Oakdale High thrower Marco Camacho and jumper Manny Hernandez came painstakingly close, but one by one all Mustang athletes fell just short of the state meet during action at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Track and Field Championships this past week.
The Thursday (Trials) and Friday (Finals) competition saw Oakdale entries in 15 different events across all divisions of the SJS. Top-three place winners and those that reached at-large standards qualified for the California Interscholastic Federation Championships.
Oakdale participants didn’t make the state cut, but concluded terrific seasons on the local track and field. Camacho, a 2011 graduate, landed a new career best with his 164 foot, 10 inch discus toss to place fourth overall in the event. The mark was Oakdale’s third-best discus toss in school history. He was just over four feet short of nabbing the elusive at-large mark in the event.
“He got his best discus throw of the season, so Marco definitely had a good day,” Oakdale coach Dave Bacigalupi said. “It was almost good enough to get to state, but not quite.
“You can’t be disappointed when you go out to the biggest meet of the season and have your best throw.”
Camacho was also 15th of 24 in the shot put with a 47-3 mark.
Hernandez, a junior, cleared consecutive heights in the high jump before narrowly missing three attempts at the 6-5 mark to end on a 6-3 finish. The 6-5 mark would have likely placed him second overall and also nabbed the at-large standards, but he was forced to settle for fifth among 24 jumpers. He was the highest placing non-senior in the event.
“I thought he had made all three tries at 6-5, but somehow he just barely touched the bar and it fell,” Bacigalupi said. “He was very, very close to making it to state.
“It’s just a tough thing to do.”
Oakdale sent three relay teams to the Masters trials on Thursday. The 400 girls relay of Carolina Vicklund, Courtney Lopes, Justina Keith, Me’che Brown finished 15th among 23 teams with a 51.01 second mark.
Brown, Keith, Sara Aguayo and Kim Linder placed 21st in the 1600 relay. Oakdale’s 1600 boys relay of Wyatt Coffee, Gino Valente, Bryan Berst and Daniel Linder were also 18th during Trials action.
Brown also reached Masters races for prelims in the 100 and 200, and finished 17th and 15th, respectively. Freshman Brooke Wong was unable to record a height in the pole vault, but watched junior teammate Carly Rogers bend over a 9-9 bar for a 12th place finish among 24 qualifiers.
Sophomore Macey Caris and junior Domi Powell both finished 14th among 26 in the high jump with 4-11 finishes.
Jaylene Ponce added a 14th place throw of 33-07 in the shot put to conclude her career on the prep track. Fellow senior Daniel Linder was 13th of 22 in the long jump after a 20-5 leap.
Senior Sara Aguayo was 22nd of 24 in 300 hurdle prelims and watched junior Wyatt Coffee finish 24th in the 400.
Deziree Pennington, one of two freshmen and only five underclassmen in the triple jump, was 20th with a 32-2 distance.
“Everybody that went to Masters competed hard and did the best they could,” Bacigalupi said. “You just got to hold your head up high and come back next year, hopefully having a better day.”
The Thursday (Trials) and Friday (Finals) competition saw Oakdale entries in 15 different events across all divisions of the SJS. Top-three place winners and those that reached at-large standards qualified for the California Interscholastic Federation Championships.
Oakdale participants didn’t make the state cut, but concluded terrific seasons on the local track and field. Camacho, a 2011 graduate, landed a new career best with his 164 foot, 10 inch discus toss to place fourth overall in the event. The mark was Oakdale’s third-best discus toss in school history. He was just over four feet short of nabbing the elusive at-large mark in the event.
“He got his best discus throw of the season, so Marco definitely had a good day,” Oakdale coach Dave Bacigalupi said. “It was almost good enough to get to state, but not quite.
“You can’t be disappointed when you go out to the biggest meet of the season and have your best throw.”
Camacho was also 15th of 24 in the shot put with a 47-3 mark.
Hernandez, a junior, cleared consecutive heights in the high jump before narrowly missing three attempts at the 6-5 mark to end on a 6-3 finish. The 6-5 mark would have likely placed him second overall and also nabbed the at-large standards, but he was forced to settle for fifth among 24 jumpers. He was the highest placing non-senior in the event.
“I thought he had made all three tries at 6-5, but somehow he just barely touched the bar and it fell,” Bacigalupi said. “He was very, very close to making it to state.
“It’s just a tough thing to do.”
Oakdale sent three relay teams to the Masters trials on Thursday. The 400 girls relay of Carolina Vicklund, Courtney Lopes, Justina Keith, Me’che Brown finished 15th among 23 teams with a 51.01 second mark.
Brown, Keith, Sara Aguayo and Kim Linder placed 21st in the 1600 relay. Oakdale’s 1600 boys relay of Wyatt Coffee, Gino Valente, Bryan Berst and Daniel Linder were also 18th during Trials action.
Brown also reached Masters races for prelims in the 100 and 200, and finished 17th and 15th, respectively. Freshman Brooke Wong was unable to record a height in the pole vault, but watched junior teammate Carly Rogers bend over a 9-9 bar for a 12th place finish among 24 qualifiers.
Sophomore Macey Caris and junior Domi Powell both finished 14th among 26 in the high jump with 4-11 finishes.
Jaylene Ponce added a 14th place throw of 33-07 in the shot put to conclude her career on the prep track. Fellow senior Daniel Linder was 13th of 22 in the long jump after a 20-5 leap.
Senior Sara Aguayo was 22nd of 24 in 300 hurdle prelims and watched junior Wyatt Coffee finish 24th in the 400.
Deziree Pennington, one of two freshmen and only five underclassmen in the triple jump, was 20th with a 32-2 distance.
“Everybody that went to Masters competed hard and did the best they could,” Bacigalupi said. “You just got to hold your head up high and come back next year, hopefully having a better day.”
