Hillsdale rides historic season into Central Coast Section Track & Field Championships

It was a fine last gasp of a banner day for Salamanca, who reached the podium in four events. In addition to Hillsdale’s second-place finish in the 4x400 in 3 minutes, 33.08 seconds, the junior placed third in both the boys’ 100 (10.85) and 200 (22.12), both personal records, as well teaming with with Nisith Andrabadu, Elijah Nues and Jonas Bell to take first place in the 4x100 relay.

“Christian said at the beginning of the (4x400 relay) race: ‘I want to make sure we’re second, and if I can go get first, I’ll go get first,’” Hillsdale head coach Chris Lucey said. “He just went out and showed he has the guts to run a solid anchor.”

Salamanca’s outlook was a practical one, as Menlo-Atherton had already clinched the PAL Championships boys’ team title after sweeping the previous event, the boys’ 3,200. Hillsdale went into the 4x400 having locked up second place in the team scoring, and finished with 86 points, not far off M-A’s championship total of 94.

It also sends Hillsdale into the Central Coast Section Track & Field Championships with a head of steam. With CCS trials opening Saturday at Gilroy High School, the Knights will be looking to qualify for the finals in the 4x100. With the top eight finishers qualifying for the May 23 finals, Hillsdale is on the cusp, currently owning the 11th best time in CCS on the season with its 42.79 at the PAL finals.

It has been a historic season for Hillsdale, having won the PAL Bay Division boys’ regular-season championship for the first time in program history. The Knights previously earned three PAL dual-meet titles, all in the Ocean Division, most recently an outright title in 2023.

“I’m so thrilled with the way the Hillsdale team came together this year,” Lucey said. “We won the Bay in the regular season. The last time Hillsdale won a track division was when the MPL was around. So, it’s really great to see the program coming together, with all the boys working together.”

Hillsdale also owns depth in the field events. High jumper Zeki Soudah has been the PAL’s best in the discipline all season, including at the PAL Championships, as he took first place at 6 feet, 2 inches. The junior owns the fourth best high jump in CCS this season at 6-04.

The Knights also took second place in the boys’ triple jump, with junior Jakob Gowdy hitting a 42-05, bettered only by PAL champ Benicio Labuguen, a Westmoor senior, at 48-01. In long jump, Hillsdale senior Miles Chatterjee took third place with a PR of 20-07 1/2. In pole vault, junior Remi Dionne placed third with a PR of 12-00 even.

Cap wishing upon a Star

Capuchino’s girls’ team earned just two podium finishes at the PAL Championships. Both belonged to sophomore Star Gutierrez, a first-year track athlete who spent the spring of her freshman year as a standout with the Cap softball team.

“The way she progressed really quickly,” Cap track coach Ed Berry said. “She learned stuff quick, she understands stuff quick.”

In her first PAL finals, Gutierrez qualified for the CCS trials in two sprints, taking third place in the girls’ 400 with a PR of 58.95. In the 200, she took fifth in 26.25.

“I anticipated her doing well in the PAL,” Berry said. “CCS is another story altogether. But I wasn’t sure she could make CCS until about halfway through the season. Then I knew she could.”

In 2025, Gutierrez led Cap varsity softball the two most significant speed categories, totaling 21 stolen bases and five triples.

“She’s humble, she was a good teammate,” Cap head softball coach Tanya Borghello said. “We all knew she’d be successful because we all know how fast she is.”

There is much more to her game on the diamond, though, as she also led the Lady Mustangs with six home runs, and ranked second with a .438 batting average and 32 RBIs, while patrolling center field as an elite defender.

So, it was something of a stunner Gutierrez announced she was changing her spring sport. The sophomore is still focused on softball as a longtime player at Warrior Softball Academy on the club circuit. She was missed by Cap softball, though, as the Mustangs went from a 2025 PAL Bay Division championship to finishing in fourth place this season.

“We missed her tremendously,” Borghello said. “She was as huge impact player as a freshman.”

Carlmont gunning for relay title

Carlmont won the PAL girls’ championship meet handily, falling a few points shy of doubling up second-place Menlo-Atherton 135-68.

Distance sensation Daniela Cuadros won three PAL titles on a busy day, taking on an approximate three-and-a-half mile workload at Terremere Field. The senior earned repeat championships in the girls’ 3,200 (11:19.18) and 4x800 relay (9:28.27), while also owning the top of the podium in the 1,600 (5:00.45).

“I love to run,” Cuadros said.

Cuadros will have to choose between the 4x800 relay and 3,200 at the CCS meet, as the two races are scheduled so close together. Not that running both is entirely out of the question for the senior who loves to run. Carlmont head coach Josh Schaefer looms as a staunch reality check, though.

“Knowing her, she’ll look at her teammates and want to take them to state,” Schaefer said. “They can literally win CCS if they want to. They’re not that far off St. Francis. And they’re all running really well right now.”

Carlmont’s 4x800 relay team of Cuadros, Katelyn Elliott, Alexandria Farrell and Isabella Schuett is in the mix among the best in CCS this season. St. Francis-Mountain View hold the top time of 9:08.04. Carlmont ranks second at 9:09.78.

Cuadros is also chasing Carlmont history. The program record in the girls’ 1,600 is held by Justine Fedronic, 4:51.40, in 2007. The 3,200 record is held by Kaimei Gescuk, 10:32.95, in 2019. Cuadros — with PRs of 4:59.31 in the 1,600, and 10:47.87 in the 3,200 — ranks second among Carlmont’s all-time best in both.

“It’s been a little bit of a challenge getting her to focus on one,” Schaefer said. “But I told her she’s got to leave the school with one record. I don’t care which one it is. If you can get two, it would be great. But pick one, and go hammer it out.”