Tracy Press

 
Pole vaulter prepared for SJS masters meet

Tracy High junior Nicole Loscavio will pole vault into this week’s section track meet as the lone representative from any Tracy school. Photo by Bob Brownne/Tracy Press

Nicole Loscavio has been looking forward to the end-of-season competition.

There are a few other good girls pole vaulters in the San Joaquin Athletic Association, but the May 16 Sac-Joaquin Section Division I meet showed her what she is up against as she prepares for the section Masters meet Thursday and Friday.

Regardless of where she places, Loscavio, a junior on the Tracy High track and field team, is already looking beyond this week’s event.

“This will be a good test run,” she said. “I’ll see the competition I have and what I have to do for next year.”

Loscavio is the only local athlete heading to the Masters meet this year. She placed 10th in the pole vault May 16 with a jump of eight feet, seven inches, which was enough to qualify her for the next level. She also placed third in the San Joaquin Athletic Association league meet May 9 after Lodi pole vaulters Lyndsi Higgins and Julia Pasterski, who are also among the 24 girls in the pole vault competition this week at Hughes Stadium at Sacramento City College.

A first-place league finish for next year is within reach for Loscavio, and she’s also prepared to work hard to become one of the top pole vaulters in the section.

Loscavio started as a gymnast and found that it gave her a natural foundation for the pole vault. She was the league leader among the SJAA’s freshman-sophomore pole vaulters. This season as a varsity athlete showed her that a commitment to the sport will pay off.

“Most of the girls who are good train year-round. This year, I’m not going to stop,” she said.

“They’re only jumping a foot ahead of me. It’s a sport where you just have to practice to get better.”

Tracy High track and field coach Jay Fishburn said that finding a good pole vaulter like Loscavio is a matter of knowing student athletes and recognizing their talents. After that, he keeps after them until they turn out to practice and try it out.

“If I get one good one out of five, that’s great,” he said, “and hopefully, they’ll like something else in track.”

Both Tracy and West had athletes in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I meet last week but Loscavio was the only one who finished in the top 10 in her event and moved on to the Masters meet, which includes athletes from Divisions I, II and III.

Other results from last week’s meet include the following:

• Boys 4x100 relay, Tracy, Anthony Willis, Depray Celestine, Chris Petro, Kenneth Miks, 26th, 45.75.

• Girls 4x100 relay, West, Melanie Batiste, Alyssa Grow, Arie Turner, Melissa Lopez, 24th, 53.38; Tracy, Marlene MacMillan, Cailin McLean, Loscavio, Jazmyn Robinson, 28th, 55.73.

• Boys 100 hurdles, Michael Saenz, West, 20th, 16.59.

• Girls 100 hurdles, Arie Turner, West, 27th, 19.38.

• Boys 300 hurdles, Michael Saenz, West, 16th, 43.08.

• Girls 300 hurdles, Arie Turner, West, 14th, 50.31.

• Boys 4x400 relay, West, Michael Saenz, Asfadulla Abdulghafoor, Milo Mendoza, Salvador Diaz, 29th, 3:50.99.

• Girls 4x400 relay, Tracy, Kari Ridder, Xiomarra Fonseca, Caitlin McLean, Marlene MacMillan, 23rd, 4:29.18.

• Girls high jump, Marlene MacMillan, Tracy, 11th, 4-08

• Boys discus, Kevin Speer, Tracy, 25th, 116-08.

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