07.22.08
young track & field stars
Originally uploaded by andynoise
Andrew Jimenez, 13, of Jacobsen Middle School of Tehachapi won his age group in the shot put at the Junior Olympics Region 14 Championship with a mark of 42 feet,1 1/4 inches uly 12 in Livermore. Jimenez qualified for the USA Track and Field National Championships in Omaha Nebraska.
* Gabriel Gaeta, a Freedom Middle School seventh-grader, won the Midget boys 80-meter hurdles race at the California State Games July 12 in Vista. Gaeta’s winning time was 13.20 seconds. He competed in a field of 16 hurdlers in the 11- and 12-year-old boys division.
Gaeta also won the 80-meter hurdles race, Midget division, at the Valley School Championships May 17 in Clovis. In addition, he won the 80-meter hurdles race at the Kern County Track and Field Championships May 10 at Liberty High School in Bakersfield.
The 12-year-old Bakersfield native is coached by Freedom Middle School teacher David Brown and Frontier High School track and field coach David Gaeta.
* Eight Kern County Firefighter Activity League athletes qualified to compete in the National Junior Olympics based on their performances at the Region 14 Championships July 11-13 in Livermore.
The KFAL’s boys intermediate 4×800 relay team won its division in 8 minutes, 34.33 seonds. Relay members were Caleb Barger, Francisco Nava, Marco Perez, Stephen Burke and Alejandro Hernandez.
Evan Eggenberg won the high jump 5-73/4 in the youth boys division.
Alyssa Bennett was third in the midget girls discus (69-61/4), and Kaulyn Lee-McNeill was third in the youth girls 200 (32.55).
Another winner was Erik Garcia of the McFarland Track Club in the youth boys 3,000 meters (9:53). Garcia also was third in the 1500 in 4:36
The McFarland Track Club’s midget boys 3,000 meters relay team of Abran Ayon, Christian Romero, Abel Mota, Daniel Garcia was second (10:37).
They all qualified for this week’s national Junior Olympics in Omaha, Neb.
* Bowen Anderson, 12, recently won the 80-meter hurdles and was third in the long jump and high jump in a West Coast championship meet. He will compete July 29 in a national pentathlon competition in Detroit.
