South Tahoe Vikings JV squads shine In 3A Northern Nevada Track & Field Regional Championships

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The South Tahoe High Junior Varsity Vikings, led by Coach Rod Canny III, recently competed in the 3A Northern Nevada Track & Field Regional Championships. Both the Viking boys’ and girls’ squads placed in the competition.

The boys’ squad finished strong, earning 1st place with 109.5 points. The girls’ squad accumulated an admirable 95 points to claim the 3rd spot. The event was held Monday, April 24, 2023, at North Valleys High School in Nevada.

The boys’ team victory was led by standout performances from Brody DeFranco (9th grade), Jackson Letton (9th grade), and Evan Habaradas (10th grade). DeFranco scored an impressive 33 points, with a 1st place finish in the 300m hurdles and on the 4 x 100m relay team, a 2nd place finish in the 110m hurdles, and a 4th place finish in the 200m. DeFranco’s 33 points accounted for 30 percent of the South Tahoe Vikings’ winning 109.5 points. Letton scored 22 points, highlighted by a 1st place finish in the 110m hurdles, 2nd in the 300m hurdles, and a 5th place finish in the long jump. Habaradas was responsible for 21.5 points, including a 3rd place finish in both the long jump and high jump, a 3rd place finish in the 100m, and a 5th place finish in the 200m. The boys’ 4 x 100m relay team (Logan DeBaun, Adrian Smith, Logan Kelso, and DeFranco) received 10 points for their 1st-place finish, contributing to the team’s overall win in the competition.

The girls were led by standout performances by Arya Saini (9th grade), Leslie Pulido (10th grade), and Lyla Landy (9th grade). Saini dominated the short-distance events and was responsible for 38 points, accounting for 40 percent of the 95 points the South Tahoe Viking girls accumulated. She had a 1st place finish in the 100m sprint, 1st place in the 100m hurdles, 1st place in the long jump, and 2nd place in the 200m. Pulido received a 1st place finish in the girls’ 400m, 3rd in the 200m, and 100m, adding 22 points to the team total. Landy contributed 20 points to the total, with a 1st place finish in the 1600m, where she finished with a personal record of 5:50. In addition, Landy earned a 1st place finish in the 3200m. She dominated the distance running in the girls’ events and placed 3rd overall against her male counterparts in the co-ed 3200m race.

Coach Canny commented on the "awesome day for JV boys and how amazing it was for the girls to finish in third place, scoring 95 points with only five girls competing" during the regional JV meet.

Both teams dominated the hurdle events, significantly impacting their overall success at the meet. This success is especially notable, as both teams were predominantly forced to limit their practices to a high school gym and hallway due to Tahoe’s epic snow year.

The South Tahoe Vikings boys’ team hurdled their way to victory. In the 300m hurdles, the top three spots were snapped up by South Tahoe High School runners. Brody DeFranco placed 1st, Jackson Letton placed 2nd, and Scott Yamaoka earned 3rd place. In the boys’ 110m hurdles, they achieved the top spots, with a 1st place finish from Letton and a 2nd place finish from DeFranco. Arya Saini also had a strong performance in the girls' 100M hurdles securing 1st place.

In the field events, the boys were led by Vinny Gangitano (10th grade), who placed 5th in the discus throw and secured a 6th-place finish in the shot put. In addition, Evan Habaradas placed 3rd in the high jump, and Jackson Letton placed 5th in the long jump. Arya Saini placed 1st in the long jump providing the only field points for the Viking girls' team.

It was an impressive day on the track and field and a proud day to be a South Tahoe Viking. All the Viking athletes who competed were vital to the strong finishes, cumulatively impacting powerful team performances. And Viking individual performances were thrilling. The well-matched and friendly competition between teammates Jackson Letton and Brody DeFranco clearly pushed them harder and led to their sweep of the top two spots in both the boys' hurdle events. Witnessing Lyla Landy moving so far out in front of the field and providing nearly untouchable runs in the distance events or seeing Arya Saini (clearly a rising star of the region) dominating every event she entered all resulted in an exciting and entertaining competition. With so many 9th and 10th graders already demonstrating significant contributions, it is clear South Tahoe High School Track and Field has an exciting and bright future ahead.

Full race results can be found at the following link: https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/488775/results