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On Saturday, May 4, Burlingame’s track and field squad sent five relay teams and 15 individuals to Menlo-Atherton High School for the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) finals. The athletes competed to place in the top five in each event to qualify for next weekend’s Central Coast Section (CCS) trials.
Despite the harsh weather conditions, the athletes showed their resilience as they persevered through the pouring rain.
“It’s not the times, not the places, not the points, but it just shows how much they have grown as athletes over the season. It was very special for me to see that,” assistant coach Steve O’brien said.
On the track, varsity girls’ proved their dominance once again, placing third out of 16 schools for the team scores.
Senior Avah Reichow placed first in the girls’ 300-meter hurdles with a stellar performance of 45.17 seconds. In the 400-meter race, Reichow came in second, following senior Cora Haggarty with an impressive time of 57.78 seconds. Haggarty placed second in the girls 200-meter dash, advancing to CCS for these two events. The 4×4 relay team with Reichow, sophomore Stella Newman and senior Elise Spenner, which posted all season, also placed second.
Seniors Jake Ramirez and Zachery Zloblinsky keep up their speed against tough competition in the boys’ 800-meter race.
Seniors Avah Reichow and Cora Haggarty compete against each other in the girls’ 400 – meter race.
In the girls’ 800-meter dash, Newman placed third overall with a time of 2:23.70. Freshman Elizabeth Carroll finished right behind her in fourth.
Junior Lilly Kolmsee ran in the 3200-meter race with a time of 11:22.52 seconds, running a new personal record by one second. She placed second overall, now advancing to CCS.
“I think [the meet] went really well. It wasn’t optimal because of the weather, but I’m happy I ran a new personal record,” Kolmsee said.
On the boys’ side, although they didn’t place as well as they had hoped in the team scores, the athletes pushed themselves. Senior Raymond Frank placed second in the boys 400-meter dash with a time of 51.98 seconds. Senior Jake Ramirez placed sixth out of 12 runners in the boys’ 800-meter dash, placing with a time of 2:01.62.
The athletes that advanced will begin to prepare for CCS trials on May 11 and CCS finals on May 18 in Gilroy.
“We have adjusted our workouts to make sure that we are maximizing speed and everything we’ve developed through the season,” head coach Chris Coleman said.
