The anticipated track and field season kicked off on Thursday.
All eight schools in the Pacific League raced in separate meets to lock in their first persona-best times of the season.
Hoover competed in a tri-meet at John Muir High School in Pasadena against Burroughs and Muir. The Tornados started strong, securing second place in both girls and boys overall team scores.
The Hoover boys’ team beat Muir 68-49 and the girls’ squad beat Muir 62-29. The Hoover girls just missed the first-place title as they were only one point away from beating Burroughs.
The meet started with the Hoover girls taking first place in the 4×100 relay. Hoover junior Emma Canal made her mark by winning the overall 800m (2:35), 1,600m (5:34), and 3200m (12:19).
She took the gold in the 4×400 relay alongside junior Ani Weimar. Weimar came in right behind Canal, finishing second in the 800m (2:54) and 3,200m (14:01).
“This opener was faster than my opener last season, so I think I am in a really good position to PR in the near future,” Canal said. “The races during the meet went by really quick because there were only three schools and because of this I didn’t get as much preparation between events.”
When asked about her predictions for this season with training and competitions, Canal was optimistic.
“For training we are put into a position where we need to be flexible on where we are doing our workouts as our track is currently under renovation. My goals for this season are to make it to CIF for the 1,600 and to really work on our 4×400 team to become competitive and as always to have fun,” Canal said.
Weimar was also proud of her season opener.
“I love the energy of our team this year and how everyone’s attitudes are always so encouraging at the meets,” Weimar said.
Ryan Oh, one of Hoover’s top sprinters, took third in the 100m with a time of 11.83.
“I am ready and excited to make some PR’s this season,” Oh said.
As for the field events, Hoover’s Katherine Coppersmith started her season strong with first place in long jump with a jump of 16-4 ft, in addition to her 4×100 win. Javon Lymon took second in triple jump at 36-7ft and third in long jump with 18-1ft.
Anderson Thombs, a senior, got first overall in shot put (39-9) and discus (95-10).
“It was a good start to the season. I am looking forward to training more in the upcoming weeks towards my goal of making it to CIF again this year and becoming a competitive sprinter and jumper,” Lymon said.
