By Leonard COUTIN

On Thursday, March 7, Glendale Dynamiters hosted the CV Falcons on Moyse Field in a dual Pacific League competition of track and field rivalry that celebrated over 50 years of legendary contests. It was a disappointing showing by Crescenta Valley because many of their key runners were held back in preparation for the Redondo Nike Track and Field Invitational held on Friday night and Saturday. Nevertheless, many of the younger and less experienced athletes rose to the occasion, gaining valuable experience.

One of the most exciting exchanges was in the boys’ 1600m when two seniors, Grant Lauterback of CV and Arvin Sales of Glendale, battled the distance with intensity and class. Sales took the lead from the start of the race and held his position right up until the final lap. It was in the final 50 meters that Lauterback came up alongside and fiercely made his final sprint to capture his first gold for the season. He took the win in a time of 4:41.77 to Sales’ 4:42.28.

That was not the only gold that the Falcons took home that day. Ethan Hizon won the triple jump posting 33-10.00, Vince Lieberman won the 110H in 16:71 and Derek Ghahremanian owned the pole vault competition with 9-00.00. Additionally, there were many gallant scores by the Falcon team that earned second place: Essai Bribiesca took second in the 100m with a time of 12.04, Talon Carvalho in the 200m logged 24.70, Ethan Sharp in the 800m had a time of 2:06.45, Hizon completed the 300H in 49.38, Max Grant had a high jump of 5-02, Lieberman in the long jump distanced 18-00.00 and Leighton Ong Yiu scored 37-01.00 in the shot put.

“We had good efforts in the meet against Glendale,” said CVHS coach Mark Evans. “Our sprinters are getting stronger each week.” 

The Falcon girls scored well against the Nitro teams winning 11 events. Many of the winners were in grades nine, 10 and 11, with a few seniors, like Izzy Lieberman, Eliza Clark and Melissa Owens, helping to boost the teams’ scores. Falcon gold achievers were Teleya Blunt, who achieved a dual win in the 200m running 29.22 and the 400m in 65.86, Valeria Borraez in the 1600m with 6:18.70, Priya Riley in the 100m in 17.84 and also the 300H in 50.69, Clark high jump of 4-00.00, Lieberman long jump of 14-08.00, Angela Kim triple jump of 30-11.11, Dylana Wolf shot put of 30-07.50, Michelle Longlax 3200m in 14:11.14 and the last of event of the day, the 4 x 400 relay consisting of team members Shereen Nima, Megan Parada, Sarah Nakama and Owens, was won in a time of 4:37.46.

Final varsity boys’ score: Glendale 82, CV 49

Finals varsity girls’ score: CV 85, Glendale 38

On Friday and Saturday, the best Southern California high school athletes were found at the Redondo Nike Track and Field Invitational. The event exposes competitors early in the season to some of the most elite athletes and helps rate the performances, showcasing strengths and weaknesses. CV ran both distance relays and 3200s. The CV freshman/sophomore girls’ 4 x 800 team placed sixth running a time of 10:36.76 while the girls’ varsity 4 x 800 team placed fifth running 9:56.75. The boys’ varsity in the 4 x 800m relay placed ninth in a time of 8:17.98.

CV’s Samantha Moore placed 29th in the varsity 3200m running 11:50.92. Also notable was La Cañada runner Sarah Auther who placed ninth in the same race running 11:09.81 and Flintridge Prep senior Haley Allen who placed 20th running 11:30.19. 

Falcon Manan Vats had a solid performance placing 17th in a time of 9:33.60, while teammate Dylan Wilbur placed 39th in 9:48.02. Other lead runners for the Falcons who placed well over the two-day meet were Teleya Blunt taking the win in her heat of freshman/sophomore girls 400 at 64.20; Juliana Cheney placed seventh in her heat of varsity girls 800 at 2:25.76; Rachel Arias placed second in her heat of freshman/sophomore girls 300H at 53.15.

Ameer Mohammed also performed well in the boys’ varsity 800m placing second in a time of at 2:00.96 followed closely by Kevin Tasci who ran 2:03.61.

CV will face Burbank and Muir at CV on March 14. On Saturday, March 23, the Falcons will participate in the Meet of Champions at Azusa College starting early in the morning with the elite athletes race starting at 5 p.m.

  Leonard Coutin