Marauders record several PRS at Buchanan Invite

Monache High School boys and girls track teams had a strong showing at the Buchanan Distance Classic, Saturday, in Clovis. MHS head coach Seth Ishida said the team faced the top distance runners in the Central Valley.

The Marauders’ Aislin Taylor improved her 1,600-meter personal record by eight seconds with a time of 5:11.81. The race started fast and Taylor was trailing the lead pack badly, said Ishida. Even with a solid 71-second first lap, she had to run two consistent laps of 80- and 82-seconds just to get back into the race and pull to fifth place. The final 100 meters of a 77-second last lap would move her into fourth place. “Aislin has really improved her final kick and has more confidence holding faster paces,” Ishida said. “Her speedwork at practice is paying off.”

Taylor also Pr-ed in her 3,200-race with an 11:45.03 for seventh place. “Big PRS are very difficult to recover from,” Ishida said. “I was very proud of the fact that she ran so well after expressing some doubts. I think she is a little tougher this year and rose to the occasion.”

Taylor’s time is now fourth all-time at Monache behind Jennifer Baker (1986) and Jojo Zorn (2014). Marylou Ruiz holds the school record of 5:06.51. “I really think Aislin can do it,” Ishida said about moving up on the list.

Freshman Janae Espinoza was 15th in the same 3,200 with a run of 12:19.12. Espinoza opened with an excellent mile split of 5:52. “It was an aggressive run with a veteran field,” Ishida said. “She was a little fatigued after a 1,600PR of 5:35.64 for 16th overall. Janae opened the race with the leaders at 75 seconds for the first 400 of her 1600 and just continued to fight. Janae has incredible talent and we hope to increase some of her training to match Aislin’s. I am most proud of how they handled the pressure of their first big race.”

Adrien Martinez is returning to last year’s MVP form with a 1,600 time of 4:34.24 for 16th. It wasn’t a PR but it was close enough to feel like he’s getting back in shape and on schedule to hit 4:20 this year, Ishida said.

Ian Queenan Pr’ed with a 4:39.13 in the same race. Martinez was narrowly outkicked by Ben Borchers of Edison to place second in his heat and 10th overall. Queenan ran a 3,200 PR of 10:17.27 for 18th.

“Our distance guys are just starting to get some faster-paced training, so it takes some patience to get there and compete at this level as they have in the past,” Ishida said.