Santa Barbara High and Dos Pueblos track & field competed at the Simi Valley Invitational on Friday and Saturday, and each team came away with strong performances.
Santa Barbara High
The Dons kicked off the weekend with an impressive showing in the 4×800 meter relays, earning both first and second place.
The team of Matthias Everest, Bode Andrulaitis, Nico Tassos and Magne Henriques finished in first place while Ben Diaz, William Covington, Asa Gonzales and LT Crannell were not far behind.
In the boys sprint medley relay, the Santa Barbara sophomore squad of Diego Placencia, Monty Lopez, James Faletti and Chris Lopez won the seeded section.
Meanwhile, the girls squad of Adeline Hoke, Olivia Arevalo, Jasmy Amirfazlian Dennis and London Moro registered a third-place finish in the invitational section.
In the girls invitational 4×400 meter relay race, Moro, Hoke, Corinne Hulford and Julianna Aviani slotted into second place.
“We talk a lot about being better together,” Dons coach Olivia Perdices said. “Our athletes always rise to the occasion when we put a baton in their hands.”
Individually, Andrulaitis won the boys seeded section of the 1,600-meter race with a time of 4:31.82 and Itzel Rayos Jimenez won her heat in the girls rated section of the 1,600-meter race at 5:52.18. Both times were personal bests.
“Bode took command early and ran with a lot of confidence. That’s a race I have no doubt he’s going to keep building on,” Perdices said. “She made a big move in the third lap that nobody responded to. She’s racing better every time out.”
Other places for the Dons were Elina Stump (3rd in triple jump, 4th in long jump), Krystal Valdez (2nd in discus) and Amirfazlian Dennis (4th in high jump)
“It was a fun weekend for our kids,” Perdices said. “We picked up some nice wins and a lot of personal bests. I really like the trajectory this group is on.”
Dos Pueblos
The Chargers collected plenty of personal records over the weekend.
In the jumps, Izzy Belete finished third in the triple jump with a mark of 35-10 and Kaley Long placed ninth in the long jump at 14-10.25.
In the sprint medley relay, Kaley Orquiola, Taylor Hayes, Clehann Howard and Harper Wolfe Lyons earned fourth place in the invitational section. The same team finished sixth in the seeded division of the 4×100 relay.
In the 100-meter dash, Gabe Runyen, Cole Adair, Kaleb Williams and Wolfe Lyons all took home personal records.
Meanwhile, Aaron Carreno, Adam Almada and Clehann each picked up personal bests in the 200-meter dash. Clehann also ran a personal best in the 400-meter race.
In the 1,600-meter race, Johnny Duffy, Hayden Graham and Phillip Contakes all took home personal records, and Duffy won his heat.
Both Selah Blackwell and Owen Abbott rounded out the Dos Pueblos runners with personal records in the 3,200-meter race.
The Chargers will take the next week off for spring break.
