The Paly boys’ track team (4-2) hopes for major improvements between now and next Friday after finishing in a disappointing sixth place in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League-De Anza finals meet, on Thursday at Los Gatos High School.
Paly head coach Jason Fung was unhappy with the team’s overall performance, although he did see some bright spots in the meet.
“I had much higher expectations for my team,” Fung said.
Fung hopes to see major improvements by next Friday, when the boys will compete in the SCVAL Qualifiers.
Many of the athletes shared senior sprinter Kasey Fields’ view that Thursday was “a bad day,” as few Paly boys achieved personal bests.
To start off the meet, the 400-meter relay team of seniors Paul Brown and Kasey Fields, junior Daniel Jones and sophomore Miles Anderson narrowly finished second, relinquishing the lead within the last 10 meters of the race. Although the team did not compete poorly, the boys felt that they had not raced at their best.
“We all had a bad part,” Fields said. “Before giving the baton to Miles, my legs and hip were throbbing, so I slowed down. It was just a bad day.”
Although Brown finished second in the 400-meter race at 50.85 seconds and contributed eight points to the team, he also felt that he did not perform at his full potential today.
“I think today was a bad day for everyone,” Brown said. “I was tight, but I did beat a Mountain View guy who usually goes pretty fast. I’m just trying to make CCS [Central Coast Section]. I’m currently ranked 11th or 12th, so I’ve got to step it up.”
According to Brown, only the top eight runners at the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) meet will advance.
In the 100-meter race, Jones was unable to give his best effort because of a hurt hamstring. Anderson improved from his eighth place seed to finish sixth, claiming one point for the team.
In the field events, the single Paly thrower, junior Haris Sultani, did not score any points, as all of his throws fell short of his personal bests. Sultani felt disappointed with his performance, as he lost to several throwers who usually finish behind him.
“It was really not my best,” Sultani said.
Junior Michael Hueschen tied for sixth in the high jump at 5 feet 8 inches, winning one third of a point. Hueschen had hoped to clear 5’10”, a feat he completed two weeks ago in the dual meet against Gunn.
“It was kind of disappointing, but I’m advancing [to the league meet],” Hueschen said. “I had to do long jump and high jump at the same time, so I had to run back and forth and change shoes, which was really tiring.”
Several remarkable Paly performances stood out in the otherwise disappointing meet. In the 1600-meter race, junior Peter Wilson pulled ahead on the last lap, passing several runners to secure sixth place in 4 minutes, 37.37 seconds. With his amazing finish, Wilson claimed the last scoring position, earning one point for the team.
“It felt good to score and move on to the finals,” Wilson said. “I get to move on to the next round, and get out of another week of PE [Physical Education]. I don’t know how realistic it is [to make CCS]. It’s basically up to my competition. Since the at-large time is too fast, I just hope to PR [achieve a personal record] since it will probably be my last race. Lots of people will scratch. It depends on the competition more than on how I personally do.”
Although he missed scoring by two places with an eighth place finish, junior Philip Chen finished second in his heat and fastest among the Paly boys in the 800-meter race at 2:07.
“I thought that it was a really relaxed race,” Chen said. “I tried to go not too fast on the first lap and stay behind the first place person, because in the last race I went out too fast.”
In the 3200-meter race, junior Philip MacQuitty was the only Paly team member to win an event that evening, finishing first in 9:22.18 and scoring 10 points for the Vikings. Senior Skyler Cummins finished fourth in 9:45.65, scoring four points.
Fung believes that the team needs a smaller athlete-to-coach ratio and more committed athletes to build a stronger team next year.
“The boys need to stop being so overbooked because it’s too much stress on their bodies,” Fung said. “I also believe that track should be a cut sport. Ginanni’s coaching 50 kids, I’m coaching over 30, and even the younger coaches are coaching over 20 athletes.”
Several Paly boys will advance to the SCVAL Qualifiers at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 15, at Los Gatos High School.