The gun sounded, propelling her off the starting line. Her feet pounded on the track as she glided along with ease, surpassing the rest of the pack. Eight quick laps later, sophomore Glennis Murphy crossed the finish line with a personal record time and four teammates close behind her.
The girls’ track and field team won the MCAL championships on Saturday with a total of 150 team points, well above the other competitors.
On the boys’ side, Drake came in first with a total of 89 points, and the Redwood boy’s team placed fifth with 52 points.
Murphy finished the 1,600 meter with a personal-best time of 4 minutes and 58.03 seconds, and she won the 3,200 meters with a time of 11:05.64.
“The girls dedicated themselves to really difficult practices and conditioning this season and it definitely paid off,” said junior captain Audrey Smith, who will be competing at NCS in the 400, 400×100, and 4×400 meter races.
The rest of the girls’ team dominated as well. Gillian Wagner (5:04.89), Rachel Bordes (5:07), Mary Monda Oewel (5:13.68) and Annie Fogarty (5:15.61) came in right behind Murphy in the 1,600 meter, all setting personal records as well.
“We came out strong from the start and worked together as a team. We will carry this to NCS,” freshman Sophie McWhorter said.
Freshman Jacqueline Massey-Blake also posed a threat, winning the 100 meter with a time of 13.34.
Off the track, senior Tamara Frangoul bolstered the team by scoring 16 points with her second place finish in both shot put and discus. Additionally, freshmen Angela Clare and Vanessa Clare secured first and second place in the triple jump.
The Giants also won the 4×400-meter relay and placed second in the 4×100 relay.
“Our 4×100 relay team continues to set new personal records as we improve our speed and handoffs, and we have strong runners in the 100, 200, hurdles, and the 400,” Smith said. “We also had an influx of really hard working, fast freshmen who helped us win the MCAL pennant. The track is a really friendly environment and everybody supports each other a ton.”
Although not victorious, the boy’s team had some standout performances. Junior Andy Ehrenberg sprinted ahead of Nassim Kabbara, his San Rafael competitor, with 100 meters left in both the 1600 meter race with a time of 4:23.62 and the 3200 meter race with a time of 9:43.82, earning a large portion of the boy’s points.
Senior Haneef Foster triumphed in the boy’s 12 pound shot put event, with a 47-10.00 throw, placing first in the closely-matched final.
Next, the top finishers will be moving onto North Coast Section (NCS) on Friday in Berkeley. Following NCS will be the State meet on June 5 and 6 at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
