All the hard work is beginning to pay off for the Corona del Sol track and field team as it starts its move up closer to the leaders in 5A-I pack with improved finishes in two recent meets.
The Aztecs received their first-place track invitational finish since 2003 at the fourth annual Basha Co-Ed Relays held April 3 at Basha High School. CdS also finished third in the 20th Tempe Wynn Zucco Relays on April 9.
At the Basha Relays, Corona’s Kyle Benson and Nick Siefker came in first and second in the 110 meter hurdles. The girls team also ran well in the 110 meter hurdles with freshman Megan Benson coming in third and junior Sydnie LeMieux in fifth place.
In the 100-meter dash Brendon Tunstall finished ninth and Michael Lange was 12th. On the girls side, Irene Ashu was fifth and Taylor Johnson was 10th. Â The girls 1600-meter run had Corona’s Christina Freeman crossing the finish line third and Kristin Stroble seventh. Josh Coulter and Daniel Wrapp finished eight and ninth respectively for the boys team.
The Aztecs also did well in the Basha relay events. The boys 4 x 800 team made up of Garrett Baker-Slama, Michael Seal, Wade Hooke and Matt Whitlatch came in second. Coming in first in the girls 4 x 800 relay were Morgan Dorweiler, Danieca Ganje, Sydney Buck and Danielle Lemieux.
The Aztecs also placed two teams the 4 x 100 relay. The girls team of Irene Ashu, Megan Benson, Taylor Johnson and Precious Woods took third while the boys team of Michael Lange, Kyle Benson, Austin Crothers and Brendon Tunstall were sixth. Corona’s mixed 4 x 100 meter relay team placed second.
Both the girls and boys teams took first place in the shuttle hurdle relays. The boys 4 x 70 meter team was made up of Seifker, Michael Swindle, Conrad Laboy and Kyle Benson while the girls 4 x 60 meter team included Sydney LeMieux, Tadessa Smith, Alexandra Haun, and Megan Benson.
In the 800 sprint medley relay the boys team of Crothers, Lange, Tunstall and Laboy crossed the finish line in second place while the girls team of Johnson, Precious Woods, Ashu and Dorweiler were third.
Corona athletes also finished strong in the distance medley relay where Danielle LeMieux, Sydni LeMieux, Stroble and Ganje finished first in the girls event while Baker-Slama, Nicholas Woods, Seal and Whitlatch were second.
Basha also threw in some fun with a mixed 40-meter dash mascot race. Kyle Benson, racing incognito as Mr. Aztec, crossed the finish line first humbling Mr. Ed, Waldo Wildcat, Mr. Firebird, Mr. Pride, Mr. Cougar, Bruiser Bear and the Death Padre.
In the Basha mixed shot put relay, Mike Stahl finished strong in second place with Jon-Paul Dyament right behind him in third. Briana Vaifale came in 22nd overall but was the top girl finisher with a 36-01 throw actually besting three boys in the competition. Valerie Hackett was 37th in the mixed shot put.
The Aztecs were well represented in the mixed discus throw relay. Briana Vaifale had a state-qualifying throw for third place overall behind two male counterparts. Her discus throw of 132 was farther than 19 boys and also longer than her two fellow Corona team mates Jon-Paul Dyament and Chase Cartwright who finished seventh and eighth respectively. Amy Foster finished 27th overall in the event.
In the mixed long jump relay, senior Tunstall finished eighth, Todd Lewis tenth, Kaylin Villocino 31st and Kiley Tomsen 37th out of 46 jumpers. Lewis took second in the mixed triple jump relay followed by Austin Malm 12th, Lauren Milovich 36th, and Tomsen 43rd.
Malm tied for fourth in the mixed high jump relay jumping 5-10 followed by Siefker tied for 11th, Milovich tied for 29th and Corona volleyball standout Bethany Jorgenson tied for 40th place.
The Basha mixed pole vault relay found Corona’s Dustin Baize coming in fifth, Danae Cook 25th and Alyssa Woelfel took 28th place.
Last Thursday the Aztecs competed in the Tempe Wynn Zucco Relays where both the boys and girls team came in third behind Chandler and Hamilton. This meet was special because the top nine finishers in certain events got to run in the Sun Angel Collegiate meet April 11, according to head coach Tim Kelly.
The Corona’s girls team had several athletes finish in the top nine, including Megan Benson who finished eighth in the 100 meter dash and Danica Ganje and Dani Lemieux who finished third and sixth respectively in the 1600 meter run. Benson also finished sixth in the 100-meter hurdles along with Sydnie LeMieux who came in eighth.
Taking third in the girls 4 x 800 relay were Ganje, Dani LeMieux, Katie Huch and Morgan Dorweiler. The 4 x 400 relay team of Dorweiler, Lakevia Stormer, Huch and Sydney Buck added a fifth place finish setting a personal record time of 4:13.93 edging them closer to qualifying for state according to coach Kelly.
The Corona boys team had two athletes qualify for state with a strong showing in the 1600 meter run. Matt Whitlatch crossed the finish line in first and Garret Baker-Slama was third. Nick Siefker finished fifth in the 110-meter hurdles.
The Aztecs only have one regular track meet left in the season, April 22, at home against Basha and Valley Christian. The rest of the season they will be competing in a variety of meets before the Central region championships May 5 and 7 and the 5A-I State championships May 13 and 16.
On April 24 Corona will be competing at the Tribune Invitational held at
Westwood. Then April 25 will be the Freshman Showcase at Desert Vista. April 29 will be the Freshman/JV City Meet and April 30 the Varsity City Meet at McClintock.
Information about Corona’s track team can be found on Corona’s athletic website at http://www.aztecathletics.com or the team’s website http://staff.tuhsd.k12.az.us/coronatrackandfield
