Denair and Delhi's varsity track and field programs are Southern Athletic League Champions.
This after last week's victory for the Delhi boys and the Denair girls programs, which topped out at the end of the tournament.
“Girls won it and overall the girls were extremely excited, it was not just my girls but my JV boys who also won, and with two division championships, the entire team was extremely excited,” said Denair head coach Jim Wagner.
“Really proud of my guys and the girls for their effort as well. Couldn't have done it without the hard work that these kids put in,” said Delhi head coach Matt Cabral. “Obviously, everyone was really happy afterwards, it's pretty special.”
Delhi saw multiple top performances from many of its athletes. Most notable was a dominating performance in the 1600 meter race from the Delhi Hawks, which had four of the top finishers for the race.
Andrew Vasquez of Delhi became a league champion with a first place result in the 1600 meter race with a time of 4:55.01 and first in the 3200 race with a time of 11:06.00.
Alvin Prasaad earned the league champion honors in the high and long jump with top performances. In the high jump, Prasaad cleared over 5-foot-10 and in the long jump, he notched 19 feet, 2 inches.
Delhi's 4x4 relay team became league champions after a first place finish of 3:47.22, just ahead of Orestimba.
“Next year should be a great year as well, we shall see what happens. It's always tough in track and field,” said Cabral.
Samuel Cortez of Delhi also placed first in the pole vault event with a clearance of 11 feet.
Lyliana Godinez and Bianca Escobedo of Delhi were the only two first place finishers for the Hawks.
Denair struggled to get many first place results on the boys varsity side but dominated on the JV side and on the varsity girls side.
“With JV turning in numbers, I have a lot of youth coming up next year,” said Wagner. “Just looking forward to a close battle next year and on the girls (team) I am not losing anybody really since they are young juniors and sophomores and freshmen, so we should look good for next year.”
The Coyotes of Denair were able to clinch an eight-point win over Gustine after battling all day long for the top spot in the SAL.
With the help of Eva Varni and Heidi Johnson, among others, the Coyotes scored major points to clinch the title.
Varni topped out in the long jump after clearing 14 feet, 1 inch. Johnson finished tied for third with a 13 feet.
Johnson also won the triple jump with a 29 feet, 7.25 inch clearance. Varni finished fifth.
Nicole Nichols also scored major points for Denair, ending the 100 meter hurdles race in fourth with a time of 21.73. Nichols scored big with a second place result in the 300 hurdles race, finishing with a time of 1:02.35. Teammate Jaileen Gazcon was .41 seconds behind to finish third.
“Heidi had her best performance overall and first year as a senior,” said Wagner. “She finally came out and put out some excellent results. Also Libby Martinez and Vanessa Chavez came out and were able to score major points for us.”
The Denair varsity boys placed third.
“I couldn't be happier with how we performed,” said Wagner.
