The spring sports’ season finished the athletic year on a high note, with four teams – Boys’ Volleyball, Softball, Boys’ Track, and Boys’ Swimming – winning league, with softball and boys’ volleyball going undefeated.
Track
The boys’ track team won their third straight league title and went into the postseason looking to make a statement.
At the PCAL Mission Division Championships, Devin Tapia finished 1st in both the 200m and 400m, Jason Medina finished 1st in the 800m, Gustavo Perez finished 1st in both the 1600m and 3200m, and Anthony Enriquez finished 1st in the 110m Hurdles. In the 4X400 relay, the team of Xavier Quintero, Jose Coronado-Esparza, Jason Medina, and Devin Tapia finished 1st, and Jesus Maciel finished 1st in both the shot put and discus.
For the PCAL Masters, Tapia finished 4th in the 200m, but hurt his hamstring during the and was, unfortunately, unable to recover in time for CCS. This not only ended his individual event of the 400, but also hurt any chance of qualifying to the next round for the 4×400 relay.
Medina finished 2nd in the 800m, with a PR of 2:01.17. Perez finished 3rd in the 1600m and 1st in the 3200m, PRing in both.
“Winning a third straight league title was a historic moment for our school, Coach Steven Munoz said. “Before the last three years, our boys had not won a league title since 1987. As a coaching staff we couldn’t have been more proud of our boys for overcoming so much adversity throughout the season (injuries, close meets, smaller number of athletes compared to previous years), to come together and put up a valiant effort at the League Championships, winning their third straight title.”
On the girls’ side, they ended their league season 3-1, finishing 2nd overall. “We have a young group of very talented athletes who will continue to improve over the years and hopefully make another run at a league title,” Munoz said.
At the PCAL Mission Division Championships, Erika Castro finished 2nd in both the 200m and 400m; Yaretzi Cornelio finished 1st in the 800m and 2nd in both the 1600m and the 3200m; Audreyna Ruiz finished 2nd in both the 100m and 300m hurdles; the 4×100 team of Valerie Tena, Erika Castro, Nikki Lomeli, and Luz Mejia-Martinez finished 2nd, and the 4×400 relay team of Massiel Hernandez, Luz Mejia-Martinez, Alexa Martinez, and Erika Castro took 1st.
The going was a little more difficult at the PCAL Masters Meet. Cornelio finished 2nd in the 1600m and 3rd in the 3200, but she PR’ed in both, finishing in 5:21.52 and 11:38.53, respectively.
Although none of the girls were able to advance past the CCS Semi-Finals some of the girls made history. Yaretzi Cornelio, a freshman, broke the 3200m school record, with a time of 12:28.69. In addition, the 4x400m Relay Team of Massiel Hernandez, Luz Mejia, Erika Castro, and Alexa Martinez broke the school record in that event, with a time of 4:19.50.
Baseball
The Trojans ended their regular season placing 2nd in the Mission Division of the PCAL, with a record of 13-5. They finished 18-7 overall and secured the #2 seed in the Division 6 CCS Playoffs.
From the very start of this season, the team and their coaches wanted to duplicate and improve on last season. Falling short of the CCS title is what initially set the tone for this season.
At the start of the season, the team struggled a little, both offensively and defensively, but as the season progressed both things improved.
“I think one of the main things that brought us to where we’re at now is our teamwork,” senior captain Xavier Mendez said. ‘We work well together on the field and are always hyping each other up.”
The playoffs opened with a home game on May 18th, which was also Prom. They won 4-1 against Thomas More School. “We went into this game with a lot of determination,” Mendez said. “We really want to finish what we couldn’t last year and claim that title, especially because it’s senior year.”
The win set up a semi-final matchup with Lincoln on May 21, at Hartnell College. But the dreams of a championship ended in a 6-4 loss.
Boys’ Volleyball
The boys’ volleyball team had a dominant season, winning the league title by going undefeated in the Mission Division of the PCAL.
They finished 20-3 overall and earned the #12 seed in CCS Division 1, which set up a road game against Branham, the #5 seed. The team was swept in straight sets, losing 0-3.