By OLIVER CORPUS
Staff Writer 
The track team suffered multiple defeats at both JV and Varsity levels in the track meet this past Thursday against El Modena High School. Fortunately, the meet took place in the pre-season and consequently did not count for points in league finals. When asked how he felt the meet went overall despite the numerous defeats, Captain Christian Go alluded the losses to “a lot of our athletes being in other sports,” as some winter sports are still not finished in their seasons.
Despite the many losses, Uni still managed to produce some phenomenal times and placements. In the Boys Varsity 1600, sophomore Ryan Duffy did exceptionally well, finishing second with a time of 4:44, and Raja Batra came up right behind him in third with a time of 4:45. Although he didn’t beat Duffy, Batra was still proud of his achievement. “I was so tired but I knew I could get my personal best so I kept on going,” Batra said.
Sophomore Adam Gisch finished third in the varsity 800 race. Varsity hurdler junior Charlie Feuerborn placed second in the 300, and placed first in the 110, an especially difficult feat as Feuerborn was known for his exceptional form but needed to work on speed. Senior Wonsuk Choi got first in the triple jump and long jump, as well as finishing third in the 200 Boys Varsity. “Standing behind the line as the first time for a varsity player was nerve-wracking, but after I jumped there wasn’t much of a difference,” Choi said when describing his first time jumping as a varsity athlete.
The Girls Varsity members also had some great times, like freshman Collette Lowengrub, sophomore Avery Klauke, and junior Abby Sanders sweeping the mile and finishing first, second, and third. Junior Sara Sussman also won first place in the varsity 400 race with a time of 61:34. Junior Amber Sun also triumphed in the long jump, finishing third, and freshman Molly Kessler did well in the long and triple jump.
It was also Sun’s first time performing at the varsity level.”I couldn’t have done it without the support of my friends and the rest of the high jump team helping me improve every day,” Sun said when commenting on what drove her success.
Overall, the Boys Frosh-Soph team placed 27-95, and the girls nearly winning 60-62. Boys JV had an even closer finish, ending with a score of 58-59 while the Girls JV lost 51-71. Finally, Boys Varsity loss with a score of 58-69, and the Varsity Girls did as well with finishing 55-66. Yet injured varsity runner and last year’s Co-Captain Amir Guity was still optimistic about the future. “We may have lost the meet but we had a lot of fantastic performances and I think we have a very promising season ahead of us,” Guity said.