Words: Ellie Zoller-Gritz
Photo Contributed by: Jess Staar
On January 3, Centennial High School’s girls’ and boys’ indoor track and field teams traveled to New York to compete in the U.S. Air Force Hispanic Games.
Overall, Coach Kevin McCoy estimates that his team broke three of the recorded school records.
According to Athletic.net, which maintains records from the last 25 years, Thomas Altman, Jake Muma, Tyler Dan, and Ian Maclver now hold the record for the fastest 4×400 relay with a time of 3:32.11. They won first place at the Hispanic Games and beat the previous school record of 3:37.67, established in 2018.
Coach McCoy stated, “I think that [record] is the overall school record… I’d be shocked if anybody in previous years had run faster than 3:32.”
Senior Thomas Altman moved to first place in the 400 meter race, with a time of 50.11. “I worked extremely hard the last year and a half to get to where I am right now,” explained Altman, who took home two gold medals at the Hispanic Games.
Another record was broken in the boys 4×200 relay. Dan, Maclver, Altman, and Zachary Garwacki, beat the previous record by 4.43 seconds, with a time of 1:33.92.
Several other athletes were also able to represent Centennial in the games, taking home gold in their own event. Liv Ragonese placed first in the girls sophomore shot put, throwing 9.86m. Senior Anthony Matthews placed first in the boys triple jump, jumping 12.96m, just shy of the current Centennial record, which he holds.
“Track and field [is] really cut and dry. It’s really easy to figure out who’s at what level… Track is the most transparent sport in the world, time never lies,” Coach McCoy said about his team’s performance against other Howard County teams.
On January 14, the Centennial team will be participating in the county championship meet. Following counties, the team will move on to regionals, and if the team qualifies, they will move on to the state meet.
“My goal for the rest of the season is to take first place in counties for the 500 and the 4×400 and potentially do the exact same thing at both regionals and states,” Altman commented.
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