Three outstanding members of the Paly frosh/soph track team proved themselves at their 100-26 win against Los Altos High School, March 10. Sophomores Patrick Alonis, Sam Margevicius, and Nick Weber brought in a total of 28 points to the team in the meet.
"These boys are going to be some great athletes," said Jason Fung, Paly’s head track coach. "Sam’s new to the hurtles, Nick’s a great sprinter, and Patrick is our distance guy. All three of them contribute a lot to the team. They show early promise and the freshman runners look up to them."
Patrick Alonis:
Alonis has been running distance for a mere two years, yet he has already made a name for himself. The long distance runner discovered his talent in the spring of his freshman year when he started off running the mile for the Paly frosh/soph team. Starting this year, Alonis also runs the 4×400 relay.
In practice, Alonis does long distance workouts with the varsity runners, which helps him push himself to keep up. In the Los Altos meet, Alonis earned 1st place in the mile with a PR of 4:59 min, and along with Weber, Robert Miller, and Nigel Hawkins, helped win the 4×400 relay which brought a total of 10 points to the Paly team.
"Running on the Paly team has been a great way to keep me in shape year round, and even though we have some extensive workouts, the results seem well worth it," Alonis said. "My goals this year are to continue to improve my time and to end up in the top three at all of our meets."
Sam Margevicius:
Newcomer Margevicius has already made a notable contribution to the Paly frosh/soph team. This is Margevicius’ first year on the track team and he has already found his niche in the 65m high hurdle as well as the 330m hurdle. Against Los Altos, Margevicius placed 1st in the 65m and placed 2nd in the 330m.
Margevicius chose his particular event because he heard it was a challenge and that numerous students had previously been injured on the hurtles.
"I decided it was a sport with a little bit of danger and I like to take chances and be dangerous," Margevicius said.
Margevicius got involved in track with the encouragement of his friends.
"Sam’s a lot of fun to have on the team, and it’s great that he’s already found a specialty in hurdles," Weber said.
Margevicius and Weber have been friends for quite some time and Margevicius is grateful to have Weber on the team.
"Nick’s quite the character," Margevicius said. "I remember this one time, I had to run the 330 high hurtle and I was jogging it because it’s a much longer distance than what I’m used to with the 65m. Anyway, I was jogging along and I heard Nick screaming, ‘this is a sprint Sam, it’s only 330m.’ It’s always a lot of fun having a friend on the team. We push each other to do the best we can, and it really helps me improve."
Nick Weber:
Sophomore Nick Weber is a huge asset to the frosh/ soph team as he brought in 20 points himself, assisting to the overall win against Los Altos. Weber performs in the 200, 400, the 4X1 relay and in the frosh/ soph boys’ relay. Weber was recently moved to the varsity team where he will run the 400 and 200.
" My favorite event is the 400 because it’s my best event. At the Los Altos meet I got my personal record of 53.6 seconds," Weber said.
Weber has been running competitively since his freshman year and he also plays soccer, which compliments his running. Weber is hoping to compete in the upcoming Stanford Invitational; however, due to an injury, his doing so is doubtful. If he is able to compete, he will run the 400 and be part of the distance medley running the 800.
Weber constantly attributes his success to coach Jason Fung, who he says helps him a lot with his strength training and in workouts.
In practice, Weber does his workouts at the Stanford track, running bleachers with the varsity runners. Weber claims his secret is his "healthy diet" before meets, which consists of a 16 oz. steak and lots of carbs.
The Paly track team will be competing in the Stanford Invitational on Friday, March 25. With the help of these three aspiring athletes, the team hopes to place in the top of all its events and in league.