HS Boys & Girls Win Frontier League Championship, Boys 4 Peat!
By: Coach Peters
Lake County High School’s track & field teams successfully claimed the women’s and men’s team titles at the Frontier League Championships on Thursday, June 10, at Bennett High School, despite 90 degree temperatures and strong winds. This win was the 4th consecutive for the men, and they easily ran away with the honor, besting 2nd place Middle Park by 113 points. Thursday marked the first team victory ever for the women since Lake County entered the Frontier League over a decade ago. The girls’ competition was much closer, but in the end, Lake County’s Lady Panthers were victorious over Middle Park’s by 33 points. The victories were true team efforts, with every athlete contributing points to the final scores.
Some of Thursday’s surprises came in the women’s throwing events. Joci Holbrook upset the favorite from Bennett and won the discus with her toss of 74’4.” She also increased her shot put by almost 2’ to reach 26’5” and place 2nd in that event. Justyne Pereida stepped out of her team manager role to participate in the throws. She accomplished 24’7” in the shot put to take 5th.
The Lady Panthers finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the triple jump. Morgan Holm won that event with a personal best mark of 28’4.” Molly Coleman (27’4”) and Jaycee Windorski (26’7”) filled the silver and bronze positions.
Aurora Marruffo won the long jump with a personal record (PR) of 15’7.5.” Kaytlin Sprague and Makayla Arrellano also accomplished PR’s in the long jump. Sprague’s leap of 13’10.5” earned her a 5th place finish, and Arrellano took 6th by jumping 13’6.75.”
Jaycee Windorski earned the title of League Champion in the high jump by clearing 4’8.” Coleman cleared 4’2” and took 5th, and Holm jumped 3’8” for 8th place. Windorski also finished 7th in the 200 meter dash with her time of 31.57 seconds.
Violet Hill won the 3200 m run, crossing the finish in 14 minutes 27 seconds. Clara Kirr took 3rd in 15:33.
After a back and forth battle with a senior from Middle Park, freshman Keira King finished the 1600 m run in 6:05 and 2nd place. Hill was 3rd in 6:34. King was also 2nd in the 800 m distance with her time of 3:02. Brynna Lenhard ran 3:11 in the 800 to place 4th. Grace Bunch scored points for the team with her 5th place finish in the 800 m (3:25) and her 8th place finish in the 1600 m (8:51).
Maya Mendoza led the Lady Panthers in the 400 m. She took 3rd in 1:15. Sprague was 6th in 1:18, and Krysta Roeder took 7th with a PR of 1:19.
In the pole vault competition, Marruffo finished 2nd by clearing 8’5.” Holm set a PR of 7’5” on her way to a 6th place finish, and Avery Milne took 7th with her jump of 6’11.” Marruffo was 3rd in the 100 m (13.89) and 3rd in the 300 m hurdles (57.63). Holm improved her 300 m hurdle time to 1:09 and took 6th in that race.
Almost all of the girls’ relays took 2nd. Mendoza, Roeder, Coleman and Sprague teamed up to run 2:15 in the sprint medley and 2:07 in the 4 x 200 m relay. Arrellano and Windorski joined Mendoza and Roeder for the 4 x 400 m relay and turned in a time of 5:17, and Kirr, Hill, Lenhard and Bunch ran 13:35 in the 4 x 800 m relay. Geonna Bowers, Milne, Holbrook and Arrellano ran 1:03 in the 4 x 100 m relay and placed 4th.
The men’s team had 2 athletes who won all 4 of their events: Anthony Martinez and Jace Peters. Martinez was the champion in the 100 m (11.87), 200 m (24.00), 110 m hurdles (15.83) and the long jump (19’11”). Peters won the pole vault (11’0”) and accomplished the distance event sweep, winning the 800 m (2:21), the 1600 m (5:03), and the 3200 m (12:21).
Fabian Jimenez won the 400 m in 51.55. He tied with Martinez in the 200 m, but the officials gave Martinez the victory. Jimenez was also 2nd in the triple jump (38’8”) and 3rd in the 100 m (12.17).
Anthony Harris reached a PR of 8’11” in the pole vault and because he didn’t miss a height until he went out, he took 2nd place. Eli Durand’s PR vault of 8’5” earned him 5th place, and Josiah Horning took 7th by clearing 7’5.”
In the hurdles, Obed Tarango placed 3rd in the 300’s (50.55) and 5th in the 110’s (21.55). Durand took 4th in the 110’s (20.27) and 5th in the 300’s (52.40). Harris completed the 300’s in 6th and 58.53.
Ben Lowry and James Garrison both cleared 5’0” in the high jump, but Lowry claimed the 2nd place spot because he had fewer misses. Garrison finished 3rd.
Javier Lazaro took 3rd in the 400 m with a time of 56.15, and Garrison was 5th in 1:01.
In the horizontal jumps, Ivan Liewer placed 3rd with his triple jump of 36’10” and 5th with his long jump of 16’4.5.” James Medina reached 31’10” in the triple jump for 6th place, and Cody Hall leaped 15’5” in the long jump to take 7th.
Ivan Hinojos improved his shot put to 35’6” and took 3rd in that event. His discus toss of 104’ was enough for 4th place. Lowry, trying the discus for the first time, reached 78’6” and 7th place.
Horning earned 5th place in the 3200 m by finishing in 14:37.
The 4 x 400 m relay team of Garrison, Tarango, Hall and Lazaro won in a time of 4:06. Garrison, Horning, Liewer and Desmond Sandoval combined for the 4 x 800 m relay and took 2nd in 12:59. The 4 x 100 m relay team (Lowry, Medina, Harris and Hall) placed 2nd in 50.58, and Lowry, Tarango, Lazaro and Hall were 3rd in the 4 x 200 m relay with a time of 1:41.
Lake County’s coaches were awarded Coach of the Year honors for both the men’s and women’s teams. This all-star staff consists of Jamie Peters, who coaches sprints and has all of the fun and creative ideas; Pat Cade, who coaches distance and high jump and runs time trial miles during meet lunch breaks; Brandon Leverett, a Lake County alumni who works with mid-distance runners and relays; Ashley Leitner, who has single handedly put together the team’s successful pole vault program; John Baker, another Lake County alumni who still holds the school record for the shot put; and Amy Peters, who handles hurdles, jumps and all of the administrative duties.