Sports
TRACK: M-A Enjoys Solid Showing at St. Francis
Late-arriving Bears still one of top teams in competitive invitational field; Tinsley, Della Morte and Tovar among the individual standouts as boys finish fifth and girls ninth.
Barbara Coll, the general manager of the Menlo-Atherton High track program, brings Patch readers a flavor of the Bears’ accomplishments this season.
Prom night was Friday night so the coaches decided to give the Menlo-Atherton High track and field team some time to sleep in, so the Bears missed the first third of varsity events at the St. Francis Invitational on Saturday. Even with that, the M-A boys finished fifth and the girls ninth out of more than 25 teams. Quite the accomplishment.
Here are some of the Bears’ highlights:
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Junior Daryn Tinsley ran an amazing anchor leg in the varsity girls sprint medley relay (100, 100, 200, 400), passing three competitors down the stretch to help the Bears come in third in the race. Daryn, also a key member of 4 x 400-meter relay, is hitting PR’s in most of her individual races and she was fantastic last year! Now what Daryn?
Senior Stas Della Morte placed 10th in the varsity boys 100 with a mark of 11.52 seconds; fifth in high jump at 6 feet and third in long jump (21-0). It should be a fun season watching this football/basketball player really discover his track ability.
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Naomi Tovar, competing for the girls varsity as a freshman, has been an amazing addition to the M-A program. She is fast; really fast. Beating her PR for the 100 by over a one-quarter of a second, she ran with the older girls and came in third at 12.96 seconds. The field included some of the best runners in the Bay Area.
Zachary Cantu also had a fine day at St. Francis. The senior provided the fastest leg in all the sprint relays and ran the 400 in 52.07.
M-A is having an amazing season, placing first in all four categories (varsity and frosh/soph for girls and boys) in its first Peninsula Athletic League dual meet against Terra Nova and South San Francisco last Thursday.
The Bears return to competition with two dual meets next week, hosting Capuchino on Apr. 11 and visiting Jefferson three days later. Then M-A heads to the Serra Top 7 Invitational on Apr. 16.
