The Santa Barbara High and San Marcos track & field squads competed in the annual Don Green Invitational on Saturday at Moorpark High School.
Santa Barbara High
Elina Stump shined for the Dons, taking first in the long jump and triple jump with marks of 17-4.75 and 35-6.75, respectively.
Shea Gannon placed third in the triple jump at 34-5.5, while Stump and Gannon teamed up with Olivia Arevalo and Ailey Alexander to earn second place in the 4×400-meter relay.
“That’s a great performance for Shea in her first-ever track meet. Elina had a good all-around day to give her some nice momentum heading to Nike Indoor Nationals next weekend, and it’s always nice to end the day with some success in the 4×4,” Santa Barbara High head coach Olivia Perdices said.
On the boys side, Malachi Johnston had a strong day in the throws with second-place marks in both the shot put (51-8.75) and discus (137-10).
“[Johnston’s] season is off to a nice start and we’re looking forward to building on it,” Perdices said.
Meanwhile, the Santa Barbara High sprint medley relay team of Ben Medina, Jaden Molwane, Chris Lopez and Angel Hernandez crossed the finish line in third place.
Lopez was joined by Diego Placencia, Ethan Haas and Senyo Wojogbe for a third-place showing in the 4×400-meter relay, while Lopez rounded out his day with a third-place finish in the long jump at 20-6.75
“These guys love coming together and getting the baton around the track,” Perdices said. “They’re a versatile group and can all jump into different roles and events for us… Don Green is always a great early-season gauge for the team.”
The Dons will compete in the Thousand Oaks Invitational next Saturday in their final Channel League tune-up.
San Marcos
The Royals were led by Logan Patterson Deakyne, who registered the team’s lone win on the day with a first-place performance in the 300-meter hurdles at 40.03 seconds. He also placed fourth in the 400-meter at 50.77 seconds.
“Logan has had a great start to the season. He is working hard and doesn’t make excuses for himself; he just puts in the work to get better,” San Marcos head coach Marilyn Hantgin said.
Dalton Shupe and Jacob Brown placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in the pole vault after tying their mark at 12-10. Myles Gonzalez rounded out the Royals in the pole vault in eighth place.
“It was nice to see the vaulters excel and compete so well today. They put in a lot of time and to get such positive results is awesome,” Hantgin said.
The girls varsity 4×800-meter relay team of Abby Herbst, Jane Demmin, Sofi Hernandez and Linden Yardley kept the success going with second place in their event.
Meanwhile, Elsie Tuttle, Samara Shalhoub, Autumn Richardson and Layla Llewellyn came together to place third in the distance medley relay race.
“These girls are coming off an amazing cross country season. It shows how ready and excited they are for track season,” Hantgin said of the distance medley relay team.
Individually, Margaret Deakyne came in third in the 100 hurdles at 17.92 seconds and jumped a personal-best mark of 5-00 in the high jump.
The Royals will compete in the Spartan Relays next weekend.