Boys’ track team struggles in early races

The boys’ varsity track team got off to a less than perfect start on March 14 at the K-Bell Invitational, which hosted athletes from 33 schools. The first races of the season are always a little rusty, and this meet proved no different.

Sprints started off the day with senior Phil Chen and junior Trevor Teerlink finishing 20th and 24th, respectively, in the competitive 100m dash. Teerlink also competed in the 200m dash where he placed 14th, 16 spots ahead of senior teammate Michael Beam.

Things improved for the team as the day progressed with the distance events. Senior Kian Banks placed sixth in the 800m, but was disappointed with that finish and his time of 2:01.21, in light of the 1:57.16 he ran just a few weeks ago. Senior Alan Menezes competed in the 1600m, placing ninth in 4:34.94. Junior Nick Olsen came in 34th in the same race.

“It was a rough start for some people, but overall it looks like we are going to have a good season,” said Menezes.

In his final track season, Menezes has one main goal.

“I want to break the 4:15 school record for the 1600m,” said Menezes. “It’s not expected but [setting the school record] would be cool.”

Although the varsity team struggled, the frosh-soph boys enjoyed some success. Freshman Harry Curtis placed seventh in the frosh-soph 800m race with a time of 2:10.93. Curtis ran again later in the day, finishing 15th in the 1600m. He broke the infamous 5:00 mark, coming in at 4:59.10.

Sophomore Garrick Chan also ran the frosh-soph 800m race, placing 25th. He was happy with his results because of the early stage in the season and because he has been coping with shin splints. Likewise, sophomore Kyle Fukui placed 25th in the 1600m frosh-soph event.

In the frosh-soph field events, sophomore Eric Chuang placed 10th and 12th in the long jump and high jump, respectively. Saratoga’s highest place of the day came in the frosh-soph shot put, thanks to freshman Brando Oliveri-O’Connor, who placed second.

The boys also competed in the West Valley Relays on March 21, but the results of this event were unable to be printed due to publication deadlines.