Saturday, April 28, 2012

Warriors Have Strong Performance Avis Kelley Invitational

Gilroy - It was a month ago, March 31st that the Warriors were set to run in the Avis Kelley Invitational in Gilroy.  But as athletes arrived they soon discovered that "the meet will go on rain or shine," does not include  40 mph wind gusts.  As pop up tents were hurled from the bleachers and the wind and rain made field events unsafe the decision was made to postpone the meet.  It was the first time in 42 years the meet had to be postponed.

Flash forward one month to April28th - pristine conditions; a cloudless blue sky and abundant sunshine.  The conditions were ideal.  Despite few teams making the return trip to Gilroy and the Prom later that evening, that didn't stop the Warriors from having an outstanding day.

The 1600 meters was first and saw Matt Lundy finish with a personal best 5:07.  Eyobed Mesfun (4:51) and Amy Reyes (5:53) matched their personal bests, while Paul James was just 4 seconds shy of his.

The 800 meters saw huge breakthroughs for the Warriors.  Jessica Xu took the pace out hard from the start and came by in a blistering 70 seconds.  She held on for the the win in a personal best 2:27.38, which places her #10 all-time for the Warriors.  Behind her Shannon Luu crushed her personal best by more than 10 seconds to finish in 2:35.69 to finish 6th. In the boys Frosh-Soph race Matt Lundy was doubling back from his run in the 1600 earlier in the day and finished 3rd in a respectable 2:17.

Temperatures rose which made for a tough 3200 meters but the Warriors swept the top 3 places in the Girls 3200 meters.  Kellianne Connolly got her first win leading from start to finish.  She was followed by Shannon Luu, who was doubling back after her fantastic 800 meter run just an hour earlier, and Jessica Xu who was pacing her for the 8 laps.  Karen Mac, returning from an injury suffered in mid-March when she took a spill in the dual with Sacred Heart Cathedral finished 5th.

The boys also had a solid showing.  Running a personal best in the 3200 meters in the dual with St. Francis the Wednesday before Eyobed Mesfun decided to give the 2 mile a try again, "for a workout" and ended up winning the race just off of his personal best.  Dustin Laucella finished 4th.

"We can only compete against who shows up," Coach Small said.  "I'm proud of our runners for doing exactly that, they did well today."

This marks the last invitational of the 2012 track season.  The Warriors now turn their attention to the final dual meet of the season against Saint Ignatius of San Francisco and then the WCAL Championship held at St. Francis on May 11.


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