Sports
Vista Murrieta Boys Track Finishes Strong At Nike Track Nationals
After winning the team event last year, the Broncos finish second in last weekend's competition at the University of Oregon.
In the “Just Do It” spirit of Nike, almost “did it” again.
Returning to the University of Oregon for the Nike Track Nationals this weekend, Jovonte Slater and Bernard Quinn led the Broncos to a second place finish in the prestigious competition. Last year, Vista Murrieta won the team competition.
This time, they had an entirely new team with them and finished strong. Los Angeles Loyola Track Club edged Vista Murrieta for the title. The event is scored like a team decathalon, with Loyola scoring 8.173 points to the Broncos’ 7,870.
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Both Quinn and Slater repeated as individual champions. Quinn captured the 400 meter title in 48.05 seconds while Slater took the long jump title with his final jump of 23 feet, 2 inches.
Great Oak High, also one of the top 12 teams in the nation, competed at NTN for the first time and placed fifth with 7,588 points. The Wolfpack were led by Karson Fronk's victory in the mile and Kyle Strawn in the throwing events.
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Slater, the CIF-State champion in the long jump, is headed to USC to compete in track. He will also play football for the Trojans as running back and as a kick returner.
Between jumps, he ran in the 100 meters, placing third with a time of 10.81.
In the final event of the night, with the track lined with fans, Fronk held off the rest of the field and kicked his way to a win in the mile ---- in 4:14.39, The Californian reported. Vista's Porter Reddish was seventh in 4:19.74.
Great Oak's Strawn and Vista Murrieta's Corey Whitaker got their respective teams off to a strong start in the boys' shot put. Strawn set a personal-best of 57 feet, 2 inches to take third, while Whitaker was only inches off his best, with a put of 54-2. Strawn also placed third in the discus with a toss of 165-7, and Vista Murrieta's Sapule Ta'amilo was fifth with 156-8, The Californian reported.
In the boys' 110 hurdles, Vista Murrieta senior Darion Williams finished third in 14.72, while Great Oak's Duane Solomon was sixth in 15.20. The Broncos' Omar Solis and the Wolfpack's Michael Hewitt also earned solid points for their teams in the 800 meters, with times of 1:55.96 and 1:56.00, respectively.
