Bulldogs sweep Knights
Ramona High School’s track and field teams hosted San Marcos on March 25, giving both the Bulldog boys and girls their first dual meet wins of the season as well as giving first-year head coach Steve Albanese the first dual meet wins of his coaching career.
“It was definitely good to have a win finally,” Albanese said. “Nice to get the monkey off our back and get our first win of the season.”
The week also saw Tyler Jordan win the boys high jump at the Mount Carmel Invitational on March 27.
The boys’ 105-31 victory and the girls’ 85-45 triumph over San Marcos also gave both Ramona teams 1-1 records in Valley League dual meets. The boys took first place in 13 of the 16 events while Ramona’s girls had the top times or distances in 11 of the 16 events.
Five Bulldogs won two individual events. Erika Stinchcomb won a running event and a field event, prevailing in the girls 400-meter race with a time of 1:02.66 and obtaining a distance of 15’8” on her superlative long jump. Kayla Lawler won both girls throwing events, hurling the discus 90’3” and the shot put 23’4”.
Tyler Jordan took first in two boys jumping events, clearing 6’0” in the high jump while making a long jump of 19 feet 3-1/4 inches. Quincy Watts won both boys hurdles races, taking 17.06 seconds for the 110-meter contest and 43.16 seconds for the 300-meter event. Ryan Morgan won the boys 200-meter dash in 22.97 seconds and the boys 400-meter race in 50.03 seconds.
Zach Kovach edged teammate Seth Drake in the boys 100-meter dash; Kovach had a time of 11.30 seconds while Drake posted a time of 11.39 seconds. Kelly Helman’s time of 17.99 seconds gave her a win in the girls 100-meter hurdles. Ramona’s girls swept their distance events with Lindsey Spieker running the 800-meter race in 2:36.3, Chelsey Cortez taking 5:34.5 to win the 1,600-meter run, and Lauren Cortez prevailing in the 3,200-meter race with a time of 12:37.5.
Preston Johnson won the boys shot put with a throw of 45 feet 11-1/2 inches, Logan Peterson had the top boys discus throw at 152 feet 2 1/2 inches, Jared Engler cleared 11 feet 6 inches to win the boys pole vault, and Greg Harrington won the boys triple jump with a distance of 40 feet 1 inch. Ashley Duck cleared 7 feet 2 inches to win the girls pole vault, and Becca Hickle won the girls triple jump with a performance of 29 feet 0-1/4 inches.
Ramona’s boys won their 4x100 meter relay with a time of 43.92 seconds while the Bulldog girls won their 4x100 race in 52.45 seconds. The Bulldog boys took 3:35.3 to win the 4x400 meter relay.
The Mount Carmel Invitational utilized divisions based on previous best times rather than school size.
“It’s probably the biggest meet in San Diego besides CIF,” Albanese said.
Jordan cleared 6’6” in the boys high jump to win Division I.
Ryan Morgan’s time of 51.88 seconds in the 400-meter run placed him fourth in Division I while his performance of 23.00 seconds in the 200-meter dash was fifth in Division I. Chelsey Cortez was seventh among Division I girls with a time of 11:50.27 in the 3,200-meter run. Ramona’s boys 4x100 relay quartet placed eighth in Division I at 43.95 seconds while Dylan Blankenbaker’s time of 9:49.73 in the 3,200-meter run was 11th among Division I boys.
The boys 4x400 relay team placed second in Division II with a time of 3:25.52. Peterson’s discus throw of 138’11” was fourth in Division II, Johnson’s shot put distance of 45’4” placed fifth in Division II, Drake was fifth in the Division II 100-yard dash with a time of 11.7 seconds, Spieker was seventh among Division II girls in the 1,600-meter race after completing the metric mile in 5:32.17, Jordan’s long jump of 19 feet 2-1/2 inches was the seventh-longest for Division II boys, and Engler vaulted 12 feet 2 inches to place ninth in Division II.
Today the Bulldog junior varsity hosts Del Norte, which does not have varsity team athletics this year, and Saturday the Bulldogs will travel to Mount Miguel High School for the Elite Eight Invitational.