The April 2 Crosstown Showdown Track Meet had three rival schools over 500 attendees andon one field. This was a matchup between Santa Barbara High School, San Marcos High School, and Dos Pueblos High School.
In one of the first events of the day, Eamon Gordon (12) placed second in the boys varsity 1600 meter for DPHS. Although his main event is the 3200 meter, he said it is “good to mix it up sometimes.”
“I tried to lead for most of the race until the very last 150 meters,” Gordon said. “I put it all out there — it was tough, but, at the same time, these challenging races make it worthwhile.”
As for the underclassmen, Kellan Cotter (10) ran a 55.56 second time on the 400 meter boys junior varsity, coming in first for DPHS.
“[It felt] pretty good; I had some struggles with this event before, but [I] finally came through,” Cotter said. “I’ve been injured this whole season … [I have] been missing out on a lot of running, so it’s great to come back.”
Sydney Posch (12) ran the 400 meter for SMHS, setting a new personal record of a 34.54 second time, more than two seconds faster then her last race.
“Anything at track is usually a little painful, but you learn to push through it, and it was a little bit fun,” Posch said.
Despite the weather, DPHS managed to beat both rivals in the Women’s Junior Varsity division, beating SBHS by 83 points and SMHS by three points. Although DPHS fell short of the overall top spot in the Crosstown Showdown across other divisions, varsity was still able to manage multiple wins, including notable performances from Cléhann Howard (12) coming in first for the 400 meter and Cullen Gully (11) winning first in the 800 meter.
“Sometimes the workouts are hard, sometimes it’s a long day, but in the end, we all love each other and it’s fun,” said SBHS track athlete Nicole Buist (11).
