Trojans fall just short in exciting match against Piedmont
Energetic activity overtakes Piedmont as track and field events sprawled across the stadium for the WACC meet between CVHS and Piedmont High School on Wednesday, March 11. It was a sea of athletes on the grass, all aiming to bring home a victory for their respective school in the upcoming events.
The meet saw an intense matchup between the two schools that ultimately caught the Trojans coming short of victory. The Trojan boys varsity team didn’t quite match the Highlanders, scoring 49-78. Meanwhile the Trojan girls varsity team were beaten by a one point difference. In a close battle the ending score was 63-64.
While the Trojans didn’t conquer the track, many still claimed first or top three in the various races and events from short sprints to shot put.
Blazing through the track, Elliot Keim put up quite the dominant run placing first in both the 200-meter and 400-meter dash events with a time of 22.92 and 50.13 respectively, the former being a personal best.
Running the dashes, Issac Ovalle and Santiago Cisneros put up a great fight on the asphalt with Ovalle placing second 1600-meters and third in the 800-meters while Cisneros claimed fourth and third for the 200-meters and 400-meters respectively,
“I’m just thinking about the race and about how I’m going to envision running,” said Cisneros.
The boys varsity 4×400 relay team consisting of Kiem, Cisneros, Amari Allen, and Logan Chen took home a first place finish.
“Most time, my head’s pretty clear,” explained Keim. “I was just thinking about how I need to win and that’s what got us in.”
The girls also gave the Highlanders a run for their money, sweeping the long distance events with Masha Kryuchkova finishing first in the 1600-meters, not to be outdone by Iliana Nierengarten who similarly took first in the 800-meters with a season best of 2:20.92.
Leaping onto the podium, Gabrielle Rogge claimed first in 300-meter hurdles and second in the 100-meter hurdles with a personal best of 19.66.
In addition to placing second in the 200-meters and 400-meters, Idara Essien soared a remarkable 19 feet and 10.5 inches in the long jump.
“I felt amazing about my performance,” said Essien. “During an event, I get pretty nervous despite having run track for so long. After an event, I feel relieved and somewhat thrilled!”
The field events witnessed another standout performance by James Colton Kennedy, scoring first in shot put and second in discus.
With Trojan athletes sprinting out the gates with performances like these in the early season, the varsity teams likely will show the WACC something even more spectacular.