Napa Track Club fares well in Oregon

From Register Staff

Fourteen young Napa Track Club athletes traveled to Eugene, Oregon over the weekend of July 21-23 to attend the 29th Annual Track City International Classic. Despite the 500-mile journey, there was no escaping the heat, as daytime highs in the usually mild Willamette Valley topped out at over 105 degrees.

The Track City Classic is one of the most prestigious junior track meets held on the West Coast. This year, over 50 teams from six states and Canada were represented. The event takes place at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field, one of the world’s most famous track and field stadiums.

Every spring the 10,000 seat track-only facility hosts the Prefontaine Classic, the premier track and field event in the United States. The facility has also hosted the NCAA Championships nine times, and in 2008 the U.S. Olympic Trials will be held there for the fourth time.

The Track City Classic always draws a deep, quality field of competitors — Marion Jones, Angela Williams and Quincy Watts all hold meet records at this event.

One of Napa’s athletes came very close to adding her name to this elite list of meet record holders.

Susan Jackson turned in her best high jump performance of the season, winning the Young Women’s (17-18) division with a mark of 5-9.

She then attempted to set the meet record, and had several near-misses at a height of 5-101/4.

What makes Jackson’s performance even more impressive is the fact that she still has another year of eligibility in her age division.

Megan Zoller also had an outstanding meet competing in the Intermediate Girls (15-16) age classification. She took home medals in the 100 meter hurdles, the high jump and the 400 meter sprint, where her new personal record time of 1:03.36 was good for third place.

Several athletes were able to take home two medals.

Chris Bozzini (Midget Boys 11-12) earned medals and set personal records in the high jump (4-4) and the turbo javelin (80-6).

Lauren Cardey (Youth Girls 13-14) jumped her way to medals in the high jump and the long jump. Her twin sister Jennifer also had a pair of award-winning jumps, taking home medals in the long jump and the triple jump.

Kevin Cardey (Intermediate Boys) mirrored his sister Lauren’s performance, collecting medals in the high jump and the long jump competition. His long jump of 20-53/4 was leading the competition until he was overtaken and knocked into second place by less than half an inch by the last jumper of the competition.

Another Napa jumper suffered a tough second place finish.

Mario Giovannoni (Youth Boys) led the high jump for most of the afternoon, only to be overtaken at the very end. He did come quite close to making a jump of 5-6, which would have set a new personal record and won the competition. Giovannoni also collected a medal in the triple jump.

Dominic Giovannoni (Intermediate Boys) matched his brother with a second place finish in the high jump, where he tied his season’s best mark of 5-10. He also medaled in the triple jump, where he landed a pair of jumps out past the 39-foot line.

Anthony Zoller (Intermediate Boys) had one of his best days on the track, collecting medals in two events (high jump and long jump) and setting a new personal record in the triple jump.

Several other Napa athletes performed well and collected medals. Olivia Olsen set new personal bests in the 200 meters and the long jump, and also took away a medal in the Youth Girls triple jump competition.

Brendan Cardey (Midget Boys) took home a medal in turbo javelin with a personal record toss of just under 90 feet.

Eric Zoller (Youth Boys) ran his personal best 400 meter race. His medal-winning performance was clocked at 59.46 seconds.

Jake Gonsalves, who will be a senior at Napa High in the fall, took the fifth-place medal in the Young Men’s discus competition with a throw of 121 feet.

Claire Miller (Midget Girls) also performed well in the long jump and 800-meter competitions.

After a brief return home, five of the club’s athletes are now headed to the Junior Olympic National Championship in Baltimore, Maryland.

Kevin Cardey (long jump), Mario Giovannoni (high jump), Megan Zoller (high jump), Dominic Giovannoni (triple jump) and Jackson (high jump) advanced through regional qualifying and will be representing the Pacific Association of the USA Track & Field Association at this prestigious event.

For more information on the Napa Track Club, visit www.napatrackclub.com

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