Ready, Set, Go!
Crystal Middle School, Cross Country and Track & Field Teams
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10.18.18 |
Crystal Athletes Take First Place at Doug Butt Memorial Race
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After their successful league competition against David Weir on Tuesday, Cougar athletes Marcia Carabajal, Rhema Johnson, Marain Supapo, Emmanuel Garcia, and Andre Smith kept the momentum going with an additional race the very next day, picking up two first-pace finishes and three school records at the Doug Butt Memorial Race at Laruel Creek Park on Wednesday. Carabajal and Johnson ran in the 6th grade girls race, with Carabajal taking first place and securing another 6th grade girls school record for the second day in a row with a time of 6:42 on the 1-mile course. Supapo, winning her third consecutive Doug Butt Race, led the 7th and 8th grade girls in a time of 5:57 - her first time under 6 minutes on the course, and a new school record. In the 7th and 8th grade boys race, Garcia missed first place by just 4 seconds, but nonetheless scored a huge school record on the course, hitting 5:16. "I don't think anyone was expecting to see middle schoolers running that fast," remarked former Cougar athlete Austin Calma, who served as a course monitor and rabbit alongside current Armijo varsity teammates and Crystal alums Jojo Navasca and Alexandro Meza. "I was really impressed by the Crystal runners," he added.
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10.16.18 |
Happy at Home!
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For 8th graders Emmanuel Garcia and Marian Supapo, the final home competition of their middle school cross country careers definitely could've gotten off to a smoother start. After their bus was delayed on the way back to school from a field trip, the pair scrambled to make it to the starting line in time to race on the Suisun Waterfont one last time, in their meet versus David A. Weir Preparatory Academy. Impressively, the two overcame the stress of their ordeal to run excellent races: Supapo finished just 5 seconds shy of her PR, and Garcia cut 17 seconds off of his. Garcia, who with an 8:18 broke his own school record set the previous week, was elated. "Since I'll be in high school next year, I knew I had to get that time as low as possible in order to have a chance at keeping the record for a while," he said.
Although Garcia kept his grip on the school record, his teammate Marcus Cunanan was not far behind, finishing in 8:28. Former Crystal runner Abraham Perez - now attending Weir - rounded out the top 3 with a PR of his own, 8:36. Cougars Andre Smith and Christian Balthazor improved their previous bests by half a minute, finishing in 4th and 5th place with times of 9:30 and 9:33, respectively. In the girls race, 6th grade standout Marcia Carabajal finished in 2nd place behind Supapo, running a 39-second PR to finish in 10:11, which also catapulted her to the top spot on the 6th grade girls record board. Finishing in 4th place overall, Makayla Saeteurn launched herself to 2nd on the 7th grade girls all-time list with a total time of 10:21 - a 56-second PR over the week before. Aizelle Vinluan, another of Crystal's amazing 6th grade squad, PR'ed by 45-seconds and secured 5th all-time. Fellow 6th grader Rhema Johnson surpassed her own goal with flying colors; aiming for a finish in the 14:30 range, Johnson blazed through the finish line in 13:55, achieving an improvement of nearly 2 minutes on her previous best. With their wins against Weir, the Crystal boys and girls completed their series of 3 home meets undefeated. They will compete at Green Valley next Tuesday, with some runners additionally racing in tomorrow's Doug Butt Memorial Run at Laurel Creek Park. |
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10.10.18 |
Cougars Victorious Over PSA
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In their first-ever head-to-head competition with Public Safety Academy, the Crystal cross country team emerged victorious in both the boys and girls races on Tuesday at the Suisun Waterfront. The meet began with a nail-biter in the boys race that saw 8th grader Emmanuel Garcia finish the 1.40-mile course with a time of 8:35, toppling the 8:36 school record held by Alexandro Meza for the past two years. While most of the Cougar boys PR'ed by 5-10 seconds, 8th grader Paul Kasperek - returning to the course for the first time in almost a year - cut an impressive 45 seconds off his previous best.
The excitement continued into the girls race, where 8th grade phenom Marian Supapo beat her own school record - set just last week - by an astonishing 23 seconds to finish in 9:06. 7th grader Kairi Saechao made her competitive debut in the race, finishing 4th for Crystal and 5th overall in a very impressive run that saw her finish comfortably under 12:00. Even though PSA's team was twice the size of Crystal's, the Cougars won with a commanding lead in both divisions. The final home meet of the season will take place next week versus David A. Weir. |
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10.3.18 |
Crystal Wins Tri-Meet
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The Crystal Cougars XC team came out swinging in their first of three home meets, toppling three other teams in the process. Despite a forfeit from Matt Garcia Career and College Academy, the Cougars had plenty of competition at their Suisun Waterfront course on Tuesday due to a pre-arranged format change that saw them hosting multiple teams instead of just one. The girls were led once again by 8th grader Marian Supapo, who achieved an all-time best of 9:29 on the 1.40-mile course before jetting off to play in Crystal's volleyball game, also against Grange. Several of Crystal's rookie female athletes showed improvements of around 2 minutes compared to just one week ago, including Makayla Saeteurn, Marcia Carabajal, and Aizelle Vinluan.
Not to be outdone, the boys showed similar improvement in their race, with Marcus Cunanan closing the gap to finish just a hair behind teammate Emmanuel Garcia and Dover's top runner Jason Tejada - all three finished with the same time of 8:52. Breaking into the single-digits for the first time, 7th grader Andre Smith knocked over a minute off his previous best on the course to finish in 9:52. Although all of the Cougars' improvements were impressive, 8th grade girl JD Ayon and 6th grade boy De'Mauriae Ross definitely had this week's biggest, cutting nearly 5 minutes off their PR's to finish with times of 12:30 and 13:37, respectively. |
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9.26.18 |
New Course Greets Cougars at First League Meet
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The Crystal cross country team headed to B. Gale Wilson on Tuesday for its first official league meet of the 2018 season, and did not leave disappointed. Running on a newly-configured course, the boys squad suffered a narrow loss to B. Gale, but stellar efforts - led by new XC runner Emmanuel Garcia - showed a lot of promise for upcoming competitions. In the girls race, first place went to three-year veteran runner Marian Supapo, who led a team of brand new runners to victory against B. Gale's more experienced athletes. 7th grader Makayla Saeteurn and 6th grader Marcia Carabajal rounded out Crystal's top 3, allowing only one B. Gale athlete between them and their teammate Supapo. Meanwhile, 6th grader Cadence Copeland improved her personal record set at Lagoon Valley by two-and-a-half minutes, despite the hillier terrain of the B. Gale course.
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9.17.18 |
Crystal 2 Crystal
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We've got a new three-city runner on our hands! Crystal's very own Marcus Cunanan ran from our school all the way to Vacaville on Saturday, visiting all three high schools in the city on foot for a total run distance of 14.3 miles, the day after his 14th birthday.
Cunanan was inspired, on a whim, to run by Vacaville's historic Crystal House before finishing his workout. The detour paid off with an awesome experience: not only do the descendants of our school's namesake, George Washington Crystal, still live there, they were outside gardening at the time he ran by - Cunanan learned some history from them and even got a picture with G.W. Crystal's great-great-great-granddaughter! "It was really good timing, to be able to meet them," Cunanan remarked afterward. Cunanan is the second Crystal (and district) athlete to have the distinction of running through all 3 cities of Suisun, Fairfield, and Vacaville in a single workout, after Alexandro Meza did it in 2017. |
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9.9.18 |
Cougars Tear It Up at Invites
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Getting a head start on the official racing season, several Cougar runners made their way to Vacaville early this month to compete at the storied Lagoon Valley Classic invitational. In the first race of the day, 8th grader Marcus Cunanan battled his way to a medal and the 2nd-fastest Crystal-run time on the 1.5-mile course, finishing safely under ten minutes with a time of 9:53.2. Next up, in the girls race, Marian Supapo showed solid improvement over her previous best time, running 28 seconds faster than she did a year ago to renew her school record at 10:30.0.
Supapo was also the lone Cougar to brave the hilly, 2-mile Hidden Valley course one week later at the Ed Sias Invitational in Martinez, destroying her previous best time by over 3 minutes. Setting a smart pace from the very get-go, she finished with a time of 13:29 - completely obliterating her 16:46 performance of a year prior. |
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5.25.18 |
Champions Again!
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The 2018 track and field season came to a close on Wednesday, and the Crystal Cougars had a lot to celebrate. From start to finish, both the boys and girls teams performed at their highest levels, resulting in plenty of new school records and catapulting their squads to the district's top spots. Although the girls fell just short of the championship title, they were buoyed by some especially strong showings. 7th grader Marian Supapo improved her mile time by over 15 seconds at the meet, netting her a personal record of 6:00.66 and securing her title of 1600m school record holder for another year. Supapo's teammates Cristina Leanos and Valeria Perez also achieved improvements that gained them the #2 and #3 spots on the all-time list. Just prior to the girls' huge success, the boys "dream team" of Raekwon Bell, Emmanuel Garcia, and Isaac Cervantes easily nabbed the top 3 spots in the same race, all blasting through the finish line within a span of 8 seconds. Bell's 5:23.18 performance broke the previous school record set two years ago by Luis Calva, while Garcia set the 7th grade record with a time of 5:29.66. Garcia then went on to secure the 7th grade record in the 800m and the overall school record in the long jump.
In the sprints, Nigel Rogers continued his streak of success, blasting onto the school record boards at #1 in both the 100m and 200m, while in the 400m Paul Kasperek came away with the 7th grade record and Mikayla Rodriguez improved her time by 10 seconds from one year ago to nab the 3rd-all-time spot in the event. Kasperek was also part of a larger shakeup to the standing long jump record board, in which he now holds the 3rd-all-time place, only eclipsed by Alejandro Godinez's jump of 7-4 and Marcus Cunanan's leap of 8-4, and followed by Christian Balthazor at 6-9; all four boys broke the previous school record of 6-7 set in 2016. Olivia Thompson had her fun in the standing long jump as well, setting the girls school record for the third straight year, coincidentally beating her previous mark by 8 inches, just as she had in 2017. The meet was capped with fantastic performances in the 1600m relay, in which Crystal boys Rogers, Cunanan, Bell, and Anthony Marroquin notched another 1st-place victory and beat last year's school record by an astonishing 16 seconds; then, an exhilarating relay between Melanie Opolentisima, Rodriguez, Leanos, and Supapo earned the girls 1st place in the extremely close race and vaulted them to 2nd-all-time. It was a busy, rewarding season for the Cougars. With several longtime members of the team heading off to high school next year, the indelible positive effect they've had on our team is a testament to their dedication. In keeping with this legacy, the youngsters are primed to continue the Crystal tradition of success in 2019 and beyond. Great work, everyone! |
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5.3.18 |
Cougars Debut with Double Wins
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Weeks and months of preparation paid off for Crystal's track and field team on Wednesday in their annual scrimmage against the Wildcats of B. Gale Wilson. Cougars with sprinting aspirations flocked to the 400m relay, fielding an unprecedented six teams in the one race. In the mile, Cougars Raekwon Bell, Emmanuel Garcia, Isaac Cervantes, Jaydin Borromeo, Raymond Holt, Marcus Cunanan, Christian Balthazor, and Marian Supapo all demonstrated their distance dominance by beating out B. Gale's first finisher. In fact, Bell went on to place first in several events throughout the meet, including his 1600m win, the 400m, 800m, and shot put. Likewise, Supapo took first in all her races as well, with a close win in the 1600m relay that almost didn't happen when the team was short one member. Fortunately, 7th grader Amora Johnson, fresh out of soccer, volunteered to fill the spot and helped bring the Cougars to victory.
Rookie sprinters Nigel Rogers, Charly Reid, and Melanie Opolentisima placed exceptionally well in their first-ever races, with veterans such as Alejandro Godinez, Jonathan Lau, and Victor Mariano rounding out the top-notch roster that saw the boys take a 50-point lead and the girls take a 23-point lead over the course of the meet. Eighth grader Olivia Thompson, in her third and final year competing for Crystal, dominated the field events with a shot put distance of 34-8, while newcomer teammate Milan McCane followed in second place. On the boys' side, Bell - also a three-year athlete - took first with a throw of 36-11, with 7th grader Miguel Salas finishing in second, within just one inch of the 30-foot mark. Crystal's fantastic performance bodes well for the team as league championship trials approach in two weeks. In the meantime, the Cougars will continue to follow a rigorous training regimen while balancing the demands of state testing that is already underway. Luckily, as one of our runners put it, "Crystal athletes are always up for a challenge!" |
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4.29.18 |
Half-Marathon Man
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For 7th grader Marcus Cunanan, running 13.1 miles - exactly half the distance of a marathon - was like a walk in the park. "I'm very happy to hit the milestone I set nearly a month ago!" the first-year athlete said of his accomplishment, "I thought this was going to be a difficult run, but here we are running it with ease." Cunanan has steadily been building up his mileage ever since he joined the cross country team at the tail end of last season, and has seen his endurance skyrocket as a result. His latest record-setting run on Saturday took him along Fairfield's Linear Park Trail and into Solano Community College, where he felt so energized that he added on a run through the campus before returning to Crystal.
"I was tired at first, but by the time we got to the college, I felt great," Cunanan remarked. He is only the second Crystal athlete to achieve half-marathon status after Alexandro Meza accomplished the feat last year, but is the first 7th grader to do so. He now has Meza's 24.59-mile school record in his sights, and a whole year left to reach it. For his part, Cunanan plans to continue on the dedicated path that's brought him so much success already: "I think I'll just keep adding miles a little bit at a time, and then someday I'll be able to run a whole marathon." |
