THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

With the weather beginning to look a bit more like spring, the Whitney High track and field team should be able to continue their march toward what could be another Capital Valley Conference crown for the maroon and gold. “I think our boys have a really good shot. I think we’re probably the favorite,” said Whitney head coach Mark Snow. “At least, we have a lot of depth and a lot of talent.” Senior Andrew Franco is the CVC’s fastest in the 200-meter and 400m events, and is consistently in the top three in the 100m. Senior Julian Templeton could move up the leaderboard, as well. Seniors Austin Shields and Josh Kling, along with sophomores Ethan Dodge and Austin Vasquez all run strong in the distance events. The Wildcats are strong in the field events too. Seniors Dagne Buck and Zachary Boroja could sweep the shot put and discus. Buck holds the top mark in the shot put by a good margin and Boroja is almost 10 feet in front of the rest of the CVC. Senior Adam O’Brien pretty much owns the pole vault and junior Isaac Pederson is just inches behind the top competition the high jump. “The (weather was) not good for working out our sprinters and our jumpers, but we got through it,” said Snow. “But what we really need to get into is the competition. “[H]opefully it will start to dry out again in a month or so and we can get some quality competition in.” Snow said he also has a strong contender in the long jump and triple jump, once Mark Clark is able to clear up some eligibility issues. The girls have been competing in the middle of the conference pack so far, but the team is quite young. Sydney Johnson in the sprints is a freshman, as is Kirstin Ransford in the distances. Senior Avery Lambrite is always a threat in either the 800m, 1600m or 3200m races. “Tthat group of young girls, I think, are really motivated. They want to do really well,” Snow said. “I think Rachel Payan is one who’s one of our team leaders and she’s only a junior and could go to the state meet in the pole vault. She does lots of other events and scores points in lots of ways.” Payan and freshman Isabel Simmons have vaulted their way to the top of the CVC and with a little decent weather could well eclipse the 10-foot mark they have both reached this season. Payan can also elevate in the high jump and only needs to get a couple inches higher to sit at the top. Seniors Abigail Scott and Annabel Su rank two and four in the discus and Johnson has come off the long-jump board to stand at No. 3 in the conference. “I think the girls have a lot of potential. It’s always just different in trying to coach girls and boys; different personalities and different types of motivation,” said Snow. “I really, really like this group of girls right now. They really want to do well and are pretty excited about that.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

WHITNEY HIGH BOYS FAVORITE TO CLAIM LEAGUE TITLE

JIM LINSDAU

Placer Herald | 4/3/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Jim Linsdau