Using her last burst of energy to push ahead of her opponents, junior Kimberly Chen sprinted to the finish of the 400m race at the away track meet against Homestead on March 17. With a time of 1:04.85, she placed first in the event.
“There is always room for improvement, but I did better than the week before, so I was happy [with the win],” she said.
The meet resulted in a 68-55 loss, despite strong performances by several star athletes: junior Janani Velchamy placed first in triple jump with a distance of 31’4”, senior Puck de Roos first and freshman Riley Carter second in the high jump.
Senior sprinter Allison Chan, who ran the 4x100m and 4x400m relays as well as the 100m and 200m dashes, said that the Homestead meet was an improvement from the first meet of the season against Cupertino on March 12.
“[The meet against Homestead] went a lot better because I was getting used to the competition again, as opposed to the first meet,” Chan said. The girls lost to Cupertino 79-48.
At Cupertino, Carter participated in the long jump, 800m, 4×400 relay and high jump. She placed third in her long jump event and second in high jump.
“I was tired from the 800m, which wiped out my other events, but [the meet] was definitely fun,” Carter said. “I was first scared and stressed out about [my first high school meet], but the girls were really nice and it was fun to be able to compete at the varsity level.”
On the other hand, Chan has participated in track for all four years of high school. As the season progresses, she hopes to win more individual events at invitationals as well.
“At the meet against Cupertino, I wasn’t sure where I stood from last year,” Chan said. “But we all had personal goals and knew what we were doing.”
Last year, the girls had an overall of 2-4 in the El Camino Division. So far, their record this year is 1-2, with their victory coming against Santa Clara on March 26.
The girls hope to perform well enough to qualify for CCS semifinals and finals, which respectively take place on May 23 and 29. To qualify, individual athletes must place within the top nine of their event at league finals on May 6, followed by placement in the top three of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) meet on May 15.
“I’m learning more strategies on how to run and how to keep up with people,” Carter said. “I’m definitely excited and I want to practice more.”
Due to printing deadlines, the Falcon could not cover details for the 67-59 win against Santa Clara on March 26, or the home meet against Fremont on April 2.