Quincy athletes were off to a fast start last week as track and field competition began with two meets, the Ephrata Ice Breaker and the WindBreaker Invitational in Mattawa.

In Ephrata on March 14, Quincy athletes took the top spot on the podium in half a dozen events and second place in a handful of events. The Quincy girls team tied for third place with Connell. First place went to Ephrata, and Royal took second place among 13 teams. Among the 11 boys teams, Ephrata took first, and Connell won second place. Royal won third place, and Quincy placed fourth.

At the WindBreaker Invitational on March 17 at Wahluke High School, Quincy athletes didn’t win as many events but the teams overall placed well. Wenatchee took first place among girls and boys teams. Among the 19 teams of girls, Quincy placed fifth. The Quincy boys team placed 12th among 18 teams.

“We aren’t overly concerned with team scores at these early season meets, we want athletes to get that first taste of competition this season and set a benchmark performance in their events, which allows us to set goals and measure progress as we ramp into the middle part of our competition season,” Quincy boys team head coach Andrew Schmitt wrote in an email. “As a coaching staff we are quite excited with the marks and times our athletes posted during these first two meets. It shows their hard work throughout the offseason, whether that was in the weight room or in another sport, is now paying off.”

The Best in the Basin meet will be Jacks’ next meet. It will be Quincy’s first home meet of the season, scheduled for Thursday, March 23, at 4 p.m.

The athletes will not get much rest before traveling east on Saturday, March 25, for the Ray Cross Invitational in Ephrata. Events that day will start at 10 a.m.

“Track, like other individual sports, is unique in that one does not have to win a certain number of games to make it to the state tournament. Our goal as a track team is to peak at districts and state,” Schmitt wrote.

Among the standouts from the first two meets, Schmitt wrote that Jayden Richards had a strong start in the 100, 200, and 400 meter races.

“This should put him at, or near, the top of the CTL in each of those events,” he wrote.

“Seniors Jasmine Vasquez and Joceline Schaapman, as well as junior Shea Heikes had solid starts in the sprinting, hurdling, and jumping events. While Kallie Kooistra held her own in all three throwing events,” Schmitt wrote.

“We are really excited about the potential of this incoming group of 9th graders,” Schmitt continued. “Several came into their first track meet and had standout performances, including Alejandro Birrueta and Sergio Esparza in the 800 and 1600 meter races, Anthony Averill in the 400 meter race, and Lucina Valenzuela (in the) 100 and 100 meter hurdles.”

Results from the WindBreaker Invitational included the following for Quincy athletes.

Jayden Richards took sixth in the 100 meters with a time of 12 seconds flat. In the 200 meters, Richards took fourth place with a time of 24.34.

In the 400 meters, Anthony Averill, a freshman, placed 16th with a personal record time of 1:02.25.

In the 800 meters, freshman Alejandro Birrueta placed 14th with a personal record time of 2:26.76. Another freshman, Sergio Esparza, placed 21st.

In the 1600 meters, Birrueta placed 18th, Birrueta placed 24th, and Esparza placed 25th. All logged personal records.

In the shot put, Anthony Garcia threw 33’7” and took 16th place. Alex Lopez threw 32’8”, good for 19th place and personal record. Liam Wallace threw 32’2” and took 22nd place.

In the discus competition, Garcia took 10th place and set a PR of 100’3”. Wallace threw 84’ and placed 19th.

In the javelin event, Sergio Castillo threw 98’10”, good for 19th place.

In the high jump, Ethan Gregg tied for seventh place with a jump of 5’2”. Aidan Bews also had a share of seventh place at 5’2”.

In the long jump, Bews nabbed 16th place at 17’6”, while Gregg took 20th place at 17’3.5”. Gabriel Protopapas placed 27th with a distance of 16’2”.

In the triple jump, Gregg won third place with a distance of 37’3”. His distance fell about 2 inches short of the winner.

Among the girls’ events, Jasmine Vasquez won fifth place with a time of 13.75 in the 100 meters. Xadany Roque placed 15th with a PR time of 15.24.

In the 200 meters, Yeslin Ramos placed 14th in 31.29. Marisol Uribe took 18th in 32.01.

In the 400, Luz Aragon placed 10th with a PR time of 1:14.54.

In the 800, Crystal Espinoza ran a PR time of 2:56.64 and took 14th place. Marissa Tafolla placed 20th with her PR time of 3:05.17.

In the 1600 meters, Espinoza ran a PR time of 6:34.01, good for 17th place.

In the 100-meter hurdles, Shea Heikes was the winner, with a time of 18.76. Lucina Valenzuela, a freshman, placed 7th in 20.58.

In the 300-meter hurdles, Joceline Schaapman was the winner, with a time of 49.19. Heikes placed eighth in 56.60.

In a large field of competitors in the shot put, Guadalupe Valladolid placed 32nd with a distance of 22’6”.

In the discus, Valladolid threw a PR distance of 80’3”, good for ninth place. Paula Serrano, a freshman, threw 61’3”, her PR, and placed 23rd.

In javelin, Yeslin Ramos threw 76’10”, her PR, and took eighth place.

In high jump, Jasmine Vasquez won third place, clearing 4’8”. The winner cleared 5’. Sinclair MacGillivray placed 13th with 3’10”.

In long jump, Schaapman won second place with a PR distance of 15’10.25”. Her distance fell about 3 inches shy of the winner. Vasquez took seventh at 14’1”.

In triple jump, Schaapman won second place at 30’6.25”. She was about 6 inches from the winning distance. Shea Heikes placed sixth at 28’3”.