Centre to send three to state track
Staff writer
Senior Kate Basore, junior Xavier Espinoza, and sophomore Aidan Svoboda placed in the top four of their events at the 1A regional track and field meet Friday at Burlingame to qualify for state competition.
Coach Alan Stahlecker said Basore led the competition in javelin from the opening round and took first place with a throw of 122 feet, 5 inches.
This is her third consecutive year to qualify for state in that event. She finished seventh as a sophomore and third as a junior. Her best throw this year was 128’9” at Marion Relays, the 19th best mark overall in the state.
Espinoza finished first in the 100-meter dash with a run of 11.71 seconds in the finals.
“Despite a poor start in the final against a fairly strong headwind, Xavier pulled away to a convincing victory,” Stahlecker said.
Espinoza also finished first in long jump with a leap of 19’4.75”. He won the event by a little over an inch.
He competed at state in both events last year but did not place. He said he was going to put in extra practice time in long jump this week.
Svoboda took third place in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4 minutes, 58.9 seconds.
“Aidan was sixth at the start of the final lap, just a few yards behind the fourth-place runner,” Stahlecker said. “With a final lap of 1:09, Aidan passed three runners, including one who had a 15-yard advantage, and moved up into the third spot, setting a personal record.”
He ran a leg in a relay at state last year, but this will be his first appearance in an individual event.
Espinoza will compete in long jump and Basore in javelin at 3 p.m. Friday.
Preliminaries of the 100-meter will be at 9 a.m. Saturday, with finals at 1:05 p.m. Svoboda will compete in the 1600 at 2:05 p.m.
Other regional results
Girls’ discus — 5. Basore, 96’10”.
Girls’ 4x100 relay — 5. (Cailey Barney, Alyssa Espinoza, Emma David, Samantha Espinoza), 54.86.
Boys’ shot put — 6. Braxton Smith, 41’4”.
Last modified May 23, 2018