Cella Breaks 800m Record at Tri-Valley Championships

Though not in contention for either of the team titles at the NCS Tri-Valley track & field championships held at Foothill High School of Pleasanton on Saturday, May 21, the Cougars did manage to advance several athletes on to the NCS Meet of Champions, where they will contend for state championship berths.  2 athletes with good chances of punching their tickets to state are Sarah Cella and Jonathan Hughes.

After breaking the 200m school record the pervious week at the DFAL championships, Hughes turned his attention to the 400m race at Tri-Valley.  Though he did not run his best time, the senior sprint standout managed to finish in 3rd place and advance.

Cella, who won the Tri-Valley 800m title as a sophomore, continued her post season dramatics with a surprising 2:12.35 clocking for the 2-lap distance.  The mark landed her the 3rd spot in the race and broke the school record set by class of 2015 distance running star Brighie Leach.

In the field, senior thrower Sterling Strother improved his shot put mark by nearly 4 feet.  “I came in ranked 9th in Tri-Valley, then I got 4th for shot put. I threw 50 feet three and a half inches which is 4th on the Campo all time record list,” he said.

As a team, Strother said, “I think we did pretty well. Some people I think went out a little conservative because they want to save up for Meet of Champions this coming Saturday.”

Amador Valley placed first in the girls’ team scoring with 63 points while the Cougars placed a distant 16th with 8 points.

De La Salle earned the boys’ team title, finishing with 54 points. Campolindo placed 8th, the best finish of any DFAL team, with 29 points.