As the Dos Palos High boys track program continues its resurgence, could this be the year the Bronco boys win the Div. IV section title?
There are a lot of people who think so.
Led by Jacquez Jones and Jesus Bon, the Broncos have already won two West Sierra League meets. They also finished second in the Merced County Clash and last Friday, placed fourth in the County Clash, which features schools from Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.
At the County Clash, Bon won the 200-meter race as well as the 400-meter race. Jones won the high jump and placed third in both the 110-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles.
Continuing an already stellar career, Bon has broken the school record for the 300-meter hurdles and now has the school record for the 100-meter, 200-meter, 400-meter, and the 300-meter hurdles.
Jones has come oh-so-close to tying the school record twice for the high jump.
“I am confident Jaquez will break the high jump record by the end of the year,” said coach Eddy Gibb.
Another standout for the Broncos this year is Esteban Hernandez, who placed first in the Merced County championships in the discus.
To win a team title, there has to be depth to pile on points, and the Broncos finally have that this year after some seasons where they could barely field a team.
“We have a strong group of underclassmen who are continuing to get better and preparing to take over the reins,” commented Gibb. He noted the 4×100 meter relay team consisting of Eric Franco, Andre Flores, Billy Scott, Julian Riley and Bryce Goodman are likely to win league in that event.
The sprinters, with Bon included, are likely to take three or four of the top six places in the three sprints, Gibb added.
“We have a strong group of jumpers as well with Jayden Rasberry, Isaiah Romero, Jesus Tapia, and Andrew San Roman,” he said.
Besides Hernandez, other throwers include Samuel Salazar, Michael Martinez, and Damien Philpott Jr.
The Bronco 4×800 relay team and the other distance runners are composed of San Roman, Israel Cordova, Javier Bravo, and Emmanuel Contreras, and they continue to drop their times.
“They continue to greatly drop their times and several of these boys will likely score individually in the 400-meter and 800-meter. We are continuing to focus on lowering the team’s average times,” said Gibb.
All this effort will lead to the WSL championships, which will be held on May 8th in Tranquillity.
In between, there will be invitational meets at Hughson, Merced, and Reedley.
“It will take a complete team effort if we are to win league,” said Gibb. “The athletes are putting in the work to do so. I am excited for the rest of the season and having these students demonstrate their tremendous athletic talent to the rest of the Central Valley.”
