The cold and the wind didn’t prevent Santa Barbara High from kicking off the track & field season with a non-scoring quad meet at Peabody Stadium on Wednesday.
The Dons hosted Righetti, St Bonaventure and Cate in the first competition of the year.
“It was a good mix of teams with a lot of competitive racing to open the season with,” said Santa Barbara coach Olivia Perdices.
Santa Barbara’s Sierra Gronquist started her season on a high note, winning four events. She took the 100 hurdles (19.43), 300 hurdles (54.98), high Jump (4-3) and pole vault (9-6).
Anne Knecht was a double winner in the 800 meters (2:26.83) and the 4×400 meter relay. The other relay members were London Moro, Jasmyn Amirfazlian Dennis and Addie Hoke.
Moro also won the 400 meters (1:02.68) and was second at 200 meters (28.14).
Santa Barbara swept the girls triple jump with Julianna Aviani (34-2), Gianna Stump (33-5.5) and Hoke (30-10).
“Sierra, Anne and London all missed last season with injuries, so to see them do the work to come back and get some strong results is really gratifying,” said Perdices.
On the boys side, Davis Flanagin (21-10.5, 43-5.5) and Oliver Andrews (19-10, 39-2) went 1-2 in both the long and triple jump. Flanagin added a second in the 100 meters (11.34) and Oliver took third in the shot put (35-6).
“It’s fun to coach guys who are athletic and versatile and willing to move around to wherever we need them,” said Perdices.
Santa Barbara hosts Carpinteria and Santa Ynez on Wednesday, March 1.