Arcadia Never Disappoints
To start off Spring Break, Monta Track & Field sent 3 athletes to the prestigious Arcadia Invitational. I already mentioned in a previous article about the hype behind this meet – well, it totally lived up! Ryan Shen, Lelani Laruelle, and Gillie Ross all went down and dropped some great performances.
- Ross put the shot 35’5″, finishing 14th
- Laruelle equaled her (at the time) PR of 5’8″ to earn 4th place in the high jump
- Shen jumped 44’7.5″ in the triple for a 7th place finish and jumped a new PR and new school record in the long jump of 24’4″ to win! This leap would put him top 3 in NCAA Division 3, the same division where his committed school of Case Western competes…
Awesome job, crew!
Amazing Performances at Top 8
Monta Vista Track & Field sent a team of 12 to the great CCS Top 8 Invitational at Los Gatos High School to end Spring Break. This is always a great meet that produces some crazy results. For MVTF, it certainly brought the crazy!
The frosh/soph meet was in the morning and saw several outstanding performances. The boys 4x100m relay team of Evan Chen, Aaryan Samanta, Constantine Chua, and Jeffrey Choy earned 6th place to win the first medal of the day. This was not long after Taylor Orr had a monster 16 second PR in the girls’ 3200m to take 12th place. Chua came back in the 65m hurdles to earn 6th place and his second medal of the day. Samanta returned to the track in the 400m to run within a few hundredths of his PR and earn 12th place. Ritika Sane threw a respectable distance in the girls’ shot put to earn 10th place. One of the biggest stories of the day was Riu Yamada in the 800m, breaking the 2-minute barrier for the first time with 1:58.89 and earning first place! This is the fastest legit time in the 800m from any freshman or sophomore in Monta Vista history. In fact, he already had the fastest F/S time with his 2:01 from a couple of weeks ago, but now it’s not even close! Chua, with a tough act to follow, managed to obliterate the competition in the 300m hurdles to run a new PR of 42.39! Choy ran a solid 200m race to follow, coming only a couple of tenths off his PR and earning 14th place. Under an hour later, he teamed up with Chua, Yamada, and Samanta to absolutely blow the doors off the 4x400m relay! The guys won by over 3 seconds and what seemed like a mile. Their time of 3:36.02
On the varsity side, it was all in the field. Allie Rummelhoff and Zoe Laruelle earned 13th and 15th place, respectively, in the girls’ long jump. They returned in the triple jump for 8th and 13th, still respectively, with Rummelhoff gaining a new PR of 34’9″! Rummelhoff threw the discus for a 9th place finish. In the girls’ shot put, Gillie Ross and Rummelhoff both hit the 38′ mark, with Ross reaching 38’7″ and earning 2nd place and Rummelhoff reaching 38’3″ for 3rd place a new, massive PR! Ryan Shen had an awesome day earning 2nd place in both the triple jump and high jump. Not only did his triple jump earn 2nd place, but the leap of 46’9″ is a new school record! This is Shen’s second school record (let’s see if he can snag the high jump record before his time here is up). The biggest highlight of the day was Lelani Laruelle in the high jump, finally breaking the 5’8″ barrier and clearing 5’10” on the first attempt, setting a new school record and claiming the victory! This jump would tie her for 44th in the nation in NCAA Division 1, where she’ll be competing next spring at UC Berkely!
Outstanding results, team!
8 PRs Total!
4 Girls PRs!
- Lelani Laruelle – high jump, NEW SCHOOL RECORD!
- Allie Rummelhoff – triple jump
- Allie Rummelhoff – shot put
- Taylor Orr – 3200m
4 Boys PRs!
- Ryan Shen – triple jump, NEW SCHOOL RECORD!
- Ryan Shen – long jump, NEW SCHOOL RECORD!
- Riu Yamada – 800m, fastest frosh/soph in school history!
- Constantine Chua – 300m hurdles