Rey Laureano, Citrus Coast League Champion 800m.

On Thursday, May 27th, 26 individuals from the Fillmore Track and Field team traveled to Carpinteria to compete in the Citrus Coast League Track and Field Championships. In order to be able to compete in this meet, athletes had to meet qualifying standards during the shortened competitive season. These 26 individuals raced, jumped or threw 53 times and established many personal best throughout the day.

The first running event was the Girls JV 1600 Meter. Andrea Laureano circled the oval 4 times to capture second place in this event with a time of 6:44. 20. Later in the meet, Andrea ran a personal best in the 800, by finishing in third place in a time of 3:02.74.

The Frosh-Soph Boys 1600 Meters followed with Kobe Lizarraga finishing in third place and posting a personal best of 5:12.13, he was followed by teammate, Josh Estrada who finished in 4th place in 5:16.06. Kobi would also run a personal best 800 in 2:20.51, placing second in this event. Josh would double back in the 3200 meters, running to a second-place finish in 11:49.79.

Alianna Tapia was the lone distance star for the Flashes in the Varsity division. Alianna ran two personal bests by perfectly pacing both the 1600 meters and 3200 meters in times of 5:35.23 and 12:41.93.

Perhaps the feature race of the meet was the Boys Varsity 1600 Meters where Fabian Del Villar, Rey Laureano, and Camilo Torres swept the first 3 places. Rey and Camilo posted personal best times of 4:34.26, and 4:34.28. Fabi Del Villar, Fillmore’s standout distance star, once again rewrote the record books, by taking down the 1600 Meter Record (converted) of 4:20.23. This record was held by Gerardo “Yayis” Vaca and established in 1988. Fabi ran to the front and in a solo effort, never looked back posting his new school record of 4:20.02. Dave Bustos and Matt Munoz also ran the 1600 and finished in 10th and 12th in 5:14.62 and 5:19.62, both season bests in this event for both athletes.

Fabi, Camilo, and Erick also captured a one, two, three finish in the 3200. Fabi and Camilo subbed 10 posting times of 9:36.03 and 9:48.48. Teammate Erick Gutierrez ran a 10:31.89.

Probably one of the most exciting races was the Varsity Boys 800 Meters. Senior Rey Laureano appeared to be completely out of the race right from the beginning. In a two-lap race, with only four competitors, Rey seemed to fall further behind as they passed through the 200-meter mark, it didn’t look much better at the end of the first lap where he trailed the leader by 3 seconds. With 100 meters to go, Rey turns it on and caught the 3rd place runner, never slowing down and quickly approaching the two Santa Paula runners who were battling it out for first. In a Flash, he was by them, and won the race going away. This was as I’ve said, an exciting race. Rey stirred the cheering crowd and ran a personal best of 2:03.93.

Angel Garcia ran a personal best 2:36.40 in the frosh/soph 800 meters.

In the sprints, coached by Coach Frances Barnes, several athletes achieved personal bests. Top finisher in the 100 meters was Juan Alfaro 6th in a time of 11.93, followed by Angel Martinez 13th in 12.84, Alotl Aparicio 15th in 13.13. All three athletes established personal best times. Angel Martinez followed up his hundred running to a 14th place finish of 26.5 in the 200 meters.

Alotl Aparicio ran the boys varsity 110 meter high hurdles and placed 4th in 19.39.

Fillmore’s sprint ace, Amani Hooker captured 1st. place in both the 100 meters and the 100-meter hurdles. She clocked personal best times of 13.34 and 16.32. She followed this up with a second-place finish in the high jump, where she clear a high of 4’6”.

Angel Laureano was the lone competitor in the frosh/soph 400 and ran a personal best time of 63.43 to place second.

The frosh/soph contingent of Kobi Lizarraga, Josh Estrada, Angel Laureano and Angel García placed second in the 4 x 400 in 4:18.31. The Varsity boys team represented by Rey Laureano, Fabi Del Villar, Juan Pablo Alfaro, and Matt Munoz also placed second in 3:44.13.

The jumps coached by Mr. Dabbs saw several athletes perform well. In the boys varsity triple jump Brandon Gonzalez placed 3rd, in a personal best jump of 35’11.75. He was followed by Alotl Aparicio in 5th place, also in a personal best jump of 34’2”. Alotl followed that up, with a personal best in the long jump of 16’10” to place 6th. Teammate Juan Pablo Alfaro took third place in a personal best leap of 18’6.5 inches.

Evan Alamillo tied for 4th place in the varsity high jump, reaching a height of 4’8”, and Natalie Cobian placed 5th in the varsity girls triple jump with a leap of 26’ 8”.

In the weight events, coached by Tony Tafoya, the athletes continued the year-long tradition of placing among the best in the league. In the varsity shot put, Nathaniel Ocegueda placed second in a personal best of 46’10”, followed by Joesef Vargas 4th in 41’3”, Diego Meza 5th in 40’ 2”, and Justice Rodriguez 6th in 38’ 11”.

In the frosh/soph discus, Sebastian Landeros tossed the implement 85’6” to capture first place in this division. He also placed second in the shot put with a toss of 32’ 2”.

The varsity boys discus, Diego Meza led Fillmore’s weight men by placing second with a toss of 121’ 10”. Justice Rodriguez placed 4th in a personal best of 119’ 11”. He was followed by Joesef Vargas 5th in 116’ 8”, and Nathaniel Ocegueda 6th in 102’ 5”.

The girls also competed well. In the shot, Ashley Yepez placed second putting a distance of 32’2”. She was followed by Kara Ebell 3rd in 28’4”, and Sadie Rico 5th in 26’ 4.5”. In the discus, Ashley Yepez placed first with a throw of 95’ 11”. Kara Ebell was 3rd in 28’ 4”, and Sadie Rico 5th in a personal record of 81’7”.

On the day, Fillmore athletes claimed seven individual league crowns. This was accomplished by each of these athletes winning their individual event. Amani Hooker claimed league titles in two events, the 100 meter hurdles, and the 100 meters. Fabian Del Villar also claimed titles in two events, the 1600 meters and the 3200 meters, Rey Laureano claimed his title in the 800 meters. Sebastian Landeros won the boys frosh/soph discus, and Ashley Yepez also claimed her title in the discus.

Our top three athletes in varsity events will next compete at the same venue on Saturday, June 5th at the CIF Southern Section Division 4 Prelims.14 Fillmore Athletes will compete at this event with the goal of qualifying to compete the following weekend at the CIF Southern Section Division 4 Finals.

Resilience, and perseverance are two words that come to mind, when you think of our athletes, staff and families that found a way to make this season a possibility and also a success. Certainly, we were able to adapt to the circumstances of this difficult period of time, but we couldn’t have done it without your help, so for this, and for all you do, we thank you. This is the Fillmore Spirit.