several years of finishing 4th in the league, the track and field team finally had the talent and depth to reach the top.

“This title was a team effort,” declared a proud Coach Jamie Peters.  “Almost everyone on the team scored points toward this victory.”  Each point was significant, as the Panthers beat Platte Canyon by less than 20 points.

Lake County entered the meet as the 8-point favorite.  Each athlete had an assignment to contribute to the team total, and many exceeded expectations, so that Lake County’s lead grew to a larger margin.

Four of Lake County’s male athletes earned the individual title of League Champion.  Cesar Hernandez won the 400 meter dash in a time of 55.05 seconds.  Angel Martinez topped the triple jump field with a leap of 39’ 0.”  Nathaniel Main’s throw of 112’ 5” made him a champion in the discus, and Joshua Rivera used strategy and toughness to win the 3200m run in 11 minutes 11 seconds.

German Aguirre placed 2nd in the triple jump by reaching 38’ 7.” Aguirre earned another 2nd place by jumping cleanly and clearing 5’ 2” in the high jump.  Patrick Schreiner tied for 6th in the high jump with his jump of 5’ 0.”

German Leanos ran a personal best time of 5:08 in the 1600m to finish 2nd.  Joe Koch took 7th in that event in 5:25.  Leanos and Koch also placed 5th and 6th respectively in the 3200m, with times of 11:52 and 12:12.

In the 800m run, Christian Luna surprised the field with a 10 second Personal Record (PR).  His time of 2:18 was enough for 4th place.  Angel Bujanda also scored in the 800m, placing 6th with a season best time of 2:30, and Aaron Fierro took 7th in 2:38.

Along with his win in the 400m, Cesar Hernandez placed 2nd in the 200m (23.23) and 4th in the 100m (11.56).  Angel Martinez also picked up big points in the sprints, finishing 3rd in the 400m (56.90) and 4th in the 200m (23.78).  Christian Ronquillo, the 3rd Lake County athlete in the 400m, finished 5th with a PR of 57.87 seconds.

Jordan Chavez, running in his first meet of the season, snuck into 6th in the 100m (11.86), 7th in the 200m (24.62) and 8th in the long jump (16’ 2.5”).

Martinez earned an additional 3rd place in the long jump.  He leapt 18’ 1.25.”  With his long jump of 17’ 6.25,” Aguirre took 5th.

In the 110m hurdles, Tyler Crenshaw was barely beaten across the finish line.  He set a PR of 18.92 and finished in 3rd place.  Teammate Joshua Rivera was close behind, crossing the line in 19.34 and taking 4th place.  Aaron Fierro held off the competitors in the slower heat to claim 6th place for the Panthers with his time of 21.24.

Rivera led Lake County in the 300m hurdles, with a time of 47.73 and a 4th place finish.  Crenshaw was 5th in 48.42, and Omar Hernandez placed 7th in 49.32.  Hernandez, who wasn’t expected to place in either of his events, also took 7th in the triple jump with a new PR of 34’ 9.75.”

Nathaniel Main threw a season best 34’ 4” in the shot put to earn 7th place in that event.

All 4 LCHS relays ended up in 3rd position.  The 4x100m and 4x200m team of Eddie Jimenez, Carlos Saucedo, Patrick Schreiner, and Crenshaw ran times of 48.99 and 1:43.49 respectively.  Ronquillo, Jimenez, Aguirre and Luna comprised the 4x400m relay and ran a combined 3:51.  Together Ronquillo, Bujanda, Koch and Luna completed the 4x800m relay in 10:17.

On the girls’ side, Molly Lenhard ran to an individual League title in the 3200m run.  As she crossed the finish line in 1st place, she was also announced as the Frontier League Female Athlete of the Year, an honor voted on by the other League coaches!  In the 1600m run, Lenhard tied her PR of 6:19 and placed 4th.

Abi Reigel had an excellent day, finishing 3rd in the 100m and 5th in the 200m with new personal bests of 13.69 and 28.58.

Taylor Webster took 6th in the triple jump by leaping 28’ 2.25.” She also attempted the shot put for the first time and placed 7th with her put of 24’ 4.5.”

Webster teamed up with Grisel Saucedo, Bianca Gonzales and Hannah Holm to place 5th in the 4x100m relay in 1:04.

Additional personal bests were earned by Jon Carreno in the 100m (13.39), Grisel Saucedo in the 200m (33.97), Bianca Gonzales in the 200m (35.34), and Hannah Holm in the 800m (3:33).