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Truckee track | Wolverines impress at large Oroville meet

Special to the Sun

Courtesy photo

As the Truckee track and field team prepares for regionals in mid May, its athletes are registering strong performances against their DI California competition, most recently at the West Valley Invitational in Oroville last Friday.

Sea-level oxygen coupled with a responsive Mondo-surfaced track translated into 36 new personal records (PR) for Truckee athletes, evenly divided between girls and boys. In a field of 26 schools, most of which are twice the size of Truckee, the girls finished fifth and the boys 17th. There were 17 individual top-10 performances, six of which were podium finishes. 

The events were divided into two categories, with open races in the afternoon, followed by more competitive invitational races in the evening. Freshman Colin Deurlington placed second in the boys open 800-meter run with a new PR of 2:07.77.



Adam Morgan, a senior, was a Truckee standout performer in the evening events, with two podium finishes, placing second in the 200 (23.36) and third in the 400 (51.42) Not only were both new PRs for him, they are new all-time Truckee High School records. Also shattering the all-time record in the 4×100 relay were seniors Morgan, Javier Virrey, Tyler Griffin and Jake Pettit with a time of 44.87.

Junior Quinn Parker raced to a second-place finish in the 400 (58.69). Sophomore Skyler Flora landed at the top of the podium by shaving 10 seconds off her PR in the 1,600 invitational with a 5:07.65, also setting a new all-time Truckee High record. Fellow sophomore Gabrielle Rinne was in hot pursuit, managing to cut more than 20 seconds off her PR, placing third in 5:11.61.



Rounding out the top-10 performances for the boys were Pettit, placing 10th in the 100 (11.78) and fourth in the 200 (23.72); Tobias Zeigler, a junior, placing sixth in the 800 invitational with a new PR of 2:01.86. Ian Wilson, a junior, placed sixth in the 800 open with his new PR of 2:09.23. Sophomore Noah Oberitter impressed with his new PR in the 1,600 open with a 4:49.11, sixth-place finish. Freshman Trevor McWhinney placed 10th in the 110 hurdles (21.91).

Top-10 performances for the girls included Parker in the 200 invitational race, placing eighth (26.76). Ashley Harris, a senior, placed ninth in the 200 open (28.08) and 10th in the 400 open (65:42). Freshman Olivia Yale impressed with two new PRs in the 400 open, placing ninth (64.74), and the 800 open, placing fifth (2:26.66).

“This meet was the best yet for our team,” said Truckee coach Diana Yale. “With so many personal records and outstanding performances, the team gained confidence and showed its strength. It was a very impressive showing, and some of our girls are nationally ranked with these fast times.”

Indeed, Parker, Rinne and Flora are all currently ranked in the top 1 percent nationally among high school track athletes in their signature events. When directly compared to others in their respective year in high school, (grade-specific fields include between 5000-6000 athletes), each easily makes the national top 100.

Among juniors, Parker is ranked 71st in the 400. Rinne doubles as the 35th-fastest sophomore in the 800 and the 41st fastest in the 1600. Most impressive of all, Flora is the 14th-fastest sophomore in the 1,600, thanks to her breakout performance at the West Valley Invitational.

Rinne and Flora were accepted into the Sacramento Meet of Champions on Saturday, where Rinne will compete in the 800 and Flora in the 3,200.

Truckee will compete Friday in the High Desert Invitational at Reed High School.


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