Rebekah Watson
Senior Ian Palsgaard took home a League Champion first place medal in the 400 meters with a time of 52.24, qualifying him for the Division IV Championships in Caruthers on May 16.
The Track & Field team showed their best performance in school history in the League Championships on May 6 with the girls team finishing in a solid second place behind Liberty High School with only eight girls scoring 130 points.
Stand out performances included senior Laina Penland breaking her own 400-meter school record with a time of 60.26 and junior Sarah Guglielmana smashing her own record in the shotput by a foot with a distance of 35 feet.
Before this year, Guglielmana has never been a part of the high school Track & Field team. Her focus has been more on basketball and volleyball. Guglielmana has played volleyball since age 4. In volleyball, she has taken home several valley championships and led the girls volleyball team in blocks and assists this last year. Guglielmana surprised everyone and joined the Track & Field team this season, taking home shot put and discus records almost every meet she competed in. Guglielmana’s mother was a decorated Track & Field athlete in her day.
“I really just wanted to come out and have some fun,” Guglielmana said. “Especially since I couldn’t make it to every practice I just wanted to enjoy it. I also talked with my dad about it before I started and we both agreed on just breaking the school record.”
Senior Laina Penland received “Female Senior Athlete of the Year” at the sports awards night on May 5. This year she served as the captain of the team, providing leadership and encouragement for other athletes. One of her main personal goals was breaking the school record in the 400 meters.
“It was a challenge to get down to 60 seconds, and it is gratifying to see how far I have come,” Penland said.
Head Coach Shawn Young has been coaching Track & Field and Cross Country at FC since 2002 and has never experienced such a dominant season before. With so many records broken and personal records made at each meet, Young was truly jazzed to watch the season unfold.
“It was a thrill to watch the team compete and improve each meet,” Young said. “There was so much excitement surrounding the team because of how many records were broken. We also had so much help from the coaching staff and parents. Everyone really rallied around the team and put so much effort towards the kids.”
Junior Chloe Ledieff, freshmen Lacy Smith and Madison Siebert also swept the top three spots in the girls 3200 meters at the League Championships and will be athletes to watch in the future as they continue to break records.
Other personal records (PRs) and medalists (Top 3) from the day are the following:
Blake Bay – 800 2:03.66 1st, 1600 4:29.36 2nd, 3200 10:20.64 1st
Zoe Blanchfield – 400 72.91 PR
Kayla Castro – 100H 18.37 2nd, 300H 54.44 PR, LJ 14’9.5″
Giada Gilmore Young – 100 13.34 3rd, 300H 49.23 PR 1st
Chloe Ledieff – 3200 12:43.49 1st
James Nelson – LJ 16’11.75″ PR
Ian Palsgaard – 400 52.24 1st
Laina Penland- 200 26.90 2nd
Luke Schermerhorn – FS Shot 29’11” PR
Madison Siebert – 1600 5:48.90 3rd, 3200 12:53.75 3rd
Lacy Smith- 800 2:40.93 2nd, 1600 5:32.77 2nd, 3200 12:49.25 2nd
Gatlin Snell – LJ 18’11” PR, TJ 40′ 3.5″ PR
The Girls 4×400 relay team of Kayla, Giada, Zoe, and Laina finished 2nd with 4:31.44. In total, our athletes won three Individual League Championships (first place medals) on the boys side and three on the girls side.
Go cheer on the Eagles in Caruthers on May 16 for the CIF Central Section Div. 4 Championships!
To read more from The Feather, visit Track and Field breaks five school records and Awards Night recognizes student-athletes.