Granada Distance/Sprint Festival program posted

http://diablotiming.com/results/2021-05-15/track_program.pdf

Central Coast Section Final Official for 2021 Track and Field season

Most CCS athletes and coaches can now celebrate the announcement made by the Central Coast Section office regarding the CCS Track and Field meets which will be held at Soquel HS. The Semi-Finals will be held on Saturday, June 12th followed by the Finals the following week on Saturday, June 19th.

More info to follow.

Bellarmine boys race into the history books with trio of runners under 9 minutes for 3200m

This past Saturday at the Arcadia Invitational, a trio of Bellarmine boys added their names to the history books. Just a few weeks ago at the second Dublin Social Distance Fiesta meet, Bells senior Galen Topper raced to the first sub 9 performance in school history with a time of 8:59.29. On Saturday, Galen's twin brother Nolan raced to a 8:52.95 PR followed by teammate Colin Peattie at 8:56.73. That gives the Bells a trio of runners who have dipped under 9 minutes in the same season which is a significant achievement.

The first school to have three runners dip under the 9 minute mark for 2 miles was first completed by Hammond HS in Indiana by teammates Carey Pinkowski (8:56.2), Rudy Chapa (8:52.6), and Tim Keough (8:52.8). Those times were all for 2 miles and similar to the Bellarmine runners, Pinkowski dipped under 9 minutes first and then was joined by the other two teammates a few days later in a different race.

Fast forward to 2014 and Northport HS, New York, became the first high school to have three runners dip under 9 minutes for 2 miles in the same race at New Balance Nationals with Mikey Brannigan (8:53.59), Tim McGowan (8:56.60), and Jack McGowan (8:57.57) all rolling under 9 minutes (Glen Reed photo below)

This year's Arcadia Invitational was open to only California teams. An amazing fifteen runners dipped under the nine-minute mark which included the two Bellarmine boys as well as four Newbury Park runners who now lay claim to being the only school to have four runners run sub 9 in the same season and more significantly in the same race.

On behalf of this website as well as many impressed NorCal runners and coaches, congrats go out to the trio of Bells as well as their coach, Patrick McCrystle for an amazing achievement.

Ok, so not quite done with this article. The following information was passed along to me by dyestat.com editor Erik Boal. Here is a list of schools with at least 3 runners who have run faster than 9:00 for 3200m.

Jesuit now has 8

Mead (Washington) has 6

Newbury Park (California) has 6

North Central (Washington) has 5

Northport (New York) has 4

Bellarmine Prep (California) has 3

Big Bear (California) has 3

Dexter (Michigan) has 3

Edison (Huntington Beach, California) has 3

Hammond (Indiana) has 3

La Salle Academy (Rhode Island) has 3

South Eugene (Oregon) has 3

The Woodlands (Texas) has 3

New NCS record for Sophia Nordenholz at last night's Arcadia Invitational

Among the many amazing efforts, Sophia Nordenholz is now the fastest 3200m runner in NCS history (Jeff Parenti photo). She surpassed the 10:06.3 converted time of Livermore's Cherie Williams that dates back to 1978. You can view the entire list of top 10 NCS marks at this link:
https://d2o2figo6ddd0g.cloudfront.net/t/h/bvawt8o4li3vpb/NCS_Women-s_All-Time_List_January_2020.pdf

You can also check out my interview with her following the Dublin Social Distance Fiesta at this link:
https://ca.milesplit.com/articles/296227/catching-up-with-albany-junior-sophia-nordenholz

San Ramon woman killed in Wednesday crash was longtime teacher and mother

Very sad to share that former Arroyo HS coach Susan Guinee died in a car crash this week on Wednesday.
https://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/2021/05/07/san-ramon-woman-killed-in-wednesday-crash-was-longtime-teacher-and-mother

Below is a link to a GoFundMe if you wish to contribute.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/susan-guinee-memorial-family-support?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unknown&utm_campaign=comms_3thk+susan-guinee-memorial-family-support

NorCal Track and Field results

Arcadia Invitational results (feel free to spotlight top results for NorCal athletes below)
https://ca.milesplit.com/meets/418046-arcadia-invitational-2021/results/744618/formatted#.YJhFVWZKjvU

Cougar Twilight Elite Distance results
https://ca.milesplit.com/meets/423320-cougar-twilight-elite-distance-400-meet-2021/results/744611/formatted#.YJhPDWZKjvU

Any other outstanding marks? Please post below.

Former St. Joseph Notre Dame runner, Cooper Teare

Still tearing (ha!) it up in college. Last night, Teare finished a very close 2nd to 2019 NCAA 1500m champion, Notre Dame's Yared Nuguse with a lifetime best 3:35.97. Photo courtesy of RunnerSpace.

You can also check out coverage of the Arcadia Invitational which included the winning effort by the Bellarmine foursome in the 4 x 1600m relay at ca.milesplit.com.

Live results can be found here:
https://rt.trackscoreboard.com/meets/5721/events

First Four Minute Mile-HQ(Roger Bannister:1954)

May 6th might be one of my favorite days of the day. 67 years ago, Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile to become the first person to accomplish that feat. May 6th is also the birthday of former SF Giant Willie Mays who is 90 years old today. Happy Birthday Mr. Mays!

What have you learned during this past year?

This past year has certainly been challenging for everybody. I know it has been challenging for the students as well as fellow coaches who were given a forced break from something we really enjoyed doing. I am curious as to what people (students, coaches, parents etc.) have learned during this pandemic. What was the most challenging part for you? What will you do differently as we return to normalcy? What do you appreciate more than ever going through these past months?  How will this help you be a better person?

Please share.

NorCal Track and Field results

Weekend results
Los Gatos at Homestead: http://lynbrooksports.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/TRACK/2021/lg_home.htm
Thunder Invitational: https://timerhub.com/get_web_index.php?page=redcaptiming.com/2021/thunder/

DLS Super 7

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/MeetResults.aspx?Meet=430063&show=all

BCL #3

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/MeetResults.aspx?Meet=424812&show=all

Weekday results
WBAL 2A-http://www.rtspt.com/events/cif/2021/wbal2a/compiled.htm 
WBAL 2B-http://www.rtspt.com/events/rpt/2021/TKA/ 

College Results
Cal/Stanford Big Meet: http://www.rtspt.com/events/cal/bigmeet21/compiled.pdf