High schools around the Bay Area competed at the Dan Gabor Track Meet hosted by Amador Valley. This meet served as an opportunity to raise money for the Track and Field program and to commemorate Dan Gabor.

“This is my favorite meet of the year. All the combining factors of the crowd, weather, and honoring Dan Gabor makes it such a special and memorable event,” said Mid-Distance runner Declan McPherson (‘23).

The meet hosted over 40 schools, rounding up some of the top track and field athletes across the Bay Area. The meet was named after Amador’s track star, Dan Gabor, who was Amador’s first state champion across all sports, winning the 800m at the state meet in 1987. He went on to run at the University of Arkansas, becoming a NCAA champion and two-time All American. Sadly, he died on TWA Flight 800 in 1996, and the meet is meant to honor his legacy as an athlete and person.

“I think the meet was pretty successful. By selling tickets and snacks, I think we were able to raise a lot of money. It ran behind on time, but other than that, it was pretty well organized,” said Jumps Captain Kiana Lum (‘22). 

The Track and Field program has relied on this meet for many years to fund its program. While other Amador sports rely on fundraisers and coupon books to fund their seasons, the sheer amount of athletes and schools participating in the event along with the fans allows for enough revenue to finance the team. 

“The meet makes thousands of dollars for our program which is really important to keep this team at its best,” said McPherson.

The Dan Gabor Invitational and rain go hand in hand. The meet is usually plagued by an abundance of rainfall that makes the track slippery and unpredictable. To fit the theme, event winners were given their very own Dan Gabor swim cap as a symbol of the rainy weather that has become common throughout the meet’s history. Fortunately, wind was the only factor of weather in this meet.

“The weather created a lot of inconsistent times for people because some of the heats were running against a -0.5 wind but other heats were running against a -1.5 wind, so some people were at a better advantage than others. I think it also creates a mental block for some runners who knew they were going against a headwind. Although, it was better than the rain,” said Lum. 

The first event of the meet, the girls 400m, started at 8:30 AM and all the other events followed in a timely manner. The meet ended around 10 PM due to the heavy volume of heats, particularly in the sprinting events. For the boys 100m, there were 43 overall heats. With the crowd and close races, it served as a memorable event for many.

“I ran the 400m in the morning and the 800m at night, so I felt like the meet was basically my whole day,” said McPherson.

With the crowd and close races, it served as a memorable event for many. From freshmen to seniors, the event created an energetic environment for athletes to compete in. 

“This was my first track meet and the overall atmosphere was crazy. The crowd was really into it which really made me excited to run,” said Sprinter Adam Castro (‘25).