Archie Williams track sprints into playoff run
Archie Williams sophomore William Mulliken vies for a top position in the 1600 meter qualifier race on May 4.
On Saturday, May 6, the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) hosted the track and field championships at San Marin High School. Archie Williams competed in the preliminary meets for the championships Thursday, May 4, and many athletes qualified for the championships. This wraps up a successful MCAL track and field season for the Falcons, with 10 athletes getting on the podium for MCAL in their respective events.
Archie Williams found some positives on the track with many runners, and also on the field with many throwers. The Falcons’ athletes won four events across both the boys and girls events.
Hoping to defend his 2022 MCAL title, senior Luke Calegari ran the 800M race and won the event with a time of one minute 58.10 seconds, cementing him as one of the best 800M runners in recent MCAL history. Afterwards, Luke turned his sights to the coveted Redwood Empire Race in San Rafael, hoping to win North Coast Sectionals (NCS) for the 800M race. Again, Luke sprinted to victory, earning him a chance to race in Dublin this Friday to qualify for the State Championships.
“I was very proud of the time with me being a little sick. I knew I was going to have to dig deep that whole race especially with the competition closing in,” Luke said. “Very pleased to repeat as MCAL 800M champ two years in a row.”
Outside of Luke on the boys’ side, senior Andrew Cloughley was extra competitive in the hurdle events. He placed second in both the 110M hurdles and the 300M hurdles. Nick Ferguson also earned third place in the 300M hurdles.
For the events on the field, senior Evan Ticknor placed second place in the discus throw, and Andrew won the triple jump event.
“As a team, I feel like everyone has grown in their events and definitely threw down some fast times,” Luke said.
Overall, Redwood High School won MCAL Championships, but the Falcons had successful individual events.
The girls team took home many important wins. Multiple runners got on the podium, including senior sprinter Lauren Barnwell, who got third place in the 100M. Freshman Ani Stieg and junior Alexandra Greenwald, who placed second and third respectively in the 800M race. In the hurdles Piper Preston earned third place in the 100M hurdles and second in the 300M hurdles.
“During that MCAL meet my only thoughts were to just run. That very well could have been my last ever track meet and I just want to leave it all out there,” Lauren said.
The girls running team got third in the four by 400M relay race, with a team of Ani, Alexandra, freshman Hanna Courtright, and senior Katharine DiPerna Pavlich. A different team made up of Alyssa Silverstein, Alexandra, Ani, and Jane Adams won the four by 800M relay. On the field, Alyssa Connely got third in the high jump and second in the triple jump.
After the MCAL meet, Archie Williams competed in the Redwood Empire meet to determine the winners of NCS. Luke won the 800M race by .3 seconds to claim his NCS title, and in the girls 800M, Alexandra won first place, with Ani coming in second. In the girls 4 by 800M the Falcons came second behind Montgomery High School. As a team Archie Williams struggled and ended up coming in sixth place for the girls and ninth place for the boys.
Both the boys and girls teams hope to be successful as a team and as individuals in future playoff meets. With NCS over, individual athletes hope to continue racing at the State Championships.
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