With over 30 high school teams competing in the Sam Burley Hall of Fame Invitational from Feb. 28 to March 1, the track and field team faced a great amount of competition with athletes from competitive schools such as Christopher Columbus High School, Carrolton School of the Sacred Heart and even Miami Northwestern High School. The meet displayed athletes with elite times, giving the competitors from Gables the opportunity to break record after record.
These athletes competed in a variety of events, from the 100 meter dash to the 4 by 800 meter relay to the javelin throw. Working together, the boys and girls team earned as many points as they could, only receiving points for the team if they were top eight in their respective events. In the end, while the boys team placed 29th out of 32 teams with four points,, the girls team landed a sixth place win out of 32 teams with 42 points.
Beginning on Friday, Feb. 28 at 11:30 a.m., the girls throwing team participated in the javelin throw event with both junior Veronica Trueba and senior Karis Bellomy winning fifth and seventh place respectively in the finals, giving the team the points necessary to uphold their place. As the day passed by, senior Damirrah Passmore represented Gables in the girls pole vault event winning fourth place for jumping over 2.25 meters.
“The thing about Sam Burley is the level of competition there is really special. I got to talk to new people from different schools that we haven’t competed against yet and they were able to give me a few pointers and tips,” junior Veronica Trueba said.
Finally, at 6:30 p.m. the most anticipated event of the day took place, the 4 by 800 meter race. This was a race perfect for both the boys and girls teams to place high and win major points. Though the boys got 18th place, the girls team earned a shocking second place. Once the race concluded the girls screamed with joy as they realized they ran a time of 10:06.41, setting a new school record time since 2017.
“I always try as hard as I can in the 4 by 800 because there are more people counting on me during that race. I like to see how much I can improve from that race,” junior Adrian Perez said.
Done for the day, the athletes were congratulated and were sent back home where they were required to rest and eat well before the next day. On Saturday, at 9:30 a.m., the boys running the 3200 meter race met up and warmed up to prepare for their extra early race. Standing out the most, junior Luis Rodriguez in his bright red Gables uniform proudly represented Gables as he placed in fifth with a personal record of 9:57.00, simultaneously giving the boys the only points they would receive for the track meet.
Not finished yet, senior Romario Garcia represented the boys in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.27, giving him 13th place, but sadly not giving him a chance at the finals. After hours of waiting on the bleachers under the hot sun, two 800 meter runners decided to shine. Junior Sharon Contreras and junior Amelia Castillo, who both placed in the top 16 in the morning race, helping them advance to the finals in the afternoon.
The last event for the first half of the meet was the girls 1600 meter finals which began at 4 p.m. This final did not disappoint, as two girls from the team earned sixth and eighth place to help their team gain more points. In eighth place was junior Avril Donner with a personal record of 5:40.96 and right in front of her was junior Yara Korse with a new school record time of 5:34.84.
“The 1600 meter race was definitely a mentally-grueling race and I was relieved to finally have gotten a personal record that I haven’t gotten for two years but I didn’t run the race I wanted to,” junior Avril Donner said.
Finally, the 1600 meter boys final arrived. Again, Rodriguez was able to demonstrate his running abilities as he ran an 11th place with another personal record of 4:37.17 also winning his heat by more than 5 seconds. While this did not give points to the boys team, it was a step toward the right direction.
After waiting around four hours and the sun began to set, the two runners for Gables, Castillo and Contreras, were prepared to perform in the 800 meter finals. As the gun went off and the girls started, the crowd screamed and the team cheered for both of these runners aiding in their places. Contreras got eighth place with 2:31.57 with Castillo right behind her in ninth with a time of 2:34.20.
“When I realized I made it to the 800 meter final, I was so excited. I’ve worked a lot for it and I’m really proud of myself for what I did and how I placed. It was also really funny being able to run it with Amelia. It’s just so fun running these big meets,” junior Sharon Contreras said.
Finally, to end the day, the last event was the 3200 meter girls final at 7 p.m. and this did not disappoint. With three girls representing Gables, they had waited until 10 a.m. to run this event. Exhausted but determined, these three runners ran all eight laps with the purpose of running their best times. This determination earned Donner fifth place with a time of 12:29.55, junior Lauren Puig a third place with a time of 12:09.97 and right in front of her, less than a second ahead, was Korse in second place with yet another school record time of 12:09.20.
Content with their positions and medals, the team packed up after properly recognizing the efforts of every one of their athletes. While some athletes may not have ran any personal records or gained top eight places, this meet was a step in the right direction giving Gables the taste of an important meet with big athletes before they headed to Districts.
