IHS senior Holly O'Connor, seen here practicing hurdle jumps Wednesday at practice, will look to qualify for state at this weekend's divisional meet. Bonanza Photo -Jen Schmidt
IHS freshman Keith Cuadros works out during practice Wednesday. Cuadros, along with teammates Eric Baron, Sterling Vinson and Mike Sunseri, will look to race strong this weekend for a chance to qualify for state in the 4x800 meter relay. Bonanza Photo - Jen Schmidt
Highlanders look to qualify for next week's state track and field meet A track race is like a book, and like any good author, the runners must craft their race like a book.
An attention-grabbing start is needed, one that jumps out of the blocks and takes command of a reader or field of competitors. Next, the body of the race is needed, perfect form and an acceleration through a race’s chapters must keep the runner near the front of the pack. Finally, a slam-bang ending is needed, a dead sprint through the last 100 yards on the way to the finish line to captivate the reader or fans in the stands.
The Incline High School track team is now in that final stretch, looking forward to a perfect finish to a book of the 2008 season starting today at the divisional meet in Winnemucca.
Coach Bill Devine said the team is ready for divisionals, and if it places in the top five, it will also be ready for the state meet next weekend in Reno. A top five placing is necessary at the divisional race to qualify for the state track championships next weekend in Reno.
One of the teams Devine said should do well today and Saturday is the 4x100 meter relay team of Erin Canino, Holly O’Connor, Katy Wright and Charlene O’Connor. The quartet turned in a 53.07 second time at last weekend’s Yerington Invitational, the fastest time yet for the relay this season.
The team may get the bonus addition of senior Shawnee Wood, who has been out the last few meets with a hip flexor injury.
“Shawnee has been doing some workouts in the pool and said she feels fine,” Devine said. “If she can run, she’s running, but we’re not going to push her. I think she understands the big picture and that hurting herself in a high school track meet isn’t worth it, but she has a clear understanding of the injury and I trust her to let me know if she can’t run.”
Given the injury, Devine is taking a pool of reserve runners to fill Wood’s spots on the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. They include Canino, fellow sophomores Sarah Scott and Shanna Murray and freshman Emily Hanna. Devine said this gives him a seven-member relay team, including Wright and the O’Connors if Wood is unable to run.
“I’m telling (the reserves) to come to this race ready to run,” Devine said. “They all have a strong understanding of what they need to do and know they could be called on to run.”
Devine said the reserves will warm up for each race with the regular runners to make sure they are prepared. Hanna is expected to stand in for Wood in the 4x400, a team Devine said is “really fun to watch” no matter what the makeup.
He pointed to senior Holly O’Connor as the star of last week’s meet after she took first in the 300 hurdles with a time of 47.28, breaking her own school record. Devine said Holly O’Connor should do very well at the divisional and has a good shot at repeating as the race’s winner in back to back weeks.
“Holly made a huge improvement and was attacking the hurdles,” Devine said. “The way she ran that race showed me she can definitely put it all together, she knows that she can run hard.”
Devine said Holly O’Connor stumbled over the race’s final hurdle and said he wouldn’t be surprised if she improves her time again this week. She will also race in the 100 hurdles, a race she took fourth in at Yerington.
One relay that is teetering on making state is the 4x800 squad of freshman Briana Drago, Wright, Scott and senior Kat Mancuso. Devine said the team slots closely to fifth or sixth going in to the meet based on times and could qualify if they run a good race.
“They are very aware of where they are time-wise compared to the competition,” Devine said.
The 4x800 boys team of freshmen Eric Baron and Keith Cuadros and sophomores Mike Sunseri and Sterling Vinson need to keep improving if they want a shot at state, Devine said. The team turned in a 9 minute, 31 second time at Yerington, besting their previous week’s time by 26 seconds. It will take less of a drop in time, to about a 9:15 for the boys to make state, Devine said.
“Keith did really well in the open (individual) 800 and took almost 11 seconds off of his time with a 2:19. He is a tough kid and may be the difference they need,” Devine said. He pointed to Sunseri as the team’s leader and said dropping the time wouldn’t be impossible before today’s race.
Similarly made up of underclassmen, the 4x200 relay team of Canino, Hannah, Scott and Murray will need to improve their hand-offs to qualify for state, Devine said. The team turned in a 2 minute time at Yerington, placing them on the outside looking in for divisionals.
“They are an underdog, but the optimistic way to look at it is that the handoffs were horrible and if they improve that can shave some time off,” Devine said.
Taking time off in a different way is Charlene O’Connor, Devine said. After taking third in the 200 sprint and fourth in the 400 sprint, Devine said he was resting the junior’s legs with light workouts this week to keep her fresh for divisionals.
“Char should be in the top five, so we want to keep her fresh, you could tell earlier this week that she had dead legs and we want her to be ready,” Devine said. Drago also has an individual shot at state, Devine said, as the freshman ran a time good for third in the Yerington meet in the two mile.
M/CLOUDY 52°
