On February 25, the Yuba track team went to the Shasta Rotational Meet, in which an unspecified number of teams attended. Head Coach Todd Anderson, felt that the team did really well because of all the places his small team took.
Brian Nelson, who is also a soccer player, won the 500 meter race with a 1:58.14 time and took fourth in the 400 meter with a time of 52.57 seconds. The 4X100 relay of Charles Johnson, Kraemer Winningham, Solomon McKinley and Julius Smith took third with a 43.83 time.
In the field events, Roshawn Laster took third in the javelin after hurling it 148 feet. Nathaniel Williamson came in fourth with 139 feet. For the girls, Sarah States came in second with the javelin after throwing it 97’3″. States was also third in the 100 meter dash with a 14.8 seconds and tied for fourth in the 200 meter dash with a 31.36 time.
At the Beaver Relays at American River College on March 5, the team placed in the top 10. There were an unspecified number of teams there and the coach felt that placing in the top 10 was satisfactory. However, Coach Anderson hopes the team will improve throughout the season. The highest Yuba placer was Brian Nelson, who placed fifth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.98 seconds.
After being an assistant track coach for two years, Anderson is now the head coach of the team. In addition to track, he has been an assistant football coach for the past five to six years. Despite the fact that he has so much to do at Yuba, the coach is also a teacher at Marysville High School.
Anderson was hoping for a bigger turnout for track this year, but is pleased with the athletes that he did get. According to Anderson, there are a few people who could go far in track. Brian Nelson and possibly Julius Smith both have the potential to make it to state this year. Anderson also praises Sarah States and Gavina Avila for their talent. States who does the 100 and 200-meter dash is really good, and Avila is also good at her field events.
Of the team, Anderson commented, “We did pretty well at our season opener (The Bay Valley Conference Relays at Yuba) and I believe that our team has been doing pretty good so far, and I know that we will get better as time goes on.” Anderson continued on to say “Although we only have nine meets to go to, the athletes are all working really hard for those meets.”
Despite the fact that the team only had one home meet, they practice on a daily basis and attend plenty of other away meets. Their efforts, although not always heard of, have been incredible, and they will most likely go far in this season.
Comment Policy: Comments are welcomed and encouraged. However, the editorial board reserves the right to edit or delete, without notice, any comments submitted to the blog. For more details, see our full Comment Policy.