TRACK AND FIELD SPORTS SHORTS 2010–
(Latest track and field shorts will be at the top of the section. Scroll down to check out past results. Tournament games do not count toward win/loss record. Visit the Sports Section for track and field features.)

For more information, check out the 2010 schedule, standings and results or highschoolsports.net.

TRACK AND FIELD 2010SEASON END

CIF CENTRAL SECTION FINALS–May 22
Junior Josiah Ford placed tenth in the triple jump, 42’9″, May 22. However, Ford refused to talk after several attempts to interview him.

CIF SEQUOIA SIERRA SECTIONS CHAMPIONSHIP–May 12
The Eagles who moved on from the small school championships in Fowler, competed at area. As this was the first time making it to this level for some, May 12.

Among those was the boys’ 4X100m team. Sophomore Martin Moreno says the team has made significant improvements, but has high hopes for next year.

It was a lot better than last season because we didn’t even make it to area and so we were pretty excited for the 4X100m,” Moreno said. “When we first started it was around 50 and now we’ve taken it down to a 46.15. We practiced on our hand offs and getting the steps right and once we go that down we dropped it down a few seconds.”

Although senior Nathaniel Nyberg did not compete at this meet, he was able to throw over 100′ in discus this season and says the overall experience has been great.

“My coach this year knew how to throw really well,” Nyberg said. “So he showed me how to spin faster and stay balanced. The coaches also had us work hard which brought us closer as a team. I really liked all the hard work outs this year and seeing how far my body could go.”

Head coach Steven Kruckenberg, has found his team to have grown in numerous ways over this last season.

“Our team stepped up and showed vast improvements in attitude, unity, hard work, PR’s [personal records], and their faith from when we started at the beginning of the season,” Kruckenberg said. “They started out very distant from us coaches, but now they are on a cool level with us.

Junior Josiah Ford was the only one to qualify for valley as he will next compete at CIF Central Section Finals, May 22.

ALL-SIERRA CHAMPIONSHIPS–May 5
The Eagles traveled to Fowler for the small school championships as they placed well in league. Junior Josiah Ford placed first for long jump, 20′, and triple jump, 42’03”, and Andrew Evans took first in the 110m hurdles 39″, May 5.

The Eagles will next compete at the CIF Sequoia Sierra Sections Championship, May 12.

REEDLEY INVITATIONAL–APRIL 30
As those who qualified for the meet were able to go, only junior Josiah Ford and the girls’ 4×1 relay team made the cut, April 30.

Ford put up a school record in the triple jump, 42’06.00″, and in the 4X100m, Ashley Erickson, ’13, juniors Michele Graham, Cassidy Hutchins and Kelsey Morgan did exceptional according to head coach Steven Kruckenberg.

“Josiah achieved a new PR [personal record and topped it off with a school record in the Triple jump,” Kruckenberg said. “The relay team did not PR but had a good solid outing for being up against such tough competition. This was a big meet and it was good to see how our athletes did against the areas, including D-1 & D-2’s best.”

The Eagles will next compete at the small school championship at Fowler, May 5.

WEST SIERRA LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP MEET–APRIL 28
For the WSL championship, the Eagles traveled to Fowler, competing at the best of their abilities to earn top ranks in league, April 28.

Junior Josiah Ford placed first in both the 100m, 12.14, and triple jump, 40’08.00″, along with the girls relay team, 55.09. Keslie Morgan, ’11, competed on the relay team, but also in the 100m and 200m. Morgan says she went into the meet wanting to perform at her best.

“It was a league championship and we had had only four meets before so we lacked some preparation,” Morgan said. “The coaches encouraged us a lot. So we went out their thinking well there’s nothing after this and we went out there and gave it our all.”

Although Morgan was somewhat satisfied with her second place finish in the 100m, 13.78, the 200m gave her trouble.

“I didn’t do as well as I wanted to in the 200m because it was really windy,” Morgan said. “It was hard to breathe because of that and my knee started to give out on me. My sophomore year of basketball my knee popped out of place, and it happened again when I was warming up before the race. I pushed through though and I just ran and did what I could do.”

The Eagles will next compete at the Reedley Invitational, April 30.

SANGER METRIC CLASSIC–APRIL 23
Senior Doug Daniel and junior Josiah Ford stepped up at the Sanger Metric Classic, producing qualifying numbers, April 23. Despite the previous meet at Caruthers being canceled, they put it aside and tacked on solid finishes.

Daniel placed 20th in the 3200m with a time of 10:52.67, and says he was not overjoyed with his race, but not disappointed with it either.

“I thought I did OK,” Daniel said. “My first mile was too fast and so I was kind of burned out on the second mile. I want to run at least a 10.40, but I have to pace myself and be mentally tough. To pace myself I just gotta make sure I hit the times and when I feel tired and sick I have to run harder.”

Ford, who took first at the Delano meet jumping 42’00.25″, says this personal record fired him up for his jump. But it did not go as well as he wanted it to, jumping 41’09,5″ and placing third.

“I was glad I went and it’s a big meet with about 30 schools and not just D 5 schools,” Ford said. “I was pumped because I had just PRd at the last meet, but I wasn’t really focused when I came in and I wasn’t really prepared.”

However, Ford says if he keeps his concentration he will be able to exceed his earlier jumps.

“If I had come into this meet like I had the last meet [Delano],” Ford said, “I would of jumped a lot further, but I wasn’t completely there for this meet. I was confident in the last meet and I need to come into the next meet and know what I can do and do it.”

The Eagles will next compete at the Fowler league meet, April 28.

CARUTHERS LEAGUE MEET–APRIL 21
Due to rain, the meet was canceled because Caruthers has a dirt track, April 21. Reschedule time is unknown.

The Eagles will next compete at the Sanger Metric Classic, April 23.

DELANO MEET BRINGS SUCCESS–APRIL 16
Despite being at the meet for seven hours, FC remained focused and set numerous unofficial personal records, April 16.

Sophomore Allison Camden ran the 100m and 200m and felt she left the previous meet behind and put down two solid races.

“In the 100m, I always think about coming out the blocks and going really fast and I was able to do that which carried me through the rest of the race,” Camden said. “In the 200m I just have to go all out and so I focus on running really hard.”

Camden says she and the team came into the meet more equipped and ready.

“Coming into this meet we were all ready to start new, put this one behind us and focus on this one,” Camden said. “This meet was a little bit more organized and we were more prepared for this one.”

In addition to Camden, Josiah Ford, ’11, made a personal record in the triple jump, 42’0.25″, and Martin Moreno, 12′, ran the 400m, 57.86. Assistant coach Seth Wilson, also the sprinting coach, says his team did extraordinarily well.

“Our team did very well on Friday and I came away very encouraged by their performance across the board,” Wilson said. “Across the board I have seen improvements in all of our sprinters regarding their form and technique.”

Above all Wilson wants his team to embody Christ.

“My goals for our athletes next meet are to run close to or surpass their personal records, to have fun, and to represent Jesus Christ in all that they do,” Wilson said.

FOWLER MEET BRINGS ROUND LEAGUE START–APRIL 14
Rain on Monday and Tuesday prevented the Eagles from getting any practice time in before their upcoming meet at Fowler. As many scratched on races or came up with undesirable results the Eagles had only six top three finishes, April 14.

Junior Frank Daniel arrived at the meet with hopes of success, but soon his knee started to have pain in it which hindered him in his races.

“My knee was hurting for some unknown reason and that slowed me down in the 1600 and caused me to scratch on the 3200,” Daniel said. “I was kinda angry when I couldn’t run the 3200, but then I realized that it would be terrible with pain in my knee so I was ok after that.”

Daniel says the team tends to go through cycles of exceptional races and then bad races, but they always pull through.

“Next time we should end up doing a lot better,” Daniel said. “Hopefully on Friday at our meet we will not be having a bad day and we all will be swift and strong in each of our own events.”

Although Daniel had difficulties at the meet, senior Nathaniel Nyberg and Daniel Andrew made personal records in discus and juniors Cassidy Hutchins and Josiah Ford took first in the long jump, 14′ and 17’3″.

“I wasn’t too pleased because I’ve been jumping the same distance the last few meets and I haven’t been improving,” Hutchins said. “I should be jumping a lot further because it’s almost the post season. However, we haven’t had a lot of time to practice though which hasn’t helped, but I still should be jumping farther.”

Head coach Steven Kruckenberg says there were numerous issues at the meet, but he plans to push forward.

“The track meet did not go as planned and a lot of things went wrong,” kruckenberg said. ” The rain on Monday and Tuesday really affected our preparation which caused us to have a lot of mental mistakes at the meet. Our next track meet is Friday at Delano and we have to shake off the bad meet from Wednesday and make a strong come back.”

The Eagles will next compete at the Delano league meet, April 16.

YOSEMITE MOUNTAIN INVITATIONAL–APRIL 9
The meet was canceled due to registration issues. The Eagles will next travel to open up their season at Fowler, April 14.

EXETER MONARCH INVITATIONAL–March 26
The meet was canceled due to registration issues. The Eagles will next travel to the Yosemite Mountain Invitational, April 9.

KINGSBURG INVITATIONAL–March 20
Amongst personal and school records being broken and a medal awarded at the Kingsburg Invitational, March 20, the Eagles made significant progress from their first meet.

Senior Doug Daniel became the first student at Fresno Christian to break a 1600m time of five minutes (4:54.18) and broke the school record for the 3200m, 10:43.84.

Junior Josiah Ford also placed first out of 26 competitors in the triple jump, 40’7″, March 20.

“I wasn’t happy with how far I jumped even though I got first because I didn’t meet my expectations for the meet,” Ford said. “I should of jumped 42, but I didn’t have much time to practice on a track so it was good for how much practice I had. I think I can jump 42 for sure this Friday and from there I want to push to about 45 or 46.”

In addition to Daniel and Ford, junior Cassidy Hutchins jumped 13’8″ in the long jump. She improved her previous best of 12’8″ at the Fowler Relays by a foot.

“Even though I improved from my last jump I was really frustrated with my long jump this time,” Hutchins said. “Recently we had been working on landings, which I had been doing pretty well on but for my last jump I put my hand back to spot my landing and took away two feet on my jump.”

However, the 4X1 race told a somewhat different story as they (Hutchins, Allison Camden, ’12, Ashley Erickson, ’13, Kelsey Morgan, ’11) ran it in 54.65.

“I was really happy with our 4X1 team because we improved our time by a second,” Hutchins said. “It was my first time starting and Allison’s and my hand off was near perfect. It was the smoothest transition and I really believe it was a deciding factor in us taking first in our heat as we beat everyone else by about three seconds.”

Head coach Steven Kruckenberg, found his team had a notable amount more of confidence in this meet, compared to the last, which helped them improve from their previous times.

“As a team we came in with a much better attitude and much more confidence,” Kruckenberg said. “Since we had our first meet under our belts we were ready to go and nothing really suprised us. We saw dramatic improvements as a team and individually with many athletes setting PR’s and two school records being broken.”

According to Kruckenberg he sees his team approaching the next level; competing with larger schools.

“Our overall team unity and support for one another is growing fast,” Kruckenberg said, “and we are starting to look good enough to compete with bigger schools. Also, the next couple weeks will be very exciting to see the improvements and PR’s [personal records] that will be set.”

The Eagles next travel to the Exeter Monarch Invitational, March 26.

FOWLER REDCAT RELAYS (Fowler)–March 6
While the first meet of the season was a first for many, others used their experience to excel. Senior Doug Daniel was able to break his own school record in the two-mile by two seconds with a time of 10.53 at the Redcat Relays, March 6.

Daniel says he was pleased with his time, but still knows he can improve.

“It felt pretty good because I had already run a mile and I wasn’t feeling good,” Daniel said. “It was the type of day where I would normally have a terrible race, but it ended up being good. My legs were sore and I had a cold. I just felt like I was going to have a terrible race, but I didn’t. Even though I did well I’m still capable of much more.”

To push through his pain, Daniel took the strategy of Rocky in the movie, Rocky III. He decided to run a planned race.

“I tried to stay smart and not just take off to the front of the pack,” Daniel said. “To do this I thought of Rocky III. Where Rocky’s fighting Mr. T. He had a strategy of letting Mr. T hit him a few times and getting him worn out, then knocking him out. So I paced myself, ran my race and didn’t burn out at the end.”

Participating in his first career meet, sophomore Daniel Andrew, says he had to overcome the jitters in the discus and shot put.

“When I got there I was nervous, especially because we have to wear short-shorts,” Andrew said. “But once I started my throws, the jitters went away and I realized how well I can actually do.”

Despite his success, Andrew realizes the work it will require to become good.

“I knew I could do well for my first time, but I definitely need some more practice on form and power,” Andrew said. “I need to try and build some muscle and buck up some because I was like the second skinniest guy there.”

For results from the Fowler meet, check out Redcat Relays. The Eagles will next compete in the Kingsburg Invitational, March 20.