Angels Speed Through Spring Break and Into Tracktown
While East students scattered for Spring Break, the Angels Track & Field team entered the heart of their season, kicking it off at one of their favorite meets of the season, the Niwot Invitational. In Niwot the Angels set 37 new PR’s, which amounted to all time or season bests in over 80% of the events contested by East.
Niwot Invitational-
Senior Julieta Ochoa got it started that day by running the third fastest 3200m in East history, charging to a time of 11:25.39 in a field that included many of the top ladies in the nation.
PR’s from all seven of Coach Padilla’s 300m hurdlers who competed, including the #9 All-Time performance for Lenore Kennedy (49.22), and the #2 All-Time performance from Mulyndwa (Moe) Kafuuma (37.71). This performance by Kafuuma was only .1 seconds off the School Record, and placed him among the top three in Colorado in the event.
Junior Jaceson Alexander skyed to the #4 spot in East history in the High Jump with a clearance of 6’1”, becoming the third Angel to clear 6’ this season.
Avery Johnson showed up in a major way in the girls 800m. The Junior standout fearlessly took the race to Niwot’s star (and national standout) Addie Ritzenheim with 200m to go, and in the process ran the #2 time in East History (2:16.27).
The Athletes of the Meet were Avery Johnson and Moe Kafuuma.
The Oregon Relays
Senior Jaaziah Hurt prepares to take the track at Hayward Field, Eugene, OR. 4/3/26
With the conclusion of the Niwot meet and the beginning of DPS’ Spring Break, the Angels shifted their focus to the much anticipated trip to the Oregon Relays- and the epicenter of American track & field- at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon. 21 Angels stepped foot on the hallowed and breathtaking track in Eugene, and they competed like they were born to be there.
Senior Henry Bennett set the tone early on Friday morning, showing his teammates that the Angels were ready for the bright lights of Hayward. Bennett ran the second fastest Mile in East history (4:27.24), and en route also recorded the 6th fastest 1600m in school history (4:25.67). It was an inspiring performance from the St. Olaf commit and cemented his place as one of the all-time greats at East.
Not to be outdone, the soon-to-be legends on the girls side, Scout Chomas and Julieta Ochoa, blazed around the Hayward oval four times to make history of their own. Chomas’ Mile time of 5:18.94 places her in the #2 spot in school history, and Ochoa’s 5:22.41 puts her in the #3 spot. Ochoa’s en route 1600m of 5:20.58 places her #7 in East history. The Angels could not have asked for a better way to kick off the meet than how these Seniors ran the Mile.
A 4×400 final on day one of a two day meet, although disorienting for Track veterans, turned out to be a great way to get everyone even more excited as the meet gained momentum. The boys team (Hurt, Wagner, Llewellyn, Kafuuma) ran a season’s best of 3:34.61, as did the girls team (Morris, C. Kennedy, Johnson, G. Hall) who clocked 4:04.91.
Freshman Liam Gerber was then given the task of lining up against some of the best Freshman 2-Milers in the nation at the home of American distance running. He seized the opportunity, letting the Hayward Field atmosphere and uncommonly fast pace carry him to an incredible 20 second PR, punctuated by a huge kick on the last lap, bringing himself home in a time of 10:33.57.
Our ladies 1600m Sprint Medley Relay team finished off day one by running a new school record under the Hayward lights. The law firm of Journee Brewington-Fuller and Malayla Massey-Miller split the first lap around the track and got it to Sawyer Voas for the 400 leg, which Voas went after upon receiving the baton. It was then Tessa Fe Morris’ job to go to work on the 800 leg, which she happily did despite it being her third and fourth trips around the track that evening. When Morris crossed the finish line, the clock read 4:31.99, the all-time fastest 1600 SMR in East history.
Saturday morning provided the sunshine and brisk air perfect for fast distance times, and the Angels capitalized accordingly. Emery Wagner opened the day of competition by bettering his all time best 800m performance run just the week prior at Niwot, clocking a 2:04.89. The Junior used his high altitude training advantage to pass many of his competitors in the final 200m of the race to pull off the PR in his pressure-packed race.
It was then time for the Angel ladies to line up for the 800m. Heat 2 featured one half of the girls’ 4×800 in Juniors Corrine Kennedy and Lola Carhart. Just seven days prior, Kennedy was tripped up at the start of the 800m in Niwot, suffering multiple track burns and a broken wrist, not to mention losing the opportunity to run the race before heading to Hayward. The last time she completed the open 800m was as a Freshman during the 2024 season. Undeterred by what would cause most athletes to crumble, Kennedy strapped up her wrist brace and toed the line at Hayward Field for the biggest race of her life. She not only completed it, but did so with a six second PR and claimed the #8 spot in East history, running a 2:23.29.
Carhart had to anxiously watch her teammates race on day one, as all of her events fell on day two. Her excitement and nervousness were palpable, given the fact that she has dreamt of having the opportunity to race on the same ground as the track & field royalty who she grew up watching compete at Hayward. She followed her race plan when the gun went off, finding the right spot in the pack to come through the first 400m where she needed to be to put herself on track for the PR she was eagerly seeking. As she approached the 550m mark, Carhart decided it was time to go, swinging wide and dropping a pack of competitors to join the lead pack and only looked stronger from there, opening up her signature kick to claim the #6 time in East history and 3 second PR, 2:21.65. Avery Johnson, the Angel’s undisputed star in the event, battled it out in the fastest of the open heats, dipping below 2:20 for the only the fifth time in her life, and clocking 2:19.80. It wasn’t the time that Johnson was seeking, but she certainly let it fuel her under the lights later on Saturday night…
Senior Anaz Bryan found himself in Tracktown, USA only one month after having found the sport. This would be the first time he would high jump without Coach Simons standing next to him between jumps, as coaches are relegated to the stands at Hayward. Bryan was all smiles, however, as he cleared multiple bars and matched his PR of 6’0 in the stacked competition.
Moe Kafuuma breezed through the prelims of the 110m Hurdles, easily winning his heat in a PR-matching 14.55 seconds. This earned him the #3 seed in the final on Saturday evening, which he turned into a 2nd place finish in a PR and #4 All-Time mark of 14.33, even with the unfortunate “smoke incident” that affected him over the final two hurdles.
Big Moe lined up again a mere 23 minutes later for the Championship heat of the 300m Hurdles, an event in which he was the top seed. Only one other competitor dared run both races. Kafuuma got out to a commanding lead, displaying his beautiful stride and hurdle acumen over the first five barriers. It was obvious at that point that fatigue was starting to set in, as this was his fifth race in just over 24 hours. Despite fighting this slight exhaustion, our star was able to hang on to 2nd place and STILL run his fastest time ever, lowering his PR and his #2 All-Time East mark to 37.70. Kafuuma scored 16 points individually in a span of 23 minutes on the National stage. He is quickly building his legend at East High as well as prepping for an historic performance at the State Meet.
The remainder of the daytime session gave the Angels season’s best times in the girls’ 4×100 & 4×200, as well as the boys’ 4×800. In what is shaping up to be the Angel’s signature relay this year, the girls 4×800 provided the excitement that was needed as the sun started to go down on Saturday. Corrine Kennedy got back on the line to start the race, and kept her cool as many of her competitors went out far too fast. She patiently reeled them in during her carry, and handed Carhart the baton in the top five, who followed Kennedy’s lead and did the same, patiently moving up the field through the first 600m of her leg before leaving them all behind on the final half lap and giving Morris (our Freshmen workhorse) a lead that the Angels would not relinquish. It was then time for the calm and collected Senior, Julieta Ochoa, to bring it home, which she was able to do despite a hard-charging anchor leg from Olympia HS (WA). The embrace that was had at the finish line between these four ladies was one of the lasting images of the meet for the Angels.
The 800m Sprint Medleys were on the track just after Moe completed the hurdles. The boys’ team had been dealt a tough hand on Saturday, already suffering a false start in the 4×200. The coaches called on Anaz Bryan once again to step into the blocks where he had suffered heartbreak just a few hours prior. He did so with tremendous courage and love for his teammates, exploding out to lead off the first 100m of the race in 10.75. Jackson Llewellyn than stormed down the backstretch while claiming three more victims on the stagger, getting it to fellow Senior Jaaziah Hurt (our newly minted Daniels’ Scholar!), who ran his best leg of the meet in completing the second half of the lap and giving to Kingston Viswanath to go to work in the last quarter mile. Viswanath, who spent day one nursing an illness and was a part of the DQ’d 4×200 team, ran like a man possessed in getting himself up to the lead pack. He battled for this position all the way through the final turn before getting tangled up with another runner and pushed from behind. This caused him to land on the infield, and ended the race with a DNF for the Angels. In what was another of the lasting images of the meet, Hurt ran down the homestretch to pick up his teammate and give him the support he needed in that difficult moment, draping his arm around him and walking him off the track. After the race, Viswanath’s true colors shone brightly, as he spent no time feeling sorry for himself and making sure the rest of the evening was enjoyable for he and his teammates. It was an impressive display for a person of his age, and one that no doubt taught his younger teammates what it means to be resilient and put things into the proper perspective.
The law firm of Brewington-Fuller Massey-Miller were back at it on the first 200m of the girls 800m SMR, with Malayla having to deal with the second leg from Southridge HS (WA), running in her lane. She navigated around this ridiculous situation with grace and got it to Voas who ran a monster 200 on the homestretch to get it to Lenore Kennedy for the anchor leg. Kennedy used her long, smooth stride to reel off one of her best ever 400 performances and brought the Angels home in a season’s best time of 1:59.32.
The final event of the meet for East could not have been more perfectly scripted. We got to showcase our deepest group in a field that included many of the best high school distance runners in the country. The Championship heat of the 4000m Distance Medley Relay was set up to spotlight all of these incredible ladies, and it was not a fluke that the Angels found themselves seeded 7th in this insane field. Scout Chomas was emblazoned on the big screen at Hayward during the introductions, and led off the relay running 1200m in 3:46, averaging 75 seconds per lap. She then handed the baton to our best 400m runner, Junior Grace Hall, who ripped around the track in just under 59 seconds. It was then time for The Workhorse (Morris) to get back at it. Morris did it again, splitting 2:23 for the 800m leg. We then got to see Avery Johnson duke it out on the toughest leg, the 1600m. As the lights flashed all around Hayward, Johnson held steady and split a blistering 5:13, bringing her team home in 12:22.22. This time broke the previous school record by 49 seconds.
The Oregon Relays were an experience that will surely last a lifetime for the Angels, and the coaches were so very grateful to take such an incredible group of kids to Hayward Field. The Angels will return again to Tracktown in April of 2027…
The Athletes of the Meet were Henry Bennett, Jaaziah Hurt, Kingston Viswanath, Corrine Kennedy, Lola Carhart, Tessa Fe Morris, and Julieta Ochoa.
