Track and field teams ready for season
Piedmont High School’s track and field teams have gotten a good start in their quests for another strong season.
The boys team has three starts back from last year. Senior Sam Shelby has already broken his own school record in the 100 meters with a time of 11.05 seconds at the K-Bell Track and Field Classic on March 1. Shelby had the best time of the day at the meet. He also ran a 400 in 50.74.
“Sam should finish on the podium at the North Coast Section Meet of Champions for a minimum of three events and maybe four events,” Highlanders coach Pouyan Assadi said. “Right now he’s looking very polished.”
Shelby will run the 100, 200, 400 and relays for Piedmont.
“Which means our relays will be good,” Assadi said.
Some of the talent on tap for the season:
Ella Yasar was the only Piedmont girl to score a point at last year’s NCS Meet of Champions, taking fifth in the 300 hurdles. She’ll be looking to return to the podium. 
Sebastien Swain is back for his sophomore season after an outstanding freshman year. He qualified for three events at last year’s NCS Meet of Champions. 
Senior Miguel Long will be busy this season, in the long and triple jumps, both hurdles races and even the pole vault. 
Alina Shahid is Piedmont’s top thrower, having made the NCS Meet of Champions last year. She also has been recruiting fellow students to join the throws team. 
Junior Maddox Ma (purple, right) is one of Piedmont’s top sprinters this season and is in the mix to run on the relay teams.
Sophomore Sebastien Swain is looking to build on his outstanding freshman season. Swain ran a 1:59.15 at the Skyline Invitational on February 22.
“If all Seb does is match what he did last year, he’d be one of the top middle distance runners in NCS,” Assadi said. “He has already positioned himself to make that leap. He looks very strong. He’s working on some maintenance with his body. If he can stay healthy he’ll have a nice season.”
Swain made the NCS Meet of Championships in three events last year, but fighting an illness, ended up only running the 400. He set a personal-best of 1:57.07 in the 800 at the West Alameda County Conference championships and ran a 4:18.58 in the 1,600 at the same meet.
Senior Miguel Long will compete in the long and triple jumps as well as both hurdles. But he also has picked up the pole vault and is already over 11 feet, according to Assadi.
Three underclassmen are what Assadi calls his “rising stars.” Junior Maddox Ma and sophomores Eric Venner and Rehan Mumtaz will boost the sprints and both relay pools.
“They’re the parts of the puzzle, that little bit of depth is how you go from a good to a great team,” Assadi said.
Freshman Ian Chung is coming on in the distance races.
“In two meets, Ian has already run 11 in the two mile, 5-flat in the mile and 2:15 in the 800,” Assadi said. “Ian’s one of those guys when you watch run are out there looking for blood. He’s on the balls of his feet. He asks a lot of questions about the workout plan.”
On the girls side, the middle distances have a lot of depth, with seven having broken six-minutes in the 1,600.
“It’s a really tight knit group of girls,” Assadi said. “You see that in the workouts.”
Sophomore Leighton Mand ran a PR of 5:27.13 at the Dan Gabor Invitational on March 1. Assadi said Mand is about six seconds from Jamie Schwarz’s PR – Schwarz graduated last year as one of the team’s top runners. Mand also qualified for the California Interscholastic Federation cross country championships in the fall.
Junior Skylar Best is back. She ran 5:45.70 at the Dan Gabor meet.
“She looks good,” Assadi said. “She looks strong and confident. And were interested to see how she evolves over her junior year. As a freshman she had an outstanding year in the 800.”
Senior Caroline Taylor ran 5:45.92 and freshman Nikita Gorelik ran 5:46.72 at the Dan Gabor meet.
“The ceiling is sky high and the depth here isn’t just in upper classmen but we have a freshman who can be a leader,” Assadi said of Gorelik.
Senior Ella Yasar was Piedmont’s only scoring athlete at the Meet of Champions last year, taking fifth in the 300 hurdles in 47.03. She also ran legs on both relay teams at that meet. Assadi said he thinks she’ll be one of the top hurdlers in NCS again this year.
Senior Alina Shahid is the top thrower. Her PR in the discus of 97 feet qualified her for the Meet of Champions a year ago. That mark is five feet from the school record, according to Assadi.
“Now we’re focused on updating her form,” Assadi said. “She was on the podium at both the league championship and NCS Bayshore. The goal this year is to not just repeat that but see if she can get on the podium at the Meet of Champions as well.”
Plus, Assadi said she has been working the halls, recruiting new throwers to the team.
Sophomore Claire Aubrecht will be the top sprinter. She has already set personal-bests in the 100 (13.14) and 200 (27.19) this season, both at the Skyline Invitational.
Assadi said he has about 40 varsity boys and 30 varsity girls this season. The team should be strong in the dual meets and hopes to up the number of kids who qualify for the postseason meets.