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All Mustang Track Teams Record Wins Over Central Catholic
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Helping guide the 4 by 100-meter relay team to a win against the visiting Central Catholic squad was Lady Mustang Kylie Nunes, focused on the task at hand after taking the baton. She also recorded individual victories in the 100 and 300 hurdles on the day. Jeff Kettering/The Leader

Each of the Oakdale Mustang track and field teams got off to strong Valley Oak League starts on Thursday, March 16 by defeating the Central Catholic Raiders in the Corral. The varsity boys defeated the Raiders by a score of 66-52; the varsity girls overwhelmed the Raiders by a score of 112-22; the JV boys also overwhelmed Central Catholic by a score of 86-18; and the JV girls earned a 64-42 victory.

Individually, the varsity boys were led by Gavin Gleason’s twin victories in the shot put (39 feet, three inches) and the discus (121 feet, 2 inches). Senior harrier Caleb Cavanaugh ran to victory in both the 800-meter and 1,600-meter runs, narrowly edging his younger brother, Jacob in the former event. Junior Cameron Guthrie dominated both hurdles’ races, the 110-meter-high hurdles and the 300-meter-low hurdles.

The varsity girls are emerging as a major Valley Oak League contender in the sprints, winning both the 4 by 100-meter and 4 by 400-meter relays against the talented Raider teams. The 4 by 100 team included Lynsey McPhee, Brookelyn Baba, Kylee O’Neal and Kylie Nunes. Nunes continued where she left off last season by also breezing to victory in both the 100-meter-high hurdles and the 300-meter low hurdles. Baba also recorded strong second place finishes in both hurdles races and scored a victory in the high jump. McPhee complemented her sprint relay win with victories in the triple jump and pole vault and was also a member of the winning 4 by 400-meter relay team. O’Neal emerged as the top sprinter of the day with victories in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes to complement her leg in the 4x100 meter relay. Brady Wylie won the 400-meter dash, the long jump and was a member of the 4 by 400-meter relay team.

Sonny Torres and Kayden Duenas led the junior varsity boys’ team. Torres was a member of the winning 4 by 100-meter relay team and came from behind in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes to record victories. Duenas emerged as the top JV weight man of the day with victories in both the JV shot put and discus throw.

The JV girls were anchored by sprinter Jordan Wylie who was a member of the winning 4 by 100-meter relay team and won both the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes. Holli Schmidt won the 300-meter low hurdles race and the triple jump, while Savannah Rivera earned victories in the high jump and the long jump and was a member of the winning 4 by 100-meter relay team.

The Two Counties Meet, previously scheduled for Friday, March 24 in the Corral, has been canceled for 2023 as a result of the Stanislaus County meet having to be delayed until March 17 due to inclement weather on the originally scheduled date of March 10. Entrants in the Two Counties Meet are predicated on the results of the Stanislaus and Merced County meets and, with the aforementioned delay, time could not be found to reschedule the Two Counties Meet.

However, on Saturday, March 18, members of the Mustang distance team traveled to Dublin for the highly competitive Dublin Distance Fiesta. In that meet, Mustang Caleb Cavanaugh broke the all-time Oakdale Mustang 3,200-meter (2-miles) record, previously held by teammate Dax Daley, by 11 seconds with an impressive time of 9 minutes, 10.86 seconds. In the very next heat of that multi-heat race, Daley broke Cavanaugh’s new record by running the 3,200-meter race in 9 minutes, 9.49 seconds. Daley’s time was good for ninth overall in the 3,200-meter competition, while Cavanaugh’s time earned 12th place in the highly competitive race. A total of 458 runners competed in the boys’ 3200 race, which also included Mustang juniors Jackson Oliveira (9:31.52), Mason Oliveira (9:48.76), sophomore Jacob Cavanaugh (10:03.82), junior Abner Gonzalez (10:27.95), and senior Gabe Archuleta (10:40.20).

Senior Kassidy Fmura complemented the fine effort by the boys by placing 39th out of 191 runners in the girls’ 3,200 meter run with a time of 11:33.38.

The  next home meet for the Mustang squads will be on Thursday, March 30 against the Buffaloes of Manteca High School, starting at 3:30 p.m. in the Corral.

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Oakdale junior Cameron Guthrie was in fine form as he dominated the hurdles competition, winning both the 110-meter-high hurdles and the 300-meter-low hurdles at a recent home meet victory over Central Catholic. Jeff Kettering/The Leader