Warrior boys win 4x400 at Jaguar Invite

Fallbrook High School’s boys track and field team won its 4x400 relay race at the Jaguar Invitational meet April 17 at Valley Center High School.

The Fallbrook team of junior Juwan Sumpter, senior Andy Harwood, senior Caleb Sumpter, and junior Justin Jones had a time of 3.27.96, which was the fastest time during the morning portion of the invitational. During the evening segment of the invitational, Ramona High School’s 4x400 team set a meet record with a time of 3:22.97, which was also the fastest San Diego Section time of the year. “Ramona is incredible in their 4x4,” said Fallbrook head coach Troy Hamlin.

(During a March 11 dual meet between the two schools, Fallbrook won the 4x400 race with a time of 3:39.2, although Ramona’s Ryan Morgan was studying for the Scholastic Aptitude Test and did not participate in the meet while Ramona’s Walker Poortinga missed the meet due to a soccer commitment. Two days later even without Morgan and Poortinga the Bulldogs won the mile relay at the Bronco Invitational with a time of 3:34.81.)

In the Jaguar Invitational 4x400 race, Juwan Sumpter led off with a lap of 52.2 seconds, Harwood consumed 53.3 seconds, Caleb Sumpter ran his lap in 52.0 seconds, and Jones anchored the race with a lap of 50.3 seconds. Jones was paired against El Camino’s Collin Jones, who had won the open 400-meter race earlier that morning.

Justin Jones was ahead of Collin Jones by about five meters when he received the baton.

“Justin just held him off and it came down to a sprint in the last 50,” Hamlin said. “Justin pulled away from him in about the last five meters.”

Although the 4x400 race was Fallbrook’s only win of the Jaguar Invitational, Jones placed second in the 800-meter event with a time of 1:58.17, which was not only a personal record but also his first 800-meter race under two minutes. The only runner with a faster time than Jones was Shyan Vaziri of Scripps Ranch, who set a meet record with a time of 1:57.38. “Justin really stepped it up, and it was a very solid race,” Hamlin said.

Jones ran his first lap in 57.9 seconds and his second lap in 60.0 seconds (hand-timed splits may differ from the electronic final times). “Justin is improving on a weekly basis,” Hamlin said.

Fallbrook hosted Escondido in a dual league meet two days earlier, when Jones won the 800-meter race with a time of 2:02.7 (Fallbrook High School does not have an electronic timer, so times are to one-tenth of a second). At the Mount Carmel Invitational March 27 he won his 800-meter heat with a time of 2:02.60.

Jones was also part of the 4x100 relay team which took fifth at the Jaguar Invitational. Sophomore Chris Bernal, Jones, Harwood, and Caleb Sumpter posted a season-best team time of 44.03 seconds.

Fallbrook junior Michael Froboese medaled in both the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter boys’ races. His time of 10:01.14 placed third in the 3,200-meter run while his time of 4:31.97 was fourth in the 1,600-meter race.

In the 3,200-meter competition Froboese had mile splits of 4:58.8 and 5:01.2. “Couldn’t ask for anything more beautiful. Evenly paced and just very well done,” Hamlin said.

In the 1,600-meter race Froboese had lap splits of 1:05, 1:09, 1:11, and 1:05.

Fallbrook’s boys took the top two 1,600-meter positions at the dual meet with Escondido; Froboese won the race in 4:38 while Jones had a time of 4:39.

“Our distances are really stepping up right now,” Hamlin said.

Fallbrook’s shorter-distance runners also fared well at the Jaguar Invitational. Caleb Sumpter was third in his heat and fourth overall in the boys 200-meter dash with a time of 23.02 seconds, while his time of 11.38 seconds in the boys 100-meter dash placed him fifth overall. Sophomore Holly Contreras was placed in the “A” heat of the girl’s 100-meter hurdles race, where her time of 18.57 seconds placed sixth. In the girls 300-meter hurdles race sophomore Briana Rothert was third in her heat and seventh overall with a time of 51.42 seconds. Senior Tommy Bunts was fifth in his heat and 13th overall in the boys’ 300-meter hurdles at 43.84 seconds.

Fallbrook’s girls 4x400 relay team took third in their heat with a time of 4:36.54. Contreras opened with a lap of 1:06.3, freshman Julia Velasquez ran her 400 meters in 1:10.9, Rothert took 1:09.7, and sophomore Jessica Jameson closed the race with a lap of 1:09.1.

The Jaguar Invitational also included a weightman’s relay in which two boys and two girls who normally participate in throwing events run a 4x100. Shot putter Demi Barrett, discus thrower Chris Martin, shot putter Linsday Vampola, and discus thrower Vince Trethowan completed the race in 54.53 seconds to give Fallbrook fifth place.

In the field events sophomore Hannah Wilson was fourth overall in the girls’ triple jump with a distance of 33 feet 2 1/2 inches and ninth in the long jump at 15 feet 0 1/2 inches. The boys’ high jump saw seven athletes, including Harwood and senior Lee Masten, tie for fourth by clearing 5’10.” Harwood was also eleventh in the boys’ triple jump with a distance of 38’10”. Jameson was eighth in the girls’ high jump after clearing 4’6.”

Wilson had won the long jump against Escondido with a distance of 15’6” and was fourth in the open long jump at the Mount Carmel Invitational with a mark of 15’4.”

The Jaguar Invitational’s 50 participants in the boys’ shot put included Fallbrook senior John Hayden, whose throw of 41 feet 10 1/2 inches placed him ninth, Fallbrook sophomore John Delcoure, who was 14th with a throw of 40 feet 6 inches, and Warrior junior Jeremiah Kolone, whose throw of exactly 40 feet was worth 16th place.

“We had a great performance at Jaguar,” Hamlin said.

At the April 15 dual meet against Escondido the Warrior boys had swept the high jump and shot put scoring positions. In the high jump Harwood cleared 6’0”, Masten reached 5’10,”nd senior Matt Day crossed the bar at 5’6.” The shot put saw Hayden throw 42 feet 5 inches, Delcoure make a toss of 40 feet 5 1/4 inches, and Kolone’s best throw measured 40 feet 3 1/2 inches.

The boys’ 83-51 win over Escondido gave the Warriors a 4-0 record in dual meets for the season, including a 2-0 record in Avocado League dual meets. “We don’t have any superstar power up front,” Hamlin said. “We’re just solid across all the events.”

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