Crescenta Valley track can’t keep up with rival Arcadia’s depth

ARCADIA — All season long Megan Melnyk and Kayleigh Carrillo had led the Crescenta Valley High girls’ track and field team to victory, as the Falcons came into Wednesday’s regular season Pacific League dual meet finale undefeated.

Crescenta Valley learned it couldn’t live only on its stars, as it suffered a loss to league-rival Arcadia on the road after being unable to match the Apaches’ depth. The Falcons’ boys also saw their hopes of clinching a share of a league title come to an end with a loss to the Apaches.

PHOTOS: Crescenta Valley vs. Arcadia Pacific League Track Meet

“They’re just a really good team and they’re very deep, we’re just not quite as deep,” CV Coach Mark Evans said of the Apaches. “Just about all these guys and girls are back next year and we’re going to be better, but we just didn’t quite have the depth that they had.”

The final results available at the end of the meet – not including the triple jump or discus, which started late – had Arcadia ahead in the girls, 72-46, and boys, 84-34, by a wide margin.

The victories locked up both league titles for the Apaches, who posted 7-0 in league records on both sides. Crescenta Valley’s girls fell to 7-2, 6-1 in league and its boys dropped to 5-4, 5-2.

While Melnyk couldn’t will her squad to a victory, she still had a great day with a pair of victories, despite not always enjoying pressure-filled moments like Wednesday.

“It’s 50-50, sometimes I hate it, sometimes I don’t,” she said. “We know Arcadia is a competitive team and we have to go out there and be competitive, too, because every point counts.”

Melnyk certainly did her part. She started by cruising to a win in the 1,600 meters with a time of five minutes 15.03 seconds. The next runner, Arcadia’s Laura Guidolin, crossed the line at 5:21.10. Melnyk then cruised to another four-plus second victory in the 800 with a time of 2:23.84 with Arcadia’s Glindyll Mancia taking second in 2:28.53.

“We always have good performances when we compete against Arcadia,” said Evans, who felt the meet was a good springboard into league finals and CIF. “They bring out the best in us and we think we bring out the best in them; we make each other compete.”

Carrillo won the 400 easily in 57.82, more than three seconds ahead of second-place Rachel Wiggins of Arcadia (1:01.17), and later took second in the 200 (25.50) for the Falcons.

Emmy Walker and Rachel Nakamura were the Falcons’ last two winners in the high jump and pole vault, respectively. Walker posted a mark of 5 feet 4 inches, while Nakamura logged a 7-6.

CV’s Sarah Lapides took second in the 100 (17.99) and 300 hurdles (50.50).

On the boys’ side, the Falcons got a pair of wins from Gabe Collison and David Shahmanyan.

Collison took the 3,200 in 9:44.50, with CV teammate Nicholas Beatty taking second in 9:56.30, and Shahmanyan won the 300 hurdles in 41.82.

“If we can come close to beating them we’re happy, if we can beat them we’re really happy,” Collison said of how tough Arcadia is. “It’s not that we’re not expecting anything, but if we just get them in some races we’re going to be really happy.”

Both Collison and Shahmanyan also had second-place finishes in the meet. Collison was runner-up in the 1,600 (4:28.11), Shahmanyan took second in the 110 hurdles (16.63) and Beatty added another second-place finish in the 800 (1:59.20). The Falcons’ last runner-up finish came from Austin Wang in the pole vault (11).