By Clayton Lawrence-Emanuel
The Aptos Girls Track and Field team has gotten used to winning. With over 14 SCCAL league titles, and 7 CCS championships to their name, the Aptos Mariners have been on the winning end of most of their meets for over a decade. The 2013 team is looking to continue this tradition by repeating as the SCCAL league champions, and with the athletes currently in the line-up, they are poised to do just that.
Head Coach Scott McConville expects a strong season from his team this year, especially from distance runner Nikki Hiltz. Hiltz, a senior at Aptos, is the defending State Champion for the 1600-meter event, which she won with a record time of 4 minutes and 42.45 seconds. She competes in the 3200-meter, the 400-meter, and the 4X1600 relay events as well. Hiltz has also recently accepted a track scholarship to the University of Oregon, where she hopes to compete in the 1600 meter. Despite the fact that she missed the cross country season earlier this year due to having surgery on a stress fracture in her foot, Hiltz has helped Mariners to victory in every meet so far this season. McConville, himself a former Aptos runner and a record breaking distance runner at UCSB, said that he“…[is] looking forward to following [Hiltz’s] progression at the next level.”
Another athlete to watch this season, according to Throwing Coach Lloyd Hedenland, is Elijah Marta, another senior. Marta competes in the shot put and discus events, as well as sprinting in the 100 meters and the 4X100 meter relay. Marta leads the team in shot put with a personal record of 50 feet 7 inches, a well a the discus with a record of 142 feet 7 inches. Ashley Doherty and Vanessa Ramos are also performing well this year, leading the SCCAL in discus and shot put for the girls.
The Mariners have already defeated Soquel HS, Santa Cruz HS and San Lorenzo Valley HS this season, and are looking forward to their next opponent, Scotts Valley HS, whom they will face in Aptos on April 18, 2013.