Through the years of Orestimba High School’s track and field team, multiple athletes have come and left their mark on the program. Whether that be holding the best time in an event or competing at a regional meet, their name is embedded in the record books.
However, none have reached greater heights as Marian Quevedo. The senior athlete currently holds the fastest times in five events, including the girls 100-meter hurdles, her favorite event. For her, the event makes her “heart race out a lot,” she said.
“I like that it's so short because there’s less time to think about it,” Marian Quevedo said. “It’s just drive and push for that one.”
That ambition seemingly led to another new personal record time in the event through each meet.
At the 17th Annual Dean Andreessen Classic in Merced on March 7, Marian Quevedo strode to first place in the women’s 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.87 seconds, a then-personal best. It did not take too long for her to one-up herself.
Fast forward a week later, she was warming up against other runners in the same event on a red all-weathered track at Riverbank High School in the Stanislaus County Championships. With her and the other runner’s feet lined up on the starting block, the starter’s pistol was fired upwards, and the participants ran towards their first hurdle.
Marian Quevedo, like how she’s been performing, gained a marginal lead through each hurdle jump. As she got closer to the end, awaiting her were co-head coaches, Charlie Kothenbeutel and Nicole Swisher, and her peers.
With her jumping over the final hurdle and crossing the finish line effortlessly, the senior athlete was met with cheers from the team. With everyone gathered near her, one thought remained on Marian Quevedo’s mind: What was her time?
As anticipation grew, Swisher told her she recorded another then-personal best of 15.24 seconds, another program best at the moment. Upon finding out the news, she exclaimed with joy..
With three first-place finishes in the meet, there was another accolade waiting for her.
For the past couple of years, the program has made an effort to see whether its athletes qualify other invitational meets, Kothenbeutel said. One of those meets is the Arcadia Invitational.
Held at Arcadia, CA, the invitational is referred to as the “Home of National Records,” given its annually the largest high school-hosted sporting event with more than 4,000 athletes participating, some of which are from Brazil, Canada and New Zealand, according to the Arcadia Unified School District. The event also has included some well-renowned Olympics athletes such as Allyson Felix, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Noah Lyles.
Since the program’s inception, no athlete from Orestimba has qualified for the meet. That changed this year when Swisher and Kothenbeutel both received an email that Marian Quevedo qualified, the first in school history.
The news came out as a surprise for Swisher as she had to make sure the email was real.
“We weren’t sure because that’s like the biggest meet in the country, and I did have to reread it before I sent Marian [Quevedo] along with Coach [Kothenbeutel] the text because at first I was shocked,” Swisher said. “I knew she could do it.”
For Marian Quevedo, the idea of qualifying for the invitational was an afterthought going into this season. That opportunity, she said, was testament to her hard work and dedication.
“It just gave me a lot of hope for everything else [and] all my other goals,” Marian Quevedo said.
She went on to finish 15th with a time of 14.87 seconds in the women’s open 100-meter hurdles event. While it’s the result she didn’t want, Marian Quevedo praised the invitation for its competitive atmosphere, especially competing against athletes across the country.
“I’m warming up with all these girls saying that they’re from Texas, they’re from New York, [and] that they came from a five-hour flight,” she said. “I felt like it was way more competitive in that it just felt more real, like I had to take it more seriously than other track meets.”
Building a work ethic and sibling’s influence
Since her freshman year, the sport has been a constant for Marian Quevedo. From preparing a dedicated schedule to learning from her mistakes, it's a detailed-oriented process, she said.
That’s also what separates her from other athletes, Kothenbeutel said. He added that she’s often working on other aspects to be great. This includes working on her technique and watching her films.
One of the things incorporated in Marian Quevedo’s routine is deciding on where to practice outside of Newman given the lack of an all-weathered track at Orestimba. Currently, ongoing construction has been happening to build an all-weathered track at the school. It’s expected to be completed by the start of the next school year in August.
Given the circumstances, the senior athlete has often migrated to either Patterson High School or Modesto Junior College to get extra repetitions.
“What separates Marian [Quevedo] is just what she’s able to do or willing to do outside of our practices, [going] to other tracks in order to make sure she’s getting the hurdle work, working on her technique [and] she’s watching film,” Kothenbeutel said. “It’s just what she’s willing to do, even beyond what we’re able to provide.”
While Marian Quevedo’s development as an athlete can be traced back to her dedication, it can be credited to her competing against her sister, Mia Jiezel Quevedo. While Marian Quevedo believes she’s the better athlete, she said the competitive spirit between the two have pushed both of them to be great.
“I don’t want to toot my horn, but I think I’m the one who got her into track, but we both really pushed each other because we’ve always been competitive since we were younger,” Marian Quevedo said.
Final meet and encouraging the next class of runners
Marian Quevedo’s ambition on track translated well into the classroom. She will be attending the University of California, Berkeley in the fall as a political science major. Marian Quevedo has plans on trying out to become a walk on for the school’s track and field program, she said.
But that will wait as her and sophomore Israel Ramirez qualified for the Nike Outdoor Nationals held in Eugene, Ore. at Hayward Field from June 18 to June 22. Both are the first athletes in program history to qualify for the premier meet.
With a new class of student athletes joining the program next year, Marian Quevedo hopes they utilize the resources that weren't available to her such as the soon-to-be all-weathered track.
“I want there to be someone to break my records. Like it’s nice having these records, but I want to see more come out of our school, especially with the track being done,” Marian Quevedo said.
