San Pedro High School (SPHS) brought to the island the Northern Regional Championship in Track and Field on Friday, March 30th. This is the second time this for year that high school athletes have made history; having won the National Male Softball Competition earlier in March. The team managed to capture a total of 76 medals placing them at the top of the board by the time the Track and Field Tournament was over.
For the SPHS Principal Emil Vasquez, the win is a historical event for the school. “We have never won a championship in Track and Field. Last year we came in second and this year we got the championship; it is history in the making at San Pedro High School.” The medalists who captured first and second places in the various disciplines will join other athletes from three other high schools from the northern zone to compete at the National Track and Field final as one zone. According to Vasquez, going to nationals means even more training. “We believe that when we go to the nationals we should do fairly well,” said Vasquez. Having little to no space to practice track and field at the SPHS, Vasquez said that it is certainly a challenge which needs to be address. He added that having won so many medals despite the limited space is what makes the SPHS even more proud of their victory. SPHS garnered15 points more than Corozal Community College who won the zone championship in 2011, a school that is considered the powerhouse in northern zone.
Having won medals in the 2011 National Track and Field Finals, student Brandon Santos is the school’s team captain in the Track and Field. According to Santos the team is very proud and happy to have won the regional championship. “It’s a great joy for us to win the championship. We are very proud and I know that the school is also proud of the athletes.”
The team participated in runs which included five and three kilometers; 1500, 800, 200 and 100 meter run; 4X400, 4X200 and 4X100 meter relay runs. They also participated in throws which included shot puts, discus throw and javelin. In the jump disciplines the athletes participated in high, triple and long jumps. The athletes participated in the male and female category in both the junior and senior level. According to the team captain, they trained for over two months. Santos explained that most of the medals were won by the senior athletes. He said that having practice to run along the beach and on the sand helped them to perform exceptionally in the running disciplines.
While having won the regional championship in track and field is something the SPHS is proud of, Vasquez explained that there are even more reason to celebrate. The school was accepted to represent the country in baseball along with other Central American Countries. Vasquez said that as the National Male Softball Champions for the country, the SPHS team will move up to the Central American Council for Sports and Recreation (CODICADER) in baseball. The 2012 CODICADER games will be held in Panama. Vasquez said that the team will be seeking the assistance of the businesses and wider community to help raise money to have the SPHS team travel to the CODICADER games. According to Vasquez it will cost approximately $25,000 to have the SPHS delegation of 20 to travel to Panama.
 brought to the island the Northern Regional Championship in Track and Field on Friday, March 30th){kind=link}