WCAL Top Track & Field Performers

[Rmbr26]

Just took a look at the Top Marks for CCS & San Mateo County and ran down the list.
Always curious to see who the "burners" are in the county and how the WCAL athletes rank
among the top performers. Also looking to see WHO is at another level and not just posting very good times/marks, but "out of the ordinary" at the state level of elite athletes. For the WCAL there are 2 athletes who meet that criteria.

Serra's Elijah Folah in the shot put with a distance of 55'7 - best in CCS and by a large margin.

St. Ignatius Alex Enos in the long jump at 25'0 - best in CCS and by a large margin. I will have to look up, but do not remember any WCAL long jump in recent history being anywhere close to that [could win state with a leap like that!].

Here's some others:
Philip McCabe/MItty 100 Meters at 10:80 good for 2nd in CCS.
Philip McCabe/MItty 200 Meters at 22:37 good for 5thnin CCS.
Scott Fitzpatrick/Serra 400 Meters 50:43 good for 2nd in CCS.
Evan Cairns/SF 800 Meters 1:57
Alex Scales/Bells 1600 Meters 4:13 good for 2nd in CCS
Mitty 4x100 = 42:24 good for 1rst in CCS and a quality time.
Serra 4x400 = 3:20 good for 1rst in CCS and a quality time.
Serra High Jump -Greg Smith & Parker McDonald 6'6, tied for 1rst in CCS.
St. Francis Scott Toney Pole Vault 14'2 good for 3rd in CCS.
Bells Kijana Hilton Triple Jump 45'1 good for 3rd in CCS.

 

[colhenrylives]

Just took a look at the Top Marks for CCS & San Mateo County and ran down the list.
Always curious to see who the "burners" are in the county and how the WCAL athletes rank
among the top performers. Also looking to see WHO is at another level and not just posting very good times/marks, but "out of the ordinary" at the state level of elite athletes. For the WCAL there are 2 athletes who meet that criteria.

Serra's Elijah Folah in the shot put with a distance of 55'7 - best in CCS and by a large margin.

St. Ignatius Alex Enos in the long jump at 25'0 - best in CCS and by a large margin. I will have to look up, but do not remember any WCAL long jump in recent history being anywhere close to that [could win state with a leap like that!].

Here's some others:
Philip McCabe/MItty 100 Meters at 10:80 good for 2nd in CCS.
Philip McCabe/MItty 200 Meters at 22:37 good for 5thnin CCS.
Scott Fitzpatrick/Serra 400 Meters 50:43 good for 2nd in CCS.
Evan Cairns/SF 800 Meters 1:57
Alex Scales/Bells 1600 Meters 4:13 good for 2nd in CCS
Mitty 4x100 = 42:24 good for 1rst in CCS and a quality time.
Serra 4x400 = 3:20 good for 1rst in CCS and a quality time.
Serra High Jump -Greg Smith & Parker McDonald 6'6, tied for 1rst in CCS.
St. Francis Scott Toney Pole Vault 14'2 good for 3rd in CCS.
Bells Kijana Hilton Triple Jump 45'1 good for 3rd in CCS.

Always a distinct pleasure to see that the Rambling Man is out and about electronically once more.

 

[Rmbr26]

Always Good to hear from you as well colhenry. OK so here below in blue is a portion of my initial post above followed by a perspective of where Serra''s Elijah Folah & S.I.'s Alex Enos stand in terms of WCAL track & field mark records:

Also looking to see WHO is at another level and not just posting very good times/marks, but "out of the ordinary" at the state level of elite athletes. For the WCAL there are 2 athletes who meet that criteria.

Serra's Elijah Folah in the shot put with a distance of 55'7 - best in CCS and by a large margin.

St. Ignatius Alex Enos in the long jump at 25'0 - best in CCS and by a large margin. I will have to look up, but do not remember any WCAL long jump in recent history being anywhere close to that [could win state with a leap like that!].

Curious I looked up the WCAL records for the above shot put and long jump. It's important to remember there is a flaw in the WCAL track & field records which prevents many records from actually being better than those shown. For a WCAL record the time or distance must be recorded in a WCAL track meet between WCAL schools. I'm not sure why this flaw has not been corrected over the years', but it therefore excludes any time or distance from a track meet not between WCAL schools such as the CCS track and field finals or even the state meet for those few who make it that far [please see comment on WCAL long jump record below].

Back to Elijah Folah & Alex Enos. Serra's Folah's CCS best of 55'7 in shot put has a ways to go to break the WCAL record of 59'11 set in 1975 by Gian Rossini of St. Francis.

St. Ignatius Enos CCS best of 25'0 in the long jump is well beyond the WCAL record of 23'8 set by Serra's Jim Fregosi in 1959 a mere 59 years' ago. Previous Serra's Lynn Swann won the state long jump title in 1971 with a leap of 24'10" however as stated above this did not count as a WCAL record. Track & Field is the only sport in WCAL treated in this odd manner. The Fastest Athlete in WCAL History? That would be one Tony Miller of Riordan who won the CCS 100M championship in 1987 with a smoking time of 10:41 which was the 4th fastest time in CA in 1987 [yet Tony is left out of the WCAL record book].

Best Recent Record in WCAL Track & Field: Last years' Brandon Bains of SF became the fastest "burner" in the WCAL record book breaking both the 100M and 200M records. Bains 10:55 in the 100M and 21:46 in the 200M are both "blazing" times and should be around for at least a few years'. For "Old-Timers" Brandon Bains times in the 100M & 200M convert to a 9:65 in 100 Yards and 21:59 in the 220 Yard sprint.

 

[colhenrylives]

For clarification, although the long jump mark is listed in the WCAL record book, Fregosi set the old CAL record. He left West 20th Avenue eight years before the advent of the WCAL. Hence the reason Fregosi is not considered to be one of the greatest all-around athletes in WCAL history. Unsure why the WCAL would list a CAL record.

 

[Rmbr26]

Yes makes sense once you brought up to enlighten us colhenry [the year alone should have told me it was not WCAL record material]. Having read about Fregosi previous that dude was one heck of an athlete not only at the HS level but above as well. IMO safe to say he is likely up there with the other elite athletes before or after the formation to todays current WCAL. Appreciate you keeping me on my toes as usual Col.

 

[colhenrylives]

Fregosi was something else. As a Serra senior, he led the CAL in most offensive categories in football, starred on the basketball court as a do-it-all guard, stood out as a baseball shortstop/power hitter and produced stellar marks on the track. He is rightly regarded as one of the finest four-sport athletes ever to perform on the Peninsula and certainly the best-ever in that category at Serra. And he made all of this look remarkably easy. He shifted seamlessly from sport to sport as the seasons proceeded. He simply played whatever sport was available at the time. He was also quite young for his class, the Class of 1959. By age, he should have been in the Class of 1960. Recruited heavily out of high school by a number of colleges, he wound up signing a major league baseball contract instead. The rest is history.

 

[Rmbr26]

Excellent knowledge as usual colhenry!

The only other athlete I can come close to comparing with Fregosi would be Lynn Swann who was All County in football and basketball and won the state title in the long jump at 24'10". I do remember although "Swannie" did not play baseball [conflicted with track] he practiced with the team one day at the urging of the coaches who were joking if he even knew how to play baseball. The story goes that Swann hit 2 homers off the Padres best pitcher in practice and than ran back to join the track team at the other field. That year Swann won the 100 yard dash at the then San Mateo County HS meet at CSM nudging out his brother Calvin from SM High in 9.8 [the Swann brothers were a year apart and while Lynn Swann was 5'11-175 his brother Calvin was an imposing 6'3-210 at that time. Lynn went on to bigger and better things at USC and Pittsburgh capturing a Super Bowl MVP award before later running for governor of Pittsburgh. I don't know that brother Calvin ever played football after HS.

 

[colhenrylives]

In the fall of 1968, Serra, with Lynn Swann as one of its stars, played San Mateo, with Calvin Swann doing the same for the Bearcats, in a much-heralded non-league football game on a Friday night at the Burlingame High field. The place was packed, maybe 6,000 or so showed up. Serra won, 57-33, in a contest filled with big plays. Serra actually turned the tide on TD's on special plays, a long kickoff return, a dramatic punt return and a pass interception. Lynn Swann was responsible for the last two tallies. San Mateo was hardly a slouch that year. Led by guys like Alonzo Emery, Wayne Willis and Calvin Swann, the Bearcats outgained Serra but couldn't match the Padres' big-play people (Jesse Freitas, Tom Scott, Tom Caselli, etc.). That game is still regarded as one of the most exciting non-league affairs ever played along the mid-Peninsula. Bob Devaney, Nebraska's football coach at the time, attended the game and later said it contained more big-time prep talent than any contest he had seen that year.

 

[colhenrylives]

The overall strength of the WCAL in all sports was on display again Friday in Gilroy where the top four boys' track and field teams wound up being from that single league: 1. Serra; 2. Bellarmine; 3. St. Francis; 4. Valley Christian.

 

[Rmbr26]

Wow - Serra CCS Champs in track & field for only the 2nd time [with the other coming in 2003].

Here is the Merc News article with recap of meet along with the top finishers and times of events.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/05/26/ccs-boys-track-historic-evening-for-serra-in-gilroy/

 

[colhenrylives]

The overall strength of the WCAL in all sports was on display again Friday in Gilroy where the top four boys' track and field teams wound up being from that single league: 1. Serra; 2. Bellarmine; 3. St. Francis; 4. Valley Christian.

Again, note the impact of Valley Christian. The addition of the Warriors to the WCAL in 2002 was huge.