Three Titans Place at State

Avalon Kate Nash and Gabe Stamat|June 9, 2023

It’s a chilly Thursday morning – around 5:50 am when tired Titans piled into the marker-bedazzled vans reading “think cheetah” and “run fast” (courtesy of Mrs. Buswell) for their three-day state odyssey. The destination? Fresno, California. Ten Titans headed to state where they faced preliminary qualifying rounds Friday evening to make the finals the following day. The Titans came prepared to represent Poway, though no one could have predicted what would unfold over the course of the trip. State titles were secured, cats rescued, and memories made, as the season was brought to a close May 27.  Photos by Gabe Stamat.

Speeding up: coming around the final turn, junior Rory Kim sprints to the line during the penultimate lap where he will hand off the baton to senior Carter Schoon. The Boy’s 4x400m relay competed in the preliminary rounds on Friday May 26 but did not make it to the finals. They placed 18th out of 24 teams with a time of 3:23.23. The relay team consisted of seniors.
Vaulting to Victory: Senior Evangeline Thomson leaps ahead of the competition with a 13’1 jump, securing her third place finish. Fellow pole vault senior Avery Hilliard finished close behind in fourth place with a 12’9 vault. Both pole vaulters were major point contributors to the Poway Girls track and field team placing 10th in all of California.

Eyes on The Prize: Junior Tessa Buswell hones in on the race happening around her, waiting to make her move. Buswell qualified for the finals running 2:11.17 over 800 meters (two laps on the track) in prelims, and at finals secured a third place finish with a 2:08.53 mark. State titles are not unfamiliar for Buswell who finished sixth last year in the same event. 

Memories Made: Senior pole vaulter Avery Hilliard shares a hug with pole vault coach Arianna Soriano after placing fourth in state finals with a vault of 12’9. The trip to Fresno was an emotional one for vaulters Avery Hillard and Evangeline Thomson because it was their last high school competition. Both seniors are headed to the ivy league as pole vault recruits, with Hilliard attending Cornell University and Thomson attending the University of Pennsylvania this coming fall.
Furry Friends: Along the way, the state bound crew found an unexpected furry friend in Clover, a two week old kitten they found abandoned. The athletes relished hanging out with the feline – giving her a bath and buying supplies. Clover traveled back to Poway and now resides with senior high jumper Breeze Czapinski.