On April 3rd, the Track season for Amador kicked off with the memorial Dan Gabor track meet. After a postponed season due to Covid-19, Amador Track and Field Athletes were finally able to compete for the first time in over a year. 

“I’m really glad that the season started up again! Being a senior who has run track for the past 3 years, I’m really glad that I get to run my last year at AV with everyone on the team!” says (Nikki Bondale ‘21)

This year Track and field, like many other sports, has had to adapt in order to address the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. However, Track and Field has been one of the few sports able to operate almost normally. 

“In most ways, track has pretty much stayed the same. All of the event groups are able to train and since track is a no cut sport, we still have a good amount of athletes coming out to practice. The only difference is that we, of course, have to wear masks around other people when we’re running off campus or even near other event groups- but we’ve gotten used to it so it’s not that bad” (Nikki Bondale ‘21)

While practice and attendance has remained almost normal, the annual Dan Gabor Meet looked very different. This meet will usually have dozens of teams and hundreds of athletes across the bay area competing. However, due to Covid-19, the teams in attendance was sharply reduced to just 5 local teams: Cal, Monte Vista, Amador, Dublin, and Granada.  

“This year’s Dan Gabor meet was definitely different from last year. It was a lot smaller than last year and there were way less fans and athletes who were at the meet. I didn’t mind honestly, and I was just glad to have the opportunity to race after our track season was cancelled last year,” says (Thomas Kim ‘23).

Despite AV Track and Field starting only one week prior to the meet, a number of athletes came out with stellar times and marks. For many of these athletes it was the first time they were able to compete in over a year, and for some of them their first time ever. Their hard work certainly paid off. 

Some of the top performances of the meet include a 53 foot and 6 in throw by varsity shot putter Jad Khansa. This throw was a personal best of 6 feet for Jad and places him at #7 on the AVHS all time list. The Lester brothers also came out with strong performances. John Lester, with a time of 1:55.87, took home first place in the 800m run for the second year in a row. Tim Lester, with respective times of 11.45 and 22.88 placed 2nd in the 100 m and 200m run. 

“I went into the race knowing how I wanted to run and I just tried to keep my cadence up and focus on my form as I closed. It was great having some friends there to support and interacting with some folks I had not seen since last year. A major highlight would definitely be seeing familiar faces again,” says (John Lester ‘21).

While track and field was put on hold for many months, the Dan Gabor meet was a highly anticipated and great start for the Amador Valley Track and Field Season.