The Monache boys 4x800 relay team had a dream race while Porterville High's Kian Rangel also advanced to the finals at the 105th CIF State Track Championships on Saturday at Buchanan.
Monache's team of Jake Estrada, Devin Marino, Conner Machado and Alberto Andrade again shattered their own school record and posted the Central Section's fastest time this year in placing seventh in the state meet, considered the best high school meet in the country
The typically hot weather came just in time to help the Marauders with a little home field advantage. The Marauders stayed out of the heat as much as possible as teams with individual stars competed in individual events in prelims on Friday and finals on Saturday.
The Marauders timed their entrance to the stadium just a half hour before warm-ups. The heat broke as the sun went down for the 9 p.m. race.
Estrada led the early stages of the race with about 7,000 fans watching the race unfold. Estrada forced the elite schools to change their tactics and pursue.
Monache had their hands full with high powered private schools with tuitions ranging from $19,000 to an astounding $41,000 a year at the Southern Section's Oaks Christian High School. Estrada provided the opening spark with a 55 second first lap to hold second place until the last 100 meters, falling to 8th with an outstanding 800 split of 1:57.14.
The split times were captured with a chip in the baton that read every lap. Estrada's early lead forced teams to move wider on the track and keep the Marauders in contention.
San Jose's Bellermine College Prep took the lead as Marino got the baton and pushed the opening lap pace to 54.5 seconds. Marino immediately hunted down Central Section Champion Buchanan and San Pedro to move into 6th place.
Despite a personal best effort of 1:56.12 by Marino for 800 meters, San Pedro retook 6th place. Each place represented valuable points for the team state title won with just 33 points by famous sprinters of Servite, narrowly defeating Clovis North with 30 points.
Machado ran the third leg and ran another blistering 54.5 400 split in a back and forth battle with Bellermine Prep for seventh. Andrade anchored the team and also opened with a fast 54.9 and overtook San Pedro, but ran out of real estate in the pursuit of Bellermine Prep.
Monache broke the school record for a second time this season with the fastest time in the Central Section this year, 7:45.71 for the 45th fastest time in the United States this year. J Serra won the race with the fastest time in the country, 7:33.43 and Mira Costa and Oaks Christian had the 6th and 7th fastest times in the country with a 7:35.15 and 7:35.94 for 2nd and 3rd.
Long Beach's Wilson was fourth in 7:38.30. Sacramento's Jesuit was 5th in 7:38.44. Bellermine Prep was 6th in 7:44.84. Buchanan, the Central Section Champion, place 10th after their best leg runner, Luke Sanders ran a stunning 4:06.02 1600 meter race for third place earlier in the sweltering heat.
It was redemption for last year's Maruaders that came up just short of a medal in 10th place with Buchanan earning 8th place with a 7:46 last year.
"We worked for a long time for this,” Monache coach Seth Ishida said. “Last year was brutal and taught us that we needed to be stronger. We kept the aggressive opening laps and were able to keep in contention with the big hitters. We knew we were the underdogs this year and came out patiently to peak at the right time. Our seniors worked for 4 years for this moment and executed their race under extreme pressure.
“The mental toughness was impressive. I really felt the nerves as we tried to get everything right. We fought every leg. It has been a blessing to work with these brave athletes all year long. Each guy had to bring a heroic effort to get this done today. They earned it and left everything they had on the track. I could not be more proud as they stepped on the podium for their medals. I am just soaking it in and watching the video to reassure myself that I am not dreaming."
RANGEL MAKES FINALS
Rangel qualified seventh for the finals in Friday's preliminaries with a throw of 56-9. In Saturday's finals he ended up placing 10th in the state with a throw of 55-0 ¼.
Rangel's 10th place finish at state capped a memorable season which included winning the Central Section Division III title with a Central Section Division III record mark of 57-10.
Another highlight for Rangel came this year when he won Pasadena High School's Tiger Invitational with a throw of 57-11 ½ which ranks third on Porterville High's all-time list.