The final days of Spring Break made for a somewhat sparsely attended day out at the track in Saturday’s Dos Pueblos Invitational, a meet with an unorthodox format that puts some fresh faces in the winner’s circle.
The event, in its third year, is flighted by a student’s year in school. The freshmen compete only against freshmen, the sophomores against sophomores, and so on.
DP coach Dave Kuderka started the event about six years ago, modeling it after the DP Cross Country Invitational, founded by the legendary Gordon McClenathen.
“He’s someone who we regard as the rock that this program was built on,” said Kuderka. “It’s still not the numbers we like on the track side of things, but someday when we have 30 schools it’ll be really neat for the kids.”
He used Charger sophomore Rachael McAllister, who beat out two runners from San Mateo for the title in the sophomore girls 400, as an example.
“The kids who are already taking second or third on the varsity level as freshmen and sophomores already know how they match up,” he said. “But I think a light bulb really goes off for the other kids. They say “Hey I’m usually eighth or ninth but today I got a first or second or third. It inspires them.”
For standouts like DP freshman Jessica Escalante, it’s an opportunity to pick up a lot of medals. She won the shot put, discus, 100 and 200 for her class on the day.
“I’m kind of competitive, so this is really fun. And I’m just coming back from a sprained ankle so this is a nice meet to help prepare and get back into it,” she said.
Rebecca Vail had a nice day for Santa Barbara High, winning the sophomore 100 with a time of 13.79. Bishop freshman Nicole Poindexter took the 400 over her competitors from the bigger schools, while Randee Harvey of San Marcos won the sophomore boys’ 100 and long jump.
Dons coach Olivia Perdices said that the meet provides an opportunity for athletes to try events they normally wouldn’t, which can be a lot of fun.
It’s back to business next week. Santa Barbara hosts mighty Ventura at San Marcos, and Dos Pueblos will take its top competitors to the prestigious Arcadia Invitational. Carly Wopat will be with the group and will continue her quest to set the school’s discus record (132-00) set by Tami Thorsen in 1997.
