It is getting down to “crunch time” for the Dos Palos High School track squad.
With superlative performances from Marissa Merrell, Jaquez Jones, Jesus Bon and others, the Broncos are looking to make a serious run at the section finals which will be held next month.
Continuing their preparation, Dos Palos will have another “tune up” this Friday when they travel down to the south valley for the Reedley Invitational.
Then on Thursday, May 8th, both the boys and girls will participate in the West Sierra League Championships, which will be hosted by Tranquility High School.
The Bronco boys won the recent Hughson Invitational and finished fourth in the Bob Pryor Memorial Invite.
Bon won the 100-meter, 200-meter, 400-meter, and the 300-meter hurdles, and Jones won the high jump event and placed third in the 110-meter hurdles.
Bon and Jones also teamed with Eric Franco and Andre Flores to place third in the 4×100 relay.
“Bon and Jones are killing it,” exclaimed their coach, Edwin Gibb. “They are not only the two top athletes in the West Sierra League, they are also the two top athletes in Merced County. We could have won the County Clash, if we had entered Bon in four events instead of just two. But we wanted to simulate what his events will be like in the upcoming Masters and State.”
He added that at Hughson, his squad was missing some athletes but still beat the second place team by 38 points.
On the girls side, the senior Merrell continues her assault on the Bronco track record books. Having supplanted Lacy Turner as the top high jumper in school history, Merrell improved her effort with a leap of 5’6” at the Pryor meet.
The Division IV finals for track and field will take place at Caruthers High School on May 16.
