Some members of the Hoover High track team ran in the Tiger Invitationals on Friday alongside schools from all over the country. Although the team didn’t place, it was still a successful meet for all. Several members of the team were able to meet their personal records during their individual races. 

This is Zakhary Van Patten’s first season in track, but he is definitely a standout for the team. In the varsity boys’ 400-meter dash, Van Patten ran in the first heat and was able to gain a PR with a time of 53.31. 

“The experience was cool as I got to see schools and meet people from 11 different states and even a school from Australia,” said Van Patten. “It was amazing to see people run super fast times.” 

Sophomore Sebastian Izaguirre participated in the boys’ 100-meter dash and ran a 12.20.

Sophomore Ani Weimar ran in the varsity girls’ 1,600, getting a 6.11.88, making this her new PR. 

“It was so different running with a much larger group of people, but it really pushed me to run harder and I felt great afterwards,” Weimar said.

Sophomore Emma Canal, who is a long distance runner, ran a 5.24.76 in the varsity girls’ 1,600 alongside teammate Weimar. 

“Personally I think the meet went really well, especially with new prs,” said Canal. “We’ve been training in wind and rain so the warmer weather was a good change of pace. Our team had more exposure to other schools yesterday which we really weren’t used to with so many dual meets in our league but overall it was a lot of fun.”

Sophomore Jonathan Manunkyan threw a 39-06 in shot put gaining a new PR as well.