Two days after competing in a meet, the Orestimba High track and field team finished with a top placement and three top-five finishes at the Modesto Junior College High School Invitational on Friday. The meet only comprised varsity-level events.
Sophomore Israel Ramirez took home the Warriors’ sole top-placement finish on Friday in the men’s 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.32 seconds, a new personal record. Ramirez now holds the program’s fastest time in the event after he eclipsed program alumnus Peter Junkin’s time of 17.17 seconds set at the Trans-Valley League Championships in 2014.
Just in his second year with the program, Ramirez has already accumulated multiple accomplishments, including the school’s fastest times in four events. Those feats go back to the sophomore’s dedication in honing his ability as a runner, said head coach Charlie Kothenbeutel.
“He (Ramirez) didn’t really know too much coming in as a freshman, as far as technique goes or anything like that, but he’s been a really, really good student of the game,” Kothenbeutel said. “He does a lot of research on his own. He puts in a lot of time at practice and it’s great to see.”
Ramirez finished third in the men’s 300-meter hurdles after he clocked in a time of 43.03 seconds.
Junior Samantha De La Cruz registered a time of 29.13 seconds to finish fourth in the women’s 400-meter dash. Senior Mariah Moreno followed her by coming in seventh at 1.03 seconds later.
Junior Imelda Beltran leaped 16-0.25 in the women’s long jump for a fifth-place finish. In the women’s 4x400 relay race, Orestimba finished fifth place after clocking in a time of 4:18.60.
Quevedo participates in the Stanford Invite
The Warriors were missing a prominent athlete during Friday’s meet in senior Marian Quevedo, who was participating in the Stanford Invite. She qualified for the meet after meeting a certain time threshold through various events this season, Kothenbutel said.
Quevedo didn’t qualify for the women’s 100-meter hurdles finals after she clocked in 15.17 seconds for a 10th-place finish in the preliminary round.
