By Justin Vigil-Zuniga
Signal Sports Writer
The Grizzlies’ stranglehold of the Foothill League track competition was in full display Thursday, in their first league action this season.
Both Golden Valley varsity teams won the meet comfortably.
Girls’ varsity finished: Golden Valley, 96.50, Valencia, 37, and Hart, 29.50
Boys’ varsity finished: Golden Valley, 86.50, Hart, 41.50 and Valencia, 41.
Golden Valley
Head coach Lonnie Davis’ teams are no strangers to dominating across the board at their meets. The girls’ team entered the season as the top-ranked team in the Division 2 Southern Section, while the boys ranked second.
“We’ve been [breaking records] on the regular,” said Davis. “We want to be consistent with that, we don’t want to let it sit. We want to keep grinding.”
Golden Valley has some stars on the squad in Elijha Ellis, Kylee Davis, TJ Wiggins and Adonijah Currie, just to name a few.
Wiggins won both the discus throw and shot put events with some impressive marks. The Long Beach commit registered a top 25 mark in the country, launching the disc 176 feet. Wiggins also set a personal best in shot put with a throw of 47 feet, 1 inch.
“The whole entire coaching staff is fantastic,” said Wiggins. “They give me the tools to do what I need. They see me as a leader. I feel like I fit that role.”
Ellis hit a top 10 mark in the country with a long jump of 23 feet, 9 inches as well as a personal record of 40 feet, 2.5 inches in the triple jump.
Kylee Davis and Meagan Humphries both set state top 10 marks in their long jumps. Davis finished a mark of 19 feet, 11.5 inches, a top 10 mark in the country, while Humphries landed a 18-foot, 7-inch jump.
Currie finished the 200 meter in 24.68, breaking a meet record that has stood for over 10 years.
“We’re on a mission,” said Lonnie. “We’re not just trying to have a good team. We want to leave a legacy.”
Hart
The Indians had some great runners take the track Thursday.
The team fared well in distance running. Paul Mangione won the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:29:92. Zachary Chan won the 800-meter run in 2:00:55 and was one of four Hart runners to finish in the top six.
Owen Ahten, Jaden Wiley and Mangione went first, second and third in the 3200 meters. Ahten finished in 9:38:36.
Laura Brennan swept shot put and discus for Hart. Brennan hit 39 feet, 10 inches in shot put and 84 feet, 8 inches in discus.
“There’s a huge track community in this valley,” said Hart head coach John Ahart. “Whenever you have that kind of community effort, you see kids get encouraged by their rivals. They want to compete against them and do the best they can do.”
Valencia
The Vikings showed some serious speed from their runners.
Trey Suffrendi was a blur on the track. The senior won the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.29 and helped the Vikings win the 4×400 meter relay with a time of 3:33:22.
On the girls’ side, Kiyanna Cole helped lead Valencia to a huge win in the 4×400 meter relay with a team finish of 4:18:58. Cole also finished a hair short of second place in the 100-meter dash.
Joy Nakazawa toasted everyone in the 3200, finishing in 12:40:88, a solid 44 seconds before second place.
The Vikings also won the boys’ 4×100 meter dash with a time of 43.78.
