By Leonard COUTIN

The track and field Southern Section CIF finals were held on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College. For some athletes this marked an end to a long season, and for a few who made qualifying times, new challenges were to be conquered.

Falcon sophomore Megan Melnyk has had an exceptional year running several races: the 400m, 800m, 1600m, 3200m and the 4x400m relay. Though she proved herself a strong team competitor, it was in individual contests that moved her forward into the Masters Meet. The Masters Meet takes place on Friday at Cerritos College.

“Megan dropped her time in the 800 (2:13.34). She ran a very good, smart race,” said CVHS coach Mark Evans.

“I didn’t go to finals with any expectations,” said Melnyk. “I just wanted to [personal best].”         Running from the back, Melnyk’s first lap was 67 seconds.          “Definitely that first lap was a lot faster,” Melnyk said. “But I couldn’t feel it; I was just going with the pack.”

Melnyk ended up beating her former record by three seconds in the 800m and will be moving on to the Masters.

Kayleigh Carrillo ran one of her fastest times in the 400m (57.41), but placed seventh, keeping her out of the Masters Meet.

“Kayleigh just had a tough race,” said Evans. “We will keep working and doing the same things we have been doing. They all need experience in these big meets and big races.”

Carrillo has run the 100m, 200m, 4×100 relay and the 4×400 relay and has stacked up numerous points each meet to move the Falcons to victory. Looking forward to next year, Carrillo will return to the field even more determined to accomplish more.

The 4×400 relay girls’ team of Melnyk, Carrillo, Courtney Iannello and Emmie Walker enjoyed a strong year. Finishing sixth at the finals with a time of 3:55.19, the team missed moving on to the Masters Meet.

“The girls’ relay improved their time. I am proud of how all of them did,” said Evans. “A CIF final is a tough meet. We gained a lot of experience that will carry us into next year.”

Falcon junior Gabe Collison had his work cut out for him when facing some of the faster 3200m runners. Placing fifth in Division 1, Collison bettered his time (9:23.16), but did not make the qualifying time to move forward.

“Gabe ran well. He stayed in the race and maintained contact,” said Evans.

Though he didn’t move onto Masters, Collison made his mark in the Falcon history books running the 400m, 800m, 1600m and the 3200m.

Senior Michael Davis had been a CIF finalist as well as a California State CIF champion runner while attending Glendale High School. Having qualified for the 200m with a time of 21.39, he placed second to Upland runner Myles Valentine (21.06) and placed fourth in the 100m dash with a time of 10.77. Davis unfortunately was short of his best (10.59) and with a poor start did not qualify in this event for the Masters Meet.

  Leonard Coutin