On Saturday, the Menlo-Atherton track and field team conquered the PAL finals. Even in pouring rain, 15 M-A students are Gilroy-bound for the CCS trials this upcoming weekend.
Despite a gloomy morning at M-A, the track and field team started off strong placing first in the girls 4×100 relay with a 50.48 time. The team supported each other by cheering and keeping their spirits up. The Bears continued their winning streak with seniors Taum Olesen and Annie Pflaum placing first and second in the girls 1600. Olesen finished with a time of 4:41, while Pflaum came in at 5:02. Olesen and Pflaum also took first and second in the 800m with times of 2:17 and 2:20 respectively.
Along with winning the 4×100, the girls team also took first place in the 4×400 relay, where Olesen and Pflaum were joined by junior Sarah Nordlund and sophomore Keniyah Talton. The team came together to motivate each other through the rain, and push for success.
Nordlund and Talton also each had strong individual races. Nordlund placed first in the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.69 seconds and second in the 300 hurdles with a time of 46 seconds. Talton placed second in both the 100 and 200 in 12.79 seconds and 26.76 seconds respectively
The boys 1600 was dominated by senior Aidan Doherty, who finished with a 4:27. Doherty said, “My coach and I went with a strong tactical plan of how we wanted to execute, and despite the rain, we still were able to execute, which was really good.” Doherty was followed closely by senior Timothy Rousseau, who broke his personal record in the 1600 with a 4:28 to come in second.
The boys team continued their success in the 3200, where Doherty took first place in 9:47. Doherty said, “What really motivated me was this being my last PAL finals. I really wanted to finish on a high note.”
The girls team wrapped up their third straight PAL title with this performance. Nordlund said, “It honestly feels very surreal to be a part of this team. It’s something I will never forget.” Junior Claire Gong added, “It’s just really nice to have people that you can depend on to perform, and it is amazing that our team has multiple division one runners. It is incredible to see.”
Track and field will compete in the CCS Championships this Saturday in Gilroy.
