Burbank Dominates at Memorial Field

By Jim Riggio
Special to MyBurbank 

For the first time ever, the Burroughs High track and field team hosted Burbank on an all-weather surface at Memorial Field.

But the Bulldogs were more than ready to spoil the occasion for the Indians. Burbank won the boys’ dual, 91-45, and took the girls’ meet as well, 94-42.

“We were hoping to win, which we did. But we ran well which is what I’m more proud of,” Burbank coach Darin Wolf said. “We had a lot of personal records and a school record in the girls’ 400.”

Burbank finishes the Pacific League dual meet season with a 6-1 record for its boys’ team and 5-2 for its girls’ team. Burroughs finishes at 3-4 for both its boys’ and girls’ teams.

Burbank got a school record in the girls’ 400 as Kayla Martil won in 58.96 seconds. It was the first time she had run under a minute.

“I’ve been working at it for so long,” Martil said. “It’s nice to get the school record against Burroughs.”

The Bulldogs set the tone early on the boys’ side by taking the 400-meter relay, followed by a sweep from a trio of juniors in the 1,600. Gabriel Ellman won in 4:33, and was followed by Elliot Choe (4:35) and Ethan Moskowitz (4:40).

Burbank got a huge performance from Andy Hurtado in the discus as he won with a throw of 151 feet. He also won the shot put (41-10).

Dennis Palacio was a double winner for the Bulldogs taking the 110 high hurdles (16.04) and the 300 intermediate hurdles (41.71). He was also second in both the long jump (20-0) and triple jump (39-6 ½).

Burbank’s James Williams took the 100 (11.85) and the triple jump (42-0).

Bulldog junior Arsen Mkrtchyan won a highly contested 800 in 1:58.13 over Burroughs’ Ricky Mendez (1:58.62). Burbank’s Bernie Corea won the 3,200 in 9:46 ahead of Burroughs sophomore Elias Hoxie, who was second in 9:53.

Burroughs received a pair of victories from Matt Schwartz in the pole vault (13-0) and the high jump (5-10).

Impressive on the girls’ side was Burroughs’ Gracia Innocentia, who was a double winner in the 1,600 (5:19) and 3,200 (11:56). The 1,600 time was a huge personal best as she had previously gone 5:24 in the event.

“I felt like both teams pushed each other,” Innocentia said. “It was definitely not a rivalry because we’ve known each other from cross country season and some of us have been friends for years now.”

Burbank got a pair of wins from McKinlee Von Cannon in the shot put (29-1) and the discus (85-6).

Felicia Tomitsu also won a pair taking the 100 (13.22) and the 200 (27.28). Alicia McCord won the high jump (4-10) and the triple jump (32-7) for the Bulldogs.

“We moved some younger kids up and they performed well,” Burroughs coach John Peebles said. “I haven’t seen all the marks, but going into league prelims I’m happy. Sometimes you get beat by a better team.”

Pacific League prelims and finals for both teams will be on April 26 and May 3 at Arcadia High School at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.

Varsity and Frosh-Soph results below- (top 3 finishes)