The Mira Costa track and field team wrapped up its season when it sent its final competing athlete, freshman Shante Robinson, to the California Interscholastic Federation State Preliminaries on June 6 at Veterans’ Memorial Stadium in Clovis, California.
Robinson placed sixth in the 300-meter hurdles during the State Preliminaries, finishing in 43.88 seconds, only 2.22 seconds behind the first-place time. While she did not qualify for State Finals, she finished her track year with season records in the 100, 200, 400 and 800-meter races, along with records in the 100 and 300-meter hurdles.
“I’m pleased with the end of my season,” Robinson said. “It was a blessing to get this far. I truly am thankful for all the support from my family, Costa, our coaches, Tim Cooper and the boosters. Without them, I couldn’t have done any of this.”
Robinson qualified for state in the CIF Masters event on May 30 with a time of 43 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles. She was the only freshmen competing in her event and the only Costa athlete to qualify for Masters.
“It felt amazing to qualify for Masters,” Robinson said. “Competing in CIF was nerve wracking because I was fighting a cold that weekend and couldn’t breathe out of my nose.”
Most of the track and field team ended its season on May 24 at the CIF Division II finals. Costa sent 11 athletes to the Finals where they competed against athletes from more than 60 schools. The girls came in 11th place with 18 points and the boys came in 20th with 10 points.
“We represented well,” senior Robert McMahon said. “Just to get to CIF Finals is a big accomplishment.”
Costa had 23 athletes compete in order to move onto the finals during the CIF Division II Preliminaries on May 18 but only 11 succeeded. The 11 athletes came from eight different events that included seniors Josh Block, McMahon, Brandon Mills, Camille Mills, PJ Onusconich, Niko Pappas, Robinson, Matt Wenner junior Natasha Brutstein, sophomore Myan Elrington, and freshman Emily Jones.
“We had athletes compete in a variety of events which says a lot about our depth as a team,” McMahon said. “Even if the results were not the best, everyone tried their hardest. We know we left it all on the track.”
The Costa boys track team took the Bay League title for the fifth consecutive year while the girls managed to tie for second place. The boys swept the podium in the 100-meter hurdles with McMahon finishing first at 14.97 seconds, Onusconich placing second at 15.31 and senior Zack Johnson following in third place at 15.57.
“I think we had some tough competition, especially going against Redondo Union,” senior Kimi Markley said. “Regardless, we performed well and proved to be a challenge to the all of the other schools as well.”
The boys finished with an overall record of 5-1, losing only one meet against Peninsula, while the girls also ended with a record of 5-1, winning every single meet except one against Redondo.
“Costa put their best foot forward this season,” Robinson said. “We nearly went undefeated, and there was never a dull moment when the team came together.”
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