By Leonard COUTIN

For  running enthusiasts, the Puma 52nd Annual Mt. Sac Relays held April 15-17 was the place to be. Featured were Olympic and national figures, along with collegiate school heroes and  some of the nation’s best high school athletes. There were competitors in hammer throw, shot put high jump and  pole vault where the bar was raised to 18’ 8” – a thrill to see – plus sprint runners trying to break the barriers of 100M dashes, 200M and 400M dashes.
Highlights were relay running sprint medleys, distance medleys, shuttle running, 4 x 1600M and finally the steeplechase as well as the open 800M, 1600M, and 3200M runs.

Coach Mark Evans of CVHS values the opportunity this type of tournament provides. “We run relays because they are fun and we want to see what we can put together in a competitive situation. It really helps the kids compete,” he said. “We try to keep their interest by working on improving each week. We try to put them in competitive situations where they will always improve.”

His young girl teams – Anneke Kakebeen, Cali King, Claudia Pham and Brooke Moultrie – placed in the top five, running the 4 x 1600M medley. On Saturday night Kakebeen, King,  Ali Johnson and Tierman Hebron placed ninth in the overall standing of the distance medley as well as the girls – Jessica Berman, Carli Opland, Hebron, and Johnson – placed ninth in the
sprint medley medalist.

In the boys 4×400 meter relay open, CV placed a dismal fiftieth, but redeemed themselves in the 4×1600 meter relay open placing fifth.
It seemed like old times for CVHS fans when some of  CV graduates took the field, running for their college teams. Michele Callister and Rachel Lange of BYU were seen at the 3000m steeplechase, Brett Matejka of UCI participated in the 5000M, and Carlotta Pham, also of UCI, ran  the 5000M.

Matejka was tripped and fell while running mid pack early in the 5000 meter race late Friday night. He was able to continue and did finish the race, although not where he wanted to, taking 27th placed with a time of 15:28:96 . Pham took 30th with a time of 18:06.62.

Photos by Leonard Coutin and Greg Cook