On top of their Valley Oak League meet against Sierra on Thursday, March 26, the best of the best in high school varsity track and field came out to The Corral on Friday, March 27 for the annual County vs. County meet. Eighteen schools from both Stanislaus and Merced counties competed under the hot Oakdale early spring sun.
In the third league meet of the season, Oakdale took three of four against the visiting Wolves. The varsity boys eked out a 69-67 victory, varsity girls continued their winning ways outperforming Sierra 89-47 and the junior varsity boys dominated in a 110-21 victory. The junior varsity girls took a tough 72-55 loss.
For the varsity boys, senior Kevin Corral took first in both the 100 and 200 meter dash. Junior Chance Ginger claimed victory in the 400 meter dash. Ginger teamed with seniors C.J. Domingo, Corral and Tyler Flores to win both the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relays. In the field competitions, Domingo also won the high jump.
Sophomore Michael Everett took first in the discus to help the Mustang boys win.
OHS varsity girls earned first place in several events throughout the day to remain undefeated this season. Junior Melody Johnson swept the hurdles events, fellow junior Hannah Chappell took first in the discus throw and teammate Kai Tanner won the shot put. Other notable first place performers were Sam Nickerson in the high jump, Sarah Courtney in the pole vault, Kayla Budine in the triple jump, Abby Matoso in the long jump and Sara Stevens won the 200 meter dash. Matoso also claimed first as a part of the 4x400 meter relay along with Madison Falconi, Stevens and Kyla Novotny.
For the junior varsity boys, Francisco Vargas had a big day, as he won the 200 meter dash and swept the competition in both hurdles races. Jorge Barajas contributed to the JV boys big win as he powered his way to victory in both the shot put and discus. Josh Jacobson was a winner in three different events winning the long and high jump and he was a part of the winning relay team. Oakdale’s next Valley Oak League meet will be on Thursday, April 2 when East Union comes to town.
Friday, March 27, The Corral was host site for the highly anticipated County vs. County meet. In the event Oakdale finished second overall with 125.50 total points, only behind fellow Stanislaus County representative Pitman, which scored 203.00. The Mustang girls claimed second with a 102.50 point performance while the boys just missed a top 10 finish as they finished 12th with 23 points.
Chappell finished first in the girls discus throw with her finals throw of 147 feet eight inches. Her teammates Tanner and Kyndall Vargas finished sixth and seventh respectively. Only one inch separated the two. Johnson claimed second place in the girl’s 100 meter hurdles with a time of 17.05. Also competing in the race was sophomore T.J. Verdegaal, who finished seventh. The two also participated in the girls 300 meter hurdles where Verdegaal placed fourth with Johnson right behind her at fifth place.
Finishing second in the girls 4x400 meter relay was freshman Courtney Dickens, Matoso, Novotny and Stevens.
Domingo claimed fifth for the boys in the high jump, while junior James Monges finished eighth in the long jump. Everett threw his way into a top three finish in the boys discus throw with a 127 feet, 11 inch toss to finish third overall.
