All-IVL boys’ track and field team released
The Imperial Valley League boys’ track and field season came to a close in May, with the team from Southwest High capturing its third consecutive league crown.
The Eagles were led by then-juniors Tyler Saikhon and Justin Cordova, who competed in a variety of both track and field events to ensure the title remained at the school for another year.
Saikhon, a distance runner and hurdler, also competed in the triple jump during the season, while Cordova, a sprinter, ran on the team’s sprint relay and made a mark in the long jump event.
Both athletes also advanced to the CIF-San Diego Section Championship finals, where Saikhon took first in the Div. I 300-meter hurdles and Cordova finished in third in the competitive 100-meter sprint.
Similar to their strong CIF performances, Saikhon and Cordova also had strong IVL Championship performances, landing them on the All-IVL boys’ track and field team.
Saikhon had three first-place finishes at IVLs, winning the 400 meters, 110-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles.
For his efforts, Saikhon was named the 2017 Track Athlete of the Year.
Similarly, Cordova also won three events including a pair of track events and one field event.
On the track, Cordova won the 100-meter and 200-meter events and also won the long jump.
Both Saikhon and Cordova appeared on the All-IVL team last season, with Saikhon winning the 300-meter hurdles and appearing on the winning 4X400-meter relay, alongside Cordova, Romeo Corona and Bryan Contreras.
Also appearing on the list for a second consecutive time was Calexico High senior Alfredo Soria.
Soria spent the season as the Bulldogs’ top thrower, competing in both the shot put and discus events throughout the season.
Soria won the discus event for the 2016 season with a toss of 124-feet, 1-inch.
This season, Soria won the same event with a launch of 128-feet to earn the IVL Field Athlete of the year honor.
The Calexico grad spent three seasons on the squad and each year finished in the top five of the IVL finals for both events.
In his first year, Soria finished fourth in both the discus and the shotput, followed by a first-place finish in the discus and a second-place finish in the shot put his junior year.