Nitros keep Bronze Bowl

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — Filled with plenty of adrenaline, Kenya Gaskin made quite a first impression.

The Glendale High freshman track and field athlete jumped into the mix and came away with a pair of individual victories to help Glendale maintain its dominance against cross-town rival Hoover.

Gaskin captured the 100- and 200-meter races with personal-best marks and helped win two relay events Tuesday afternoon to spark host Glendale to an 81-55 win against Hoover at Moyse Field. In the boys’ competition, Glendale came through with a 92-40 victory.

Glendale retained the Bronze Bowl — given to the school with the most total points at the Hoover-Glendale meet — with a 173-95 victory. Glendale improved to 12-0 in the history of the bowl, something Gaskin didn’t want to hand over to the Tornadoes.

“It’s a great experience to compete [against Hoover], and I’m happy that we were able to win everything,” Gaskin said. “I had adrenaline rushes in all of my events.

“Even when I was calm, I still had that adrenaline flowing.”

Gaskin won the 100 in 13 seconds and then took the 200 in 27.6 seconds.

Gaskin opened the meet by working with Shannon Cruz, Phien Le and Sophia Amodia to take the 4x100 relay in 52.1 seconds. She also grouped with Amodia, Lauren Hansen and Le to capture the 4x400 relay in 4 minutes 17.7 seconds.

“I didn’t have a good start in the 100, but I was able to bounce back,” Gaskin said. “In the 200, I went to the curve and I just thought I had a shot at winning it.”

The Nitros (3-7, 3-4 in league) received first-place efforts from Amodia in the long jump with a mark of 16 feet 8 inches and the 300 hurdles (46.5), Linda Perez in the discus (71-4), Jessica Kim in the pole vault (6-6) and Le in the triple jump (34-3).

Hoover (1-6 overall and in league) got three first-place wins from Frances Ramas. Ramas first won the 1,600 in 5:47.7 and then took the 800 (2:38.9) before finishing up by taking the 3,200 (13:02). Paige Hollis took the 110 hurdles (16.9) and the 400 (1:02.5) for the Tornadoes, who received two wins from Allison Zalin in the shot put (32-1) and high jump (4-9).

“I’m very impressed with the way the girls performed,” Hoover Coach Jack Sallakian said. “They did well above what I expected coming into the meet and they just kept pushing.”

In the boys’ portion of the meet, Hoover’s Jeremy Zadoorian led the way by winning three events. Zadoorian opened by taking the 1,600 in 4:42.9 and then won the high jump (5-6) before finishing up by capturing the 3,200 (10:58).

It marked the first time this season that Zadoorian competed in the high jump and 3,200.

“It was pretty cool winning the 3,200, though I cramped up a little,” Zadoorian said. “In the high jump, I just seemed to get my first step going and that helped.

“I’ve been running the 1,600 all year. I figured I could stay in first by running my best race. We would have liked to have beaten them, but we’ll try to beat them next year. We just have to keep on pushing in order for us to take it.”

Glendale (3-7, 3-4) had its share of first-place finishes. Tristan Pacba won the 110 hurdles (16.5) and the 300 hurdles (44.5) for the Nitros, who got a pair of victories from Mike Davis in the 100 (10.7) and the 200 (22.0).

Also earning first-place marks for the Nitros were Chris Canlas in the 800 (2:02.6), Marco Mendoza in the shot put (36-9), Alex Sanchez in the discus (103-7), Mike Williams in the pole vault (8-6), Dillon Fuller in the long jump (20-11) and Hrair Oganesyan in the triple jump (40-2).

Jeff Massin worked with Fuller, Paul Archer and Davis to take the 4x100 relay (43.2). The quartet also took first in the 4x400 relay (3:29).

Hoover (1-6 overall and in league) received a first-place performance from Alex Mikhailpoor in the 400 (50.5).

Glendale Coach Bob Bailey said the Nitros’ strength proved to be in the field events.

“We outscored them, 33-3, in the jumps combined,” Bailey said. “For the guys, they were able to come through in the sprints and sweeping the 100 was the backbreaker [for Hoover].

“The girls did well and Kenya has really come along way.

“This is always the first meet that I’m worried about. For the most part, it’s the most unified team that I have had in a while.”