CIF Finals
On an overcast day the St. John Bosco track team did all they
could to win a CIF title. It was the strength of a very
strong Los Angeles school and the mishap of a missed baton
pass that prevented their goal. It isn't to say though
that the Braves didn't have a successful day. The Braves
placed third as a team and scored in every event they competed
in but one.
It was in the 4x100 relay that the team of freshman Craig
Williams, and seniors Joe Cowan, Derrick Williams, and Roy
Alugbue had an unfortunate race. Unable to get the stick
around, the Braves failed to place. Cowan would come
back a few hours later however to win his first individual
title of the day. Racing to an unchallenged 48.01 Cowan
took the Division II 400M title. Cowan's time places
him as the fastest entry into the Southern Section Masters
meet next week. Following Cowan's performance Alugbue
was ready to runt he 100M. After a slow start out of
the blocks, Roy came on very strong to earn a runner-up finish. Junior
Brave Luis Uribe, who had not qualified as part of the top
9 into CIF Finals was awarded a place in the race after another
competitor dropped out. Taking full advantage of this
opportunity Uribe ran a great race to earn himself an all CIF
medal. Uribe's PR time of 1:56.96 placed him in 6th. Coming
back a third time on the track Cowan lined up to defend his
CIF title in the 300 intermediate hurdles. Again he made
it look rather easy finishing in a time of 37.91 to take the
top spot - again qualifying into the Masters Meet. In
the 200M Alugbue ran a powerful turn and finished nicely into
the straight-away to again earn himself a runner-up finish. His
21.95 finish was a PR. In the final event of the day
- the 4x400 relays - the Braves had the fastest qualifying
time by 1.5 seconds. Knowing anything can happen in CIF
competition the Braves were prepared to be challenged by a
number of teams. That challenge never amounted as the
team of junior Mahesh Gandhi (50.9), freshman Brandon Johnson
(50.7), Uribe (51.4), and Cowan (48.4) raced to a fine 3:21.39
clocking to finish in first place while also earning themselves
a place in next week's Masters Meet. |
