It was an historic day for Monache’s 4x800 boys relay team and Porterville High’s Kian Rangel at the Central Section Masters Track Meet on Saturday at Buchanan.
Both qualified for the Stare Championships to be held this Friday and Saturday at Buchanan. It’s the second straight year Monache’s 4x800 boys relay team qualified for state as they were the defending champions. They shattered the school record to place second and grab one of the two qualifying spots to state.
It was also an historic day for Monache’s Jake Estrada. He finishes his career as an 8-time state qualifier in three sports, four times in wrestling and twice each cross country and track.
He’s the only athlete in school history to reach that accomplishment. He’s also the only athlete in cut history to qualify for state in three sports in the same school year, doing it as a junior in cross country, wrestling and track. The athlete who comes closest to that feat is former Monache great Victor Leyva who was all-stars second team in football and qualified for state in wrestling and track.
The top 18 qualifiers from the Central Section four divisional meets competed at masters at one of the nation’s best track facilities, Buchanan.
Alberto Andrade, Estrada, Conner Machado and Devin Marino competed in the 4x800 for Monache. Marino took the place of Monache 800 meter school record holder and Fresno Pacific standout, Monte Moore.
They had their hands full with Buchanan this year as the Bears had beaten the Marauders on April 15 by 10 seconds. Clovis High also beat Monache by 10 seconds on that difficult day. The Marauders came out hard with Machado moving from 8th to 2nd in the first leg with a personal best 1:57 800 meter split. Machado had to navigate through heavy traffic with Porterville High and McFarland getting out well. Marino ran a personal best 1:57 to take the Marauders within striking distance, being towed along with Buchanan in the lead.
Buchanan was able to regain and hold the lead after Estrada briefly took over with a blistering first lap of 53 seconds on his third leg of the relay. Estrada had his hands full with Luke Sanders, the 4:06 1600 meter runner up from early in the meet.
Monache had hoped that 1600 effort would take the sting out of the powerful Buchanan relay team that was ranked 11th in California. Sanders gradually pulled away from Estrada's excellent split of 1:56 and it was up to Andrade to close out the race.
Andrade selflessly gave up his open 800 meter race in order to increase his relay team's chances of earning one of the coveted top two qualifying positions. Andrade closed the gap and held off a 55 second first lap from Clovis East's Marcus Salinas, who had beaten the Marauders at the West Coast Relays earlier in the year.
The Marauders broke the school record with the 11th best time in the state and placed second to earn a trip to state. Andrade anchored with a 1:56 800 split for a total team time of 7:48.45. Buchanan finished with a 7:46.43 to win.
RANGEL QUALIFIES
In the shot put Rangel grabbed on of the three qualifying spots to state by placing third at 56-6.
In the triple jump Ryan Calo-Alvarado placed 15th with a solid jump of 42 feet 1.5 inches. Calo-Alvarado tried to summon the magic, engaging with the crowd to try and produce another monster jump like he did to win the Division Two title, when he jumped 43-10 but to no avail. Rashad Perry of Washington Union would win the event with an incredible 48 foot jump.
An exhausted Andrade and Estrada still had to open the first two legs of the 4x400 relay to end the evening with just 40 minutes of rest after the 4x800. Ayden Aguilar and Ezequiel Negrete were scheduled for the 3rd and 4th legs of the race.
The team needed to place 3rd or better or run better than 3:20.42 to qualify for state. Six teams broke that time and Monache was left on the outside looking in with a valiant effort of 3:22.68 for 8th place ahead of EYL champion, Redwood in 9th. Central East won the race with a 3:13.57.
Negrete and Aguilar each ran excellent 49 second 400 relay splits, but every handoff was made in the outside 6 lanes, putting the Marauders in the tough position of having to run wide an extra 20 feet and then run back down to lane one to get around the curve. The four seniors ended their 4x400 careers as the best in Monache history.
“It was Jake’s and Alberto's decision whether to double or not and they both stepped it up and did a great job all year,” Monache coach Seth Ishida said. “Seniors, Eli Sotelo and Miguel Bedolls served double duty as backups for both relay teams and have filled in all year to take the pressure off the starting lineup. Sotelo saved the day in cross country for our 2024 D2 Valley title, so he knows how to operate under pressure. We had him warmed up to take over in a pinch. Both Bedolla and Sotelo will be entered into the CIF State Championship Meet and should be commended on their work ethic and character. They lifted their teammate's spirits during workouts and always kept the intensity up.
“We remember how it felt to get left off of the podium last year at the State Meet and we knew it was our destiny to get back. We believe in ourselves more this year and I think we might have more in the tank. We will have to graduate our seniors and make sure they stay focused for the upcoming battle with some of the best teams in the country, including top ranked Wilson of Long Beach, ranked No. 7 in the nation. I have absolute faith in those guys and I am thankful that we have had the honor to coach such outstanding athletes."
Ishida was referring to how Monache’s senior runners will have to prepare for the 4x800 this weekend while graduating as Monache’s graduation is Friday.
On the girls side for Monache a massive season best of 9:43.45 for the 4x800 team was only enough for 7th place outside of the medals and well behind the two state qualifying teams of Clovis North and Buchanan. Clovis North ran the 8th fastest time in the country with a 9:00.27 and Buchanan ran the 11th fastest in the country with a 9:02.13.
Monache’s team of Yazmine Lachino, Citlalih Ferrer, Samantha Martinez and Raquel Gomez each had personal best relay splits.
“The girls had the goal of making the top six, but who would have thought they would PR by 9 seconds,” Ishida said. “They were tough today and had to weather the storm with two nationally ranked teams. You just have to focus on what you need to do and race everyone else in the 18 team field."
OTHER RESULTS
Porterville’s 4x800 team of Peter Aguilar, Miguel Aldaco, Heriberto Martinez and Pablo Ruiz finished 16th in an outstanding time of 8:17.10.
Also for PHS Rodolfo Gomez finished 18th in the 3200 in 9:59.87.
For Lindsay High the boys 4x100 relay team of Gabriel Aguayo, Salvador Sanchez, Mattias Silva and Diego Cisneros placed 12th in 43.23.