"On your mark…Get set…" BOOM!
The speed demons are off in a blur with the starter’s pistol, covering the first leg of the 4x100m relay at ridiculous speeds to the accompaniment of spectators’ wild cheers. Thus began the first race of the last league dual meet for Palo Alto High’s Varsity Boys’ Track and Field team on April 29 at Los Altos High School’s beautiful spanking-new track. The Los Altos boys came into the meet with a 3-2 standing to Paly’s 2-3 record, and both teams left Thursday’s meet tied for 4th place in league with 3-3 each.
Paly’s relay team won the 4×1 in 44.87 seconds, with Los Altos coming in at 47.61. This was just the start for the boys’ spectacular 82-44 victory, winning 10 out of 15 events to the Viking crowd’s delight, regardless of generally steamy and blustery weather.
"We blew them [Los Altos] out pretty much," said junior Pierre Meloty-Kapella. "I think everyone did well in the meet."
Standout Meloty-Kapella won the 100 and 200m with times of 11.41 and 22.47 seconds, respectively. In other sprints, Teddy Mulugeta squeaked by in a blurry 54.37 second win in the 400m and the Viking 4x400m relay flew past the Eagles with 3:44 clobbering 3:49.
The Vikings put in a good effort in the triple and high jumps but were defeated by Los Altos. Junior Eagle Jeff Clark won the triple jump with 41’9"2, and teammate senior Andrew Van Straaten took second with 40’8"2. Paly senior Rahsaan Carty, another noteworthy sprinter and jumper, took first in the long jump with 20"2’ and 2nd in the 200 and 100m races.
Junior Paly hurdlers John Reade and David Lefbevre won 1st and 2nd places, with times of 17.06 and 18.17 seconds, respectively, in the 110m high hurdles; junior Ben Flamm placed second with 43.35 seconds in the 300m hurdles, despite a Los Altos win.
Los Altos senior Eddie Del Rio threw a winning 149’4"ft discus over Viking senior powerhouse James McCluskey, who took second with 145’4". McCluskey, a varsity football player and CCS champion wrestler, beat out the competition in shotput by over seven feet with a throw of 51’5".
"I was surprised Varsity Boys beat them as easily as they did. I thought we had a good meet," said veteran coach Paul Jones. "I thought we had a good strong meet at Gunn [where Varsity Boys lost 58-69] [but] people weren’t as sharp [because of the long break between meets], but at Los Altos we were more prepared for the meet."
Junior captain Herrel Siller, Jr. agreed. "I think that the team was very confident in what they were doing. I think from that point [when Paly swept the relay races] on we knew that we were going to win."
Top distance runner Siller burned rubber in the 800m race with a winning time of 2:06 minutes, followed by junior distance extraordinaire David Coughlan at 2:09. Siller also dominated the 3200m (2-mile) in 10:15.06, while sophomore Scott Himmelberger took 2nd with a similarly impressive 10:37.91. In the mile, Los Altos junior Miles Prowse pulled out from Himmelberger with achingly close dual times of 4:49.
Select Vikings are currently going shoulder-to-shoulder in the big(ger) leagues. They competed in the stronger 7-school DeAnza division of the SCVALs (Santa Clara Valley Athletic League) at Los Altos on May 4th and 6th and sixteen finalists will go on to CCS (Central Coast Section) at Los Gatos High School later in May.