Vikings place second in track and field meet

Vallecitos Elementary School competed in a track and field meet May 2, at Julian Elementary School, and the Vikings finished second among the six participating teams despite not fielding athletes in all of the events.

“I’m very happy that we were able to get that,” Vallecitos coach Ray Hanbeck said of second place.

The meet had eighth grade boys, eighth grade girls, seventh grade boys and seventh grade girls divisions. Fifth grade and sixth-grade students are eligible to compete in the seventh grade competitions. The Vallecitos contingent consisted of 10 boys and six girls.

Last year Kelsey Rossi placed second in the mile run for seventh grade girls. This year she wanted to focus on the sprints.

“At first I was a bit skeptical,” Hanbeck said. “She proved me wrong.”

Rossi won three-eighths grade girls events: the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash and the long jump. Although she did not win the high jump, she set the school record.

“She’s a very strong runner and a very strong athlete,” Hanbeck said.

Rossi, who did not run the 100-meter dash last year, won this year’s race in 14.01 seconds.

“She proved to be excellent in that event,” Hanbeck said.

Her winning time in the 200-meter dash was 29.58 seconds.

“She had a very strong start, which I think helped her a lot,” Hanbeck said. “She went off the blocks with a tremendous amount of speed. It was amazing how fast she got out of the blocks.”

Rossi added the jumps to her sprint events.

“She did well in those, too,” Hanbeck said.

A distance of 12 feet, 4 inches gave Rossi first place in the long jump. Although a Julian girl won the high jump with a distance of 4-4, Rossi cleared 4-3 for second place and a school record.

Last year Rossi won the seventh-grade girls high jump with a height of 3-9. Ashley Ford previously held the Vallecitos girls high jump record with a distance of 4-2.

The mile race for seventh-grade boys was won by Edgar Ortega, whose time was 5:44.

“He’s a phenomenal runner,” Hanbeck said.

Ortega also had the superlative seventh grade high jump performance, as he cleared 4-5.

“We were able to do well in our high jump,” Hanbeck said.

A Julian boy won the eighth grade high jump by clearing 4-11. Ivan Franco was second at 4-10, and Leo Hernandez took third place by clearing 4-9.

Franco won the long jump for eighth grade boys with a distance of 15-1 1/2 inches. Hernandez placed third with a jump of 14-8. Ortega had the second place long jump distance for seventh grade boys.

Pedro Nieto was second in the 200-meter dash for eighth grade boys with a time of 28.06 seconds. Franco had the third place time of 28.20 seconds.

Franco was also on the eighth grade boys’ 4x100 relay team, which took third. He led off the race and was followed by Nieto, Hernandez and Pedro Madrigal.

“It was a very strong performance by my eighth-graders,” Hanbeck said.

Although Berenice Yanez is a fifth-grader, she placed second in the mile race for seventh grade girls. Yanez posted a time of 6:53.

Cheyenne Crow had a long jump of 11-2 to place third among seventh grade girls.

Vallecitos’ seventh grade boys were third in their 4x100 relay race. The quartet consisted of Ortega, seventh-grader Armando Yanez, seventh-grader Rodrigo Anaya and sixth-grader Jose Garcia.

“I’m proud of how everyone did,” Hanbeck said.

Seven small elementary schools in northern San Diego County and southern Riverside County have monthly competitions throughout the year with each school hosting a different sport.

“We were able to compete in not only track but in all our sports,” Hanbeck said. “All in all we had a good year.”