In its debut performance at the Monticello Empire League’s championship meet on May 7th and 9th, the Pioneer High School track and field program broke three sprint relay records as 20 patriots qualified for the divisionals meet held earlier this week on Tuesday, May 13.

In the varsity girls 4×100 meter relay, a team of Yulipza Zavala Bermudez, Olivia Chavez, Brianna Camacho, and Natasha Hermosillo Ramirez ran an impressive 51.33 to set a new school record. The previous record of 52.42 was set on April 30 against Rodriguez High School.

The varsity boys 4×100 pulled off an identical feat. Julian Barajas, Juan Ramirez, Nicco Hargrove and Devion Corley broke the old record of 44.56 in 2018 and clocked in at 43.90.

Continuing the streak, the 4×100 team of Chavez, Hermosillo Ramirez, Camacho and Zavala Bermudez broke the old 4×400 record of 4:29.21 from 2015 by a shocking 12.5 seconds, with a time of 4:16.74.

The varsity boys team of Max Pineda, Rick Reister, Angel Maravilla and Bodie Britton ran 3:39.72 in the 4×400, good enough for second place in the school record books.

The varsity boys and girls 4×800 teams also qualified for divisionals, meaning that all six possible relay teams from Pioneer will be moving on.

Britton narrowly missed being MEL champ and placed second in the varsity boys 400 meters with a time of 53.44, while teammate Reister was just behind with a 53.45. Chavez (1:00.45) and Zavala Bermudez (1:00.98) also came in fourth and fifth in the 400 meters to gain entry to next week.

No other team in the difficult seven-school league is sending two boys or two girls into the divisional meet in the 400 meters, let alone four athletes from the same school.

As usual, under the guidance of Coach Mike Hochderffer, Pioneer pole vault dominated the league; Max Pineda was varsity boys league champion with a jump of 13 feet 3 inches, while Emily Tang became league champ by clearing 8 feet 6 inches. Breyden Skinner (11 feet 6 inches) and Xavier Morales (11 feet) also qualified for divisionals in the boys pole vault.

“It felt great to be league champ in the new league, especially a harder league,” Pineda said. “I got a nine-inch PR to 13 feet 3 inches that I’ve been trying to hit since sophomore year.”

Corley had an especially good two-day meet: In addition to the record 4×100 relay, he high jumped 5 feet 9 inches for second place and long jumped 20 feet 11.5 inches for third place, thus qualifying in three events and as an alternate in the 100 meters.

Other qualifying athletes to punch their tickets into divisionals include Camila Perez (3200 meters, 12:47.55), Joel Zanudo (triple jump, 37 feet 7 inches), and Alyssa Wright (high jump, 4 feet 6 inches).

“Going into the race, I was a bit nervous since I know this league is very strong, especially on the distance side,” Perez said. “But, I reminded myself of all the training I put into this, so placing third even against these really tough schools means a lot. I’m glad I was able to prove that Pioneer can be up on that podium too.”

Pioneer entered 79 athletes into the meet, the second largest team in the league after Vacaville.

“The MEL certainly brings strong competition, especially in the sprints and the distance,” said girls head coach Robin Olson. “But when the pressure was on, these athletes really performed at the top of their game. The hope is that they see that hard work reliably pays off, and can carry that with them into their adult lives.”

Sac-Joaquin Section Divisional Meet, May 13 >> At the Sac-Joaquin Section Divisionals Meet in Merced, Barajas got a personal record in the 100 meters with an 11.17 while Britton dropped his time in the 400 meters slightly to 53.38.

But the competition was fierce, and few athletes remained for the finals on Friday.

“While we had many sprinters make it to divisionals with great personal records, on average, their times were worse than at league championships,” Olson said. “Next year, some of their training needs to be better, and we coaches have ideas for what we need to do.”