Track finishes season strong

The track team concluded a successful season with a fifth-place finish by the boys and a 10th-place finish by the girls at the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) meet hosted at Wilcox High School on May 16.

At CCS semi-finals on May 30, Saratoga will be represented by seniors Eric Ringsrud, Travis Stokes, Mady Fagan, Will Guy and Ben Glasstone, juniors Steven Sum and Puck de Roos, and sophomore

Tanner Zuleeg at San Jose City College. Their performance will determine if they qualify for the state competition, which will be held from June 6-7 at Buchanan High School in Clovis.

The highlight of the girls’ team was high jumper Fagan, who broke the school record with a height of 5’ 8.5” to win first place in the league meet. Fagan, who will high jump for the Division 1 University of Georgia track team next year, is currently ranked fifth in the state for girls’ high jump.

On the boys’ team, Sum placed first in the 1600m and 3200m with times of 4:23 and 9:32, respectively. Sum is currently ranked 30th in the state for the 1600m and 16th for the 3200m.

Ringsrud took second and third in the 100m and 200m with times of 11.12 and 22.02 seconds, setting a new school record in the 200m. He also competed in high jump with a height of 6’ 0” for first place.

In addition, Ringsrud competed with Stokes, Guy and Glasstone in the 4 by 400m relay finishing second in the meet with a time of 3:28 and are currently ranked in the top 10 for CCS.

Stokes also ran in the 200m for a time of 22.86 seconds. Zuleeg competed in the 12-pound shot put competition, throwing a distance of 44’ 5” and finishing in fifth place.

In addition, de Roos competed in the high jump, achieving a height of 4’ 10” to win fourth place. De Roos also competed in the 100m and 200m dashes and the long jump.

According to junior sprinter Laura Cummins, the SCVAL meet was a satisfying end to the track season.

“Although there were disappointments and losses this season, we worked hard and we competed against very [strong] schools,” she said. “We pulled through despite our team losing some good runners from last year.”

Junior sprinter Avery Gigoux added that she hopes in the future, track will receive more support from the student body.

“Not a lot if people know that amount of work we put in and the training we go through for an event that can last just a minute,” Gigoux said. “If we had [more of the school’s] support I believe it would push us harder.”