Several alumni of Hilmar High School’s track and field program and their personal best times have met their matches in recent years, particularly this season. This year, 10 different school records across varying events have either been broken or set. Some records, such as the girls 4x100 relay time, have been broken multiple times.
At Wednesday’s Trans-Valley League dual against the Hughson program, Hilmar’s girls 4x100 team of senior Jayme Soares, junior Lilly Brewer and sophomores Alyssa Colston and Itzel Loza completed the event in 50.36 seconds. The previous school record was 50.50 seconds, which was set by the group just four days prior.
Saturday marked the first event in which the four competed together as a relay team.
“It was really nice, because that was our first time with the new group. So, it was pretty cool,” Soares said.
“And our hand-offs were butter,” Brewer added.
Soares and Brewer have their names scattered across the Hilmar High record books. At last Saturday’s Sacramento Meet of Champions at American River College, Brewer also set the record for fastest 400-meter dash time, becoming the first ever female Yellowjacket to finish in under a minute with her time of 59.03 seconds. Last year, she helped set the standard in the 4x400 relay alongside Soares, Kyndell Johnston and Brisa Gonzales with a time of 4:08.46. The duo, along with Johnston and Brianna Dias, set the 800-meter sprint medley record last year with a time of 1:57.70 — the only girls relay group in school history to finish in under two minutes.
As for Soares, Wednesday’s relay record was just another feather in her cap. She is the proud owner of six school records, holding the fastest times in the 60-meter (8.09), 100-meter (12.79 in 2023), 150-meter (19.59), the 800-meter sprint medley and the two traditional relay races. While she is proud of her records, she is motivated by the fact that she hasn’t broken any of her individual bests since February.
“It’s been nice to have my name all over that (record book). But it’s been a while. Too long, actually. I need to break some of those again,” she said. “But I'm feeling good heading into playoffs… I’m honestly very excited. I'm just trying to mentally prepare myself. Hopefully, we hit those PRs. I’m trying to get some more with just about a month left (in the season).”
Also setting a school best in girls’ competitions this season has been sophomore Sidney Logsdon, who broke her own 3200-meter time by 10 seconds with a 11:43.08 mark set on March 22 in Oakdale. She has also helped set the standard in the 400-meter distance medley relay, running a 13:50.78 in Hughson on March 14 alongside Sophia Lopes, Alexis Aguiar and Guadalupe Granados. Logsdon, Lopes and Aguiar were members of the previous record-holding group with Vitoria Fontes-Pinheiro in 2023 with a time nearly an entire minute longer.
The 3200-meter run has also been broken on the boys’ side, with junior Jeffery Mendonca completing the dash in 10 minutes and one second at Saturday’s TVL dual.
Fellow junior Merek Ellerd owns the school’s lone 150-meter time, running the race in 17.80 seconds in February. His teammate in both track and in football, junior Caden Bailey, set the school’s 60-meter record at the same Feb. 3 event in Arcadia with a 7.16 time. Last year, he set the school’s 100-meter mark at 10.99 seconds at the Sac-Joaquin Sections Masters prelims.
“I’ve had the honor of coaching some great athletes and we’ve had some great teams,” said Hilmar head track and field coach Clement Labrouche. “We have some special talents this year. They’ve been a real treat to be around.”
