By Ching Yuen, staff writer
With continued incremental improvements at the halfway point in the season, the Galileo Track and Field team competed at Burton High School for a league meet on Wednesday April 5, 2023, against Academy, Balboa, SFI, Burton, and Lowell, making a statement that the Lions are a team of potent runners.
The team posted impressive results from both the boys and girls team. Senior Philip Z. won his heat with a time of 11.4 seconds while his fellow teammate Junior Devon C. finished 3rd with a time of 11.6 seconds. The varsity boys 4×100 relay team also placed first after a comeback by Devon C. at the last leg, edging out the Lowell team at the finish line with a time of 46.7.
The Lions also dominated longer distances too. Senior 800m runner, Mathias C. who ran the fastest course (3.12 miles) time from last year’s cross country season, finished first with a time of 2:05.94. While fellow Sophomore Nicholas R., Junior Jackson V., Junior Marcel G., Senior Angel S., Sophomore Georges B., finished 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th in the last heat of the 800m respectively.
Nicolas R., who ran 2:11.10 in the 800m, said, “It was not the best. I paced myself wrong but it was still fun. I was behind and I didn’t have enough experience. I want to [run a] PR next week.”
On the girls side, Junior Noelle K. finished first in the 800m with a time of 2:35.70. Sophomore Sofie G. finished with 2:53.22 and Junior Niki L. finished with 3:06.15. After the race, Noelle K. said, “It was a little disappointing because I didn’t run the time I wanted to. It was fun to race and be with friends.”
In the last event, the 4x400m, the Lions had five teams running the track, which included almost every runner on the team. Although many of the runners took it mostly for a workout, Galileo’s fastest boys team finished 1st in the relay race with a time of 3:45.90.
After the meet, the track team’s head coach, Coach Adams, shared his insight on the current state of the track and field team. He said, “I think we got some hard workers. People seem to help each other and are concerned about people doing well. We have some good leaders on the team and it is attributed to the students at Galileo having gone through covid and going through 1.5 years of not having track and having to travel to Kezar to practice. I believe our guys work harder than any other school. Our motto is hard work pays off. I believe that.”
