The 2009 local scholastic track season should offer athletes a good shot at both team and individual honors. At La Jolla High, girls head coach Roger Karnopp saw his team go 4-2 last season, finishing third in the Western League and second in CIFs. Key members this season will include Nihal Kayali and Courtney Avvampato in the 1600 and 4×400 relay; Tess Plant-Thomas and Christie Richmond in the 800 and 4×400 relay; Nicole Bakke in the 400, 800 and 4×400 relay; Claire Mittermiller in the 800 and 4×400 relay; Kiley Henry in the 100, 200, 4×100 relay and long jump; Kenya Roberson in the 100, 200 and 4×100 relay; Rosie Jaye in the pole vault; Callan Parra in the 100, 200 and 4×100 relay; Heather Martin in the triple jump; Ilanna Fricks and Zoe Wescoe in the 3200; and Vanora Guerard in the triple jump, long jump and 100 hurdles. “The other week we defeated Point Loma 86-50, which was a great start considering we were without seven members of the team that were still playing soccer,” Karnopp noted. Karnopp believes the team’s two toughest meets will be Cathedral this week and Scripps Ranch next week. “It will be a very exciting season for all and fun to see all of them develop and improve,” Karnopp added. “It would be nice to place in the top five in CIF.” On the boys side, new head coach Anthony Pollard leads a squad that is   rebuilding (4-2 last season) in hopes of winning the Western League title with participating seniors, a large contingency of underclassmen and freshmen performers. “We have strength in every event,” Pollard said. Relays in track are the evidence of teamwork. La Jolla relays 4×100 and 4×400 are planning to win league. Top returning performers include Jose Aviles (personal best CIF qualifying marks: shotput 55’ 8″ averages 50’ on every throw, discus 156’), Matt Petch (shotput/discus), Jeremy McGrath (personal best CIF qualifying mark: pole vault 14’7″), sprinters (100, 200, 400 races) Dylan Cox, Alan Ampudia, Alex D’amico, Daniel Chiu; 300 IM hurdles members Dylan Boyce and Sri Reddy; distance members (800m, 1600m, 3200m races) Michael Conroy, Bryant Hammershaimb, Dylan Colburn and Andrew Farkas. At The Bishop’s School, head coach April Guinchard saw the girls go undefeated last season in Coastal League action to capture the title for the third straight year, while the boys finished third. The girls look to be paced this season by distance runners Laura Wyatt, Elizabeth Schulze, Alicia Triana and Naomi Wagner. These girls, along with Lauren Collins, were part of Bishop’s Conference championship and CIF runner-up cross country team. Wyatt won the conference last year in the 800 and the 1600 and holds the school record in these events (2:22 and 5:11, respectively). Wagner finished second in the conference in the 3200, while Collins finished second in the 1600 and third in the 800 in conference action. Guinchard also looks for Michelle Wu and Cara Chesney to run well. Taylor Maxey returns this year for the discus and shotput, finishing second in the shotput and discus last year in the conference behind LaTreace Johnson. Hurdlers Frances Harvey, Madison Maxey and Serena Glynn will be returning as well. Harvey finished first in the conference in the 300m hurdles and second in the 100s.   “Long and triple jumpers Amy Hoagland and Alyssa Morgosh should have strong showings this year as well,” Guinchard noted. According to coach Jim Green, the coaching staff is especially excited about the extremely strong group of freshmen sprinters the Lady Knights have this year. “We should have extraordinary 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams,” Green remarked. Three of the four members of the 4×400 that won the conference last year and finished fifth in CIFs return in Wyatt, Collins and Glynn. On the boys side, sprinter Alfredo Corral returns. Corral won the conference in the 400 (50.45) and finished second in the 200 (23.37) while also anchoring the winning 4×400 as well. “Alfredo is running stronger than last year and should easily break 50 [seconds] this season,” Guinchard said. Senior Henry Su returns this year, having last year set the school record in the 3200-meter run in 10:27. “Along with Su, sophomore Chris Kuntz and freshman Will Botta will be two distance runners to watch,” Coach Steve Brown noted. As a freshman, Botta qualified for the state cross country meet this past fall. Triple Jumper Peter Bestoso (personal record 40’ 8.5″) returns, having finished second in the conference last year. At La Jolla Country Day (LJCD) School, the boys finished at 9-0 last season, while the girls were 5-3. Alex Poyhonen (3200 Division II champion) returns to lead the distance team, while Trisha Decker returns to defend her pole vault title. Some key members this season include the distance team of Poyhonen, Dennis Roth, Alex Fleisch-hacker, Lee Klitzner, Jake Mack, Noah Wolfenzon and Nolan Kulik. The sprint/relays will be led by Sage Hagstrom, Mike Salas, Montell Allen, Elliot Ashworth, Chase Mertz, Ryan French, Max Rudolph and  Zack Wolfenzon. The jumps will be paced by Mason Boxer-Capitano, Mitch Amelio, Alberto Yanez and Alistair Dobke. In the pole vault, look for Jason McCallum, French, Phillip Poyhonen and Nahiro Kawada to lead the way, while the throws will be headed by Steven Fackler, Junior Togiaso, Andrew Hill, Indi Lavarias, Eric Blodgett and Ian Han. On the girls side, LJCD will look to distance runner Sam Staszak, sprint/relay members Maya Hood, Malina Hood, Kayla Miller, Kaitlin McCallum, Rebecca Gomez, Kimberly Roesler and Alexis Samuels to lead the way. The jumps will be led by Courtney Rockwood and Kira Mesman-Hallman, while the pole vault will be led by Tricia Decker and Kaitlin McCallum. Look for Claire Altree to lead the throws competition. “The team performed well against their first two opponents, Calvin Christian and Tri-City Christian,” Coach Kevin Reaume said. “Both teams got out of the blocks 2-0. This is one of Country Day’s largest track and field teams at 54 student-athletes. With those numbers, the men’s team should compete for their fourth consecutive title, while the women’s team feels they are in the race.”