Ready, Set, Go!
Crystal Middle School, Cross Country and Track & Field Teams
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5.15.20 |
It Would Have been an Awesome Season!
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With more and more runners joining their preseason training squad throughout the months of February and March, Crystal Middle School's track and field team was poised for yet another league championship in the 2020 spring season.
Sadly, no team would get to hold that honor, as schools were closed district-wide on March 13th and would remain closed for the rest of the academic year to address the spread of the novel coronavirus. Although our amazing team never got the chance to compete this year, we still made a lot of great memories during the preseason. We couldn't catalog everything, but we're fortunate to have nearly 100 photos from our preseason workouts, which can be accessed in the track photos section of our website. We hope you're all doing well and keeping up your training as best as you can on your own; for those of you who have been able to join us at our "online practices," it's been great seeing you again! We miss you and can't wait to have us all back together in the 2020-21 school year. Of course, our dedicated 8th graders Wisdom Johnson, Lillian Luu, Brandon Meza-Angulo, Kyle Miguel, Chloe Perez, Izzy Ramos, Kairi Saechao, Andre Smith, and Joey Smith will all be moving on to high school in the fall, where we know they are going to accomplish even more amazing things. Thank you for being a part of our outstanding team, and best of luck on your next one! It would have been an awesome season, and it was - even though we didn't get our chance to race, we're so thankful we got to spend time training together, because the bonds we form with our teammates are one of the most important components of the track and field experience. We value each and every one of you, and we can't wait to see you again real soon! |
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11.10.19 |
Cougar Packs Rule at League Championships
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Crystal Middle School's cross country team wrapped up its season at Thursday's CSAC league championships with a fantastic showing of teamwork and perseverance that landed every competing athlete a coveted top-10 spot on the school record board.
First up was the girls race, with exemplary pack running from 8th graders Kairi Saechao and Lillian Luu, and 6th grader Mariza Supapo. Saechao led the way with a 10:31 finish - over 80 seconds faster than her previous race on the course from one year ago; she was followed a second later by Luu, with Supapo coming in a mere 4 seconds after that. The tight pack nabbed all three girls top spots on the school record board for the course, at 2nd, 3rd, and 4th all-time. The boys race saw 8th graders Andre Smith and Brandon Meza Angulo finish within a narrow time span as well, with Smith completing the course in 9:44 and Meza Angulo in 9:56. For Smith, the finish was over half a minute faster than his 2018 Green Valley course time, and the improvement lifted him from 8th up to 4th all-time. Meza Angulo, who last raced on the course in 2017, went from an unranked 14:04 to PR by over 4 minutes to tie for 6th all-time on the challenging course. Helping the competing Cougars through those challenges every step of the way were their teammates, who positioned themselves strategically along the course to offer encouragement at pivotal times. We're so thankful to have such a dedicated team of student-athletes; thanks for a wonderful season, Cougars! |
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11.10.19 |
Color Run Fun at XC Team Party
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After a long and prosperous season, the Crystal cross country team took some well-deserved time to relax at their annual team party on Friday. After indulging in a feast of pizza, cake, cookies, and drinks, the Cougars made their way down to the track for the second annual donut relay mile; the winning team of Matteo Bohannan, Andre Smith, Brandon Meza Angulo, and Joshua McDaniel finished with a gentlemanly time of just under 20 minutes and just under 1 incident of throwing up. Afterward, the team engaged in a friendly color run battle that turned athletes' faces, clothes, hair and shoes almost every color imaginable. Click the photo to check out the whole album!
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11.7.19 |
Milestones Reached at End-of-Season Scrimmage
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Despite the unexpected two-week postponement of their league championships, the Crystal cross country team's competitive spirit was nonetheless on full display at yesterday's end-of-season scrimmage on the Suisun Waterfront. Racing against their friends from David Weir, the Cougars achieved huge time improvements on the 1.40-mile course, with many PR'ing by 30 seconds or more.
Determined to break the 6th grade girls school record after missing it by just 2 seconds in October, Mariza Supapo brought her goal to life with a 9:49 finish that was also a 24-second PR. Melanie Rodriguez brought her home course time down by 33 seconds to finish with a PR of 12:03, while Izzy Ramos did likewise, also PR'ing by 33-seconds to complete her race in 12:20. Nyema Myers skipped over the 13-minute range completely with a nearly-2-minute PR that saw her finish in 12:59 from a 14:51 previous best, while Skylar Willis finished 10 seconds later with an over-1:45 improvement; Chloe Perez realized a 46-second PR with a time of 13:16. Rhema Johnson and Arelle Cortez came through the finish line at the same time of 13:28, with Johnson netting a 27-second PR and Cortez attaining one of 1:25; Nathalie Herrera PR'ed by almost a minute with a time of 13:52. In the boys race, Andre Smith led the way with a 1-second PR to finish in 9:03, while 6th grader Joshua McDaniel's 9:55 performance was an 11-second PR that also netted him the 6th grade boys' home course record. Matteo Bohannan's 13:28 effort was a 33-second PR and an extremely impressive 3:30 improvement from his first race of the season. Throughout both races, Crystal athletes demonstrated the best in supporting their teammates; by investing themselves in each other's success, they made possible the terrific gains witnessed at yesterday's races. We're extremely proud of our Cougars! |
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10.28.19 |
Photo Run Fun for Cougars on Final Day of Practice
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Taking a break today from the serious side of training for championships, the Cougar cross country team had some fun running and taking goofy pictures around the Suisun Waterfront for their annual photo scavenger hunt run. Guided by bizarre prompts involving ninjas, aliens, and zombies - among other crazy things - the runners formed teams and raced to capture the most creative pics. Click the photo to check them all out!
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10.23.19 |
Success for Crystal at Final Home Meet
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In their final home meet of the season, and the last competition before championships, Crystal's cross country athletes wasted no time getting down to business. The first race of the day saw a neck-and-neck finish by 6th graders Kyle Durano and Joshua McDaniel, who both broke the 6th grade boys school record of 10:16 set in 2016. Durano surged ahead to take the number 1 spot with a time of 9:58, while McDaniel came in right after with a 10:02 finish. Fellow 6th grader Sir Jeremiah finished in 10:23, netting him a PR and the number 4 spot on the all-time list. Delsyn Robinson, Evan Porter, and Matteo Bohannan also netted big PR's of nearly a minute or more, with Robinson rebounding from a major injury to achieve coveted single-digit status by breaking the 10-minute barrier.
In the girls race, many Crystal runners achieved new PR's, including Izzy Ramos, Nathalie Herrera, and Mariah Macias, who each broke new minute barriers. As usual, the Cougars' team spirit was on full display as runners on their warm-ups and cool-downs positioned themselves on forlorn stretches of the course to make sure their teammates were supported at the most critical times. This camaraderie will be crucial as the team heads into its postseason, as qualifying athletes prepare for next week's championship meet at Green Valley Middle School. |
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10.17.19 |
Runners Hit the Road for Busy Week of Racing
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The Cougar cross country team left Suisun City to explore new territory in Fairfield and Benicia over the past week, sandwiching their first and only away league meet between their final two invitationals of the season. First up was Mariza Supapo's great performance at the Benicia bonus meet last Thursday, where she placed in the top 10 and achieved a new mile PR of 7:27 against athletes from several North Coast Section cities.
This week, the Cougars traveled across town to Oakbrook Elementary for their sole away league meet, where the boys and girls teams both notched wins against Oakbrook and Dan O. Root while picking up some personal records along the way. For the second week in a row, 6th grader Melanie Rodriguez achieved an astonishing PR of over a minute in the girls race, while teammate and fellow 6th grader Nyema Myers dipped below the 15-minute mark for the first time. In the boys race, 8th grader James Rabara similarly hit a time milestone, running his race in under 10 minutes for the first time. Although still recovering from a cold caught the week before, Kyle Durano nonetheless finished with a PR of 9 seconds, just behind Joshua McDaniel, who knocked 2 seconds off his own previous best on Oakbrook's 1.37-mile course. Both boys are vying for Crystal's 6th grade school record, and will have one last chance at the prize next week when the Cougars host their final league meet of the season. As if all this racing wasn't enough, seven Crystal runners gathered at Laurel Creek Park the day after their victory over Oakbrook and Dan O. Root to compete yet again, this time at the annual Doug Butt Memorial Run. In the 7th and 8th grade boys race, Andre Smith finished in first place with a time of 6:03 - more than 2 minutes faster than his finish one year ago; Smith was followed quickly after by teammate Brandon Meza Angulo. In the 6th grade girls race, Mariza Supapo soundly cut 45 seconds off her Benicia mile time - PR'ing once again in the process - while in the 7th and 8th grade girls race, Rhema Johnson showed an improvement of over minute compared to the same race last year. |
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10.9.19 |
Cougars Win Six Times in One Day
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Less than one week after the inaugural league meet of the season, Crystal's cross country team was back on the racecourse at Tuesday's home competition versus Dover, David Weir, and Dan O. Root. Despite a few nail-biter finishes, both the Cougars' boys and girls squads emerged victorious over all three teams, with several rookie athletes stealing the limelight with some major PR's.
In the girls race, Izzy Ramos, Melanie Rodriguez, and Amritjot Chahil all ran more than a minute faster than they had just six days earlier. Meanwhile, Sir Jeremiah, Evan Porter, and Matteo Bohannan scored big PR's ranging from 30 seconds to nearly 2 minutes in the boys race. With two more league meets left before championships. the Cougars will head across town to Oakbrook Elementary next week for their season's first and only away competition. |
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10.4.19 |
Crystal Proves Potential in First League Meet
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In one of their biggest home meets ever, the Crystal cross country team hosted over 80 athletes at the first CSAC league meet of the season on Wednesday, all the while proving themselves a force to be reckoned with in 2019. Facing off against Green Valley, Sheldon, and Public Safety Academy, the Cougars nabbed multiple team wins along with several individual triumphs. In the boys race, 8th grader Andre Smith cut 23 seconds off his previous personal best to finish with a time of 9:07 on the 1.40-mile Waterfront course. Finishing a half-minute later at 9:37, fellow 8th grader Brandon Meza Angulo saw an astonishing improvement of nearly 3 minutes on his previous 12:35 best.
In the girls race, 8th grade runner Kairi Saechao PR'ed by more than a minute over her best time as a 7th grader, completing her race in 10:36 and moving four spots up on Crystal's all-time list. Saechao was the middle runner in a finishing pack of Cougars that included 7th grader Marcia Carabajal in the lead, along with 6th grader Mariza Supapo; all three girls came through the finish line within a span of only 10 seconds. With lots of other impressive performances by its rookie racers, the Crystal cross country team is poised for a very promising home course repeat in less than a week, when it will return to Mike Day Memorial Park to compete against David Weir, Dan O. Root, and Dover on October 8th. |
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9.22.19 |
Cougars Shine at Preseason Invites
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With the first league race of the season still weeks away, a few super-motivated Crystal cross country runners satiated their competitive appetites in a series of preseason invitationals during the month of September. First on the calendar was the Lagoon Valley Classic in Vacaville; with only a few days of middle school running under their belts, rookies Kyle Durano and Mariza Supapo each broke the 6th grade school records - for boys and girls, respectively - on the 1.50-mile course. Just one week later, the two took on the very challenging, very hilly Hidden Valley Park course at the Ed Sias Invitational in Martinez, quickly achieving the milestone of running their first 2-mile race in only the second week of practice.
The following Saturday, Durano was joined by teammates Arelle Cortez, Brandon Meza-Angulo, and Evan Porter at the first FSUSD Runs This 5k of the school year. Even though the race itself - held at Laurel Creek Elementary - was longer than most of the practice runs the athletes had encountered so far, they each achieved top times for their ages and proved their high-mileage mettle. The fun continues as Crystal heads into the competitive portion of its season with our team's first league meet set for October 2nd. With tons of new and returning talent, Crystal is well positioned to have yet another amazing season! |
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6.1.19 |
Record-Smashing Success at League Championships
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May 29th was a day of mixed emotions for the 8th graders of Crystal Middle School's track team. "I can't believe this is my last race of middle school," athlete Emmanuel Garcia remarked, just minutes before breaking his third school record in the 1600m relay. Garcia was far from alone in reminiscing over his middle school track experience while also celebrating several personal and team victories over the course of the two-day meet, which culminated on Wednesday. Also on his relay team were fellow 8th graders Christian Balthazor, Nashon Geeston, and Marcus Cunanan, all of whom ran multiple years in middle school as teammates, and fittingly won the last race of their middle school careers together. Their time of 4:16.76 was nearly 8 seconds faster than the time they had run just one week before - with star sprinter Nigel Rodgers running in Balthazor's place - which itself was a school record, beating 2nd-place Public Safety Academy by over 30 seconds.
Before joining forces in the 4 x 400m, Garcia and Cunanan had each toppled school records in two other events: Garcia in the 1600m and long jump, and Cunanan in the 800m and standing long jump. Geeston sailed to 3rd-all-time in the 400m. Although she didn't break her school records set the previous year, 8th-grade female standout Marian Supapo was determined to compete after a debilitating leg injury and persevered in three distance running events. With plenty of time still ahead of him in middle school, 6th grader Evan Porter nabbed the top 6th-grade spot in the long jump. On the girls side, fellow 6th grader Alaysia Germaine was the 6th-grade shot put champion, with her 22'9" throw launching her to 3rd place on the 6th grade school record board. 7th grader Makayla Saeteurn was on fire in her 1600m performance, lopping 24 seconds off her best mile time of only two weeks prior to finish in 7:05.96. Saeteurn also leapt to 2nd-all-time in the standing long jump with a distance of 6-0. Saeteurn's friend and teammate Kairi Saechao also did well in multiple events, highlighted by a 3rd-all-time 800m race. Meanwhile, 7th-grader Jericho Johnson nabbed 2nd-all-time in the boys shot put with a distance of 38'6.5". 8th grade, 7th, and 6th, we're very proud of all our athletes, and it's been a joy coaching you all and witnessing all the progress you've made over the course of the past weeks, months, and years. We're looking forward to seeing and hearing about all your continued success in the future! |
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5.17.19 |
Rainy Day Win for Cougars
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A rare spring storm put a damper on the scrimmage between Crystal and B. Gale Wilson's track teams on Thursday, but there was no extinguishing the competitive drive displayed by both teams, with Crystal's boys and B. Gale's girls winning their divisions. Emmanuel Garcia and Marcus Cunanan led the way in the boys mile, while Makayla Saeteurn was first for the girls, with teammate JD Ayon picking up third place. In the 100m, 8th grader Nigel Rogers shaved a second off his time from last year's scrimmage in a very competitive race in which the top 4 athletes - including fellow 8th grader Christian Balthazor - all finished within a half-second of him. In the girls race, Milan McCane similarly rose to the challenge and beat her time of a year ago by 1.7 seconds. Rogers went on to also win the 200m, and the Crystal boys finished with a substantial, nearly half-minute lead in the 1600m relay, catapulting them to the overall win when combined with the results of the shot put sweep squad of Nashon Geeston, Miguel Salas, and Jericho Johnson. McCane won the girls shot put.
With league championships less than a week away, the Cougars proved that even adverse weather can't keep them down. Nonetheless, the weather report calls for bluer skies next Wednesday as all the district's middle schools converge on Armijo High's newly-remodeled stadium for what promises to be a meet full of PR's and school records. |
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3.25.19 |
Johnson Sets 6th Grade Mileage Record
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Hard work and preparation paid off over the weekend for Crystal track and cross country runner Rhema Johnson, who competed in the 9th Annual She is Beautiful Santa Cruz 10k. While taking in the coastal scenery, Johnson cruised her way to a new school record, becoming the first Crystal 6th grader to run over 6 miles at once. With months of training under her belt, Johnson stated that the race itself was challenging, but that she never doubted she would achieve her goal. Congratulations, Rhema!
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10.30.18 |
Cougars Cap Stellar Season with New Records, Team Party
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Running on Green Valley's deceptively difficult course at last Tuesday's final league meet of the 2018 season, Marian Supapo had one goal above all others: don't finish in 10:24 again. The dedicated 8th grade athlete had finished with exactly that same time in both her 6th and 7th grade years on Green Valley's slightly hilly 1.50-mile course, and she wasn't aiming for a three-peat. "I wouldn't even mind 10:23; just not 10:24 again!" she said. Fortunately, Supapo achieved her goal and broke through with a new course PR and school record of 10:13, while teammate Marcia Carabajal took the 2nd-all-time spot with a time of 10:58. Emmanuel Garcia tied the boys' school record with a time of 9:18, while Marcus Cunanan leapt from 17th-all-time to 2nd, improving his speed on the course by over 2 minutes in the process.
One week later, the Cougars held their end-of-season team party celebrating their hard work and success over the past two amazing months. In addition to the usual food, drinks, and music, this year's event featured the long-awaited donut 4x400m relay, as well as Crystal's first-ever color war. In the end, the iron-stomached team of Emmanuel Garcia, Makayla Saeteurn, Marian Supapo, and Paul Kasperek managed to consume their four donuts and race around the CMS track faster than any other team, earning them the inaugural title in the outlandish event. Afterward, the entire team took to the field, ambushing each other with over ten pounds of color powder provided by Supapo and thoroughly - but not permanently - dyeing themselves and everything around them a multitude of hues. It was a great end to a fantastic season - we are extremely proud of our runners! |
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10.23.18 |
Scavenger Hunt Run Kicks Off Final Week of Practice
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Crystal's cross country team exercised their imaginations as well as their legs on Monday, running around the Suisun Waterfront and staging creative, hilarious, and just plain weird photographs in response to 16 different prompts in the team's annual photo scavenger hunt run. Guided by cues involving superheroes, tattoos, and ice cream - among other crazy things - the boys and girls faced off in a friendly competition that resulted in a lot of fun for both sides. Click the photo to check out all the entertaining pictures they came up with!
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