A lost season, but Casa track team will be back

Of all the hurting might-have-beens of a lost spring sports season. the Casa Grande High School track campaign was one of the most hurting.

The Gauchos were the most dominant track team in the Vine Valley Athletic League last season, its boys team one of the best in the North Coast Section and its 4x400 relay team a state meet competitor.

This spring, the Gauchos might have been even better. The sad part, of course, is that we will never know. After an impressive start in Santa Rosa’s Big Cat meet, the season was stopped by the coronavirus pandemic. Casa Grande will have a good team with some outstanding individual athletes next spring, but it can never get 2020 back.

“We had a really good group. I’m really sad for the kids,” said Casa Grande track coach Jamie Pugh. “We were having some very good practices. For once, it didn’t rain every day. It looked like it was going to be our best season ever.

A lot of the kids were improved from last season. With a lot of them, things were just starting to click.

According to Pugh, it wasn’t only the seniors and standouts who were hurt by the loss of the season. “The ones it affected most were the younger kids,” he said. “They were just beginning to figure out what they needed to do to get better.

“It could have been a fun ride, now it’s a fun ride on the couch, if you can call that a fun ride.”

The Casa Grande boys distance team was particularly disappointed by the closure. The Gauchos were on the cusp of something special in the long runs.

Senior Logan Moon had an exceptional start to the canceled season in the Big Cat Invitational, finishing third at both 400 and 800 meters. He had already gone to state as part of a loaded cross country team in the fall. He was also part of the Casa Grande 4x400 relay team that went to state in track last season.

In fact, the entire state cross country team –Nolan Hosbein, Luke Baird, Jake Dietlin, William Hite, Andrew Beaube and Andrew Gotshall was looking forward to a successful season on the track.

Hite’s twin brother, Owen , was anticipating a comeback spring after suffering an injury that cost him almost all of the previous season. Both brothers were expected to be among the best distance runners in the VVAL. The good news is that the Hites are juniors and will be back next season.

Cross country coach and track coach for the distance runners, Carl Triola, said the Gauchos took the abrupt closure in stride. “I didn’t hear any complaints from our distance kids,” he observed. “It shows their strength of character that will see them well in the future.”

Triola pointed out that conditioning should have already started for returning distance runners who should be getting ready for the cross country season and a chance to run back to state.

One of the most disappointed of the Gauchos was Tobias Humphreys, already proven to be one of the best hurdlers in the VVAL and the Redwood Empire. While he was being counted on to be a leader and major point earner for this year’s team, he is a junior, ,and will be back to anchor next year’s team.

Not so shot putter Lillian McCoy who will perform for Cal State Northridge next track season after being denied a chance at a return to the state meet by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Another standout Casa Grande girls performer who won’t get another chance is senior Emma Baswell, who could have been counted on to be a big point earner in everything from the 800 up this spring. Like so many other athletes, her high school career is over.

Also over are the Casa Grande hopes for a big track season. But there is every reason to believe the Gauchos will be back running for another VVAL title when runners no longer have to space themselves at 6-foot intervals.