Yosemite High's Sayda Taylor advances to Masters Meet
For all but one athlete, the 2018 track season at Yosemite High has come to an end.
It was a great season, however. The Central Section small school Sierra-Sequoia Championships (CIF Division II), were held in Exeter on Wednesday, May 8. Fresh off a North Sequoia League co-championship, the YHS girls sent a strong contingent. The YHS boys ,who just missed winning a NSL title by less than two team points, also had a number of participants. In order to participate, athletes must have qualifying times or marks.
Junior Sayda Taylor had the highest YHS finish, taking second in the high jump with a height of 5-feet-4-inches. Taylor also finished fourth in the 200 meters with a time of 26.14.
Taylor broke the all-time YHS girls high jump mark at 5-feet 5 1/2-inches at the second NSL practice meet at Washington Union in April. Taylor moves on to the Masters Meet at Buchanan High School on Saturday, May 19. Only the top three athletes from each event qualify for the Masters. If Taylor gets in the top three at Masters she will move on to the state meet also held at Buchanan on June 1-2. Taylor reached the state meet in 2016 in her freshman season where she participated in the 200 meters.
Overall for first year head coach Cari Rumohr, 2018 was an unqualified success. The girls won their fourth straight title. The varsity boys came close.
Rumohr and the staff certainly faced a challenging season. Many of the athletes were underclassmen, with a number of them competing in track for the first time. Senior girls star Peyton Garner suffered a season-ending injury early in the year. A number of key athletes for both the boys and girls left the team. The coaching staff made the adjustments, especially with the boys moving freshman and sophomores to varsity. Times and distances improved weekly, culminating in a strong league meet performance.
"I am so proud of this team," Rumohr said. "Everyone worked hard through to the end. Almost everyone had personal bests at the league championship and Sierra-Sequoia. This is a fairly young team and I see good things ahead. They are a great group of kids, encouraging to one another, self-motivated, and scholars many of them."
It was a great season in 2018 for the Rumohr family. Besides leading her team to a title in her inaugural season, Cari's son, senior Isaac Rumohr, ran a personal best 4 minutes, 38.96 seconds (seventh place) at the Sierra-Sequoia meet. It is now the fifth fastest time in YHS history.
"Isaac accomplished his senior season goal of going sub-4:40 in the mile," Cari Rumohr said. Isaac finishes his senior season as one of the top distance runners in school history. Isaac leaves with two other top ten marks: 800 meters, 2 minutes 07.0 seconds (seventh all-time), and the 3200 meters (10 minutes, 31.18 seconds — sixth all-time, set last year).
Cari's daughter, sophomore Abby Rumohr took seventh in the pole vault at 8 feet, 6 inches. Earlier in the season, Abby set the all-time YHS girls pole vault record with a height of 9 feet, 6 inches. Abby was 13th in the 100 meters with a time of 13 minutes 57 seconds.
Other top performances: Matt Spear was 13th in the pole vault with a height of 10 feet, 6 inches. It is now tied for sixth all-time at YHS. Russell Zelazo was 11th in the 300 meter hurdles (44.47 seconds). The 4x400 meter relay team of Rumohr, Alec Small, Ernie Jimenez and Dylan Harlan-Bullock finished 14th with a time of 3:38.83 seconds. Dustin Leroy was 10th in the discus at 118 feet, 4 inches.
Other top performances-Girls: Alli Ruiz was 10th in both the 400 meter (1 minute, 3.52 seconds) and the 100 meters hurdles (17.29 seconds). Ruiz finished an outstanding career being a key contributor, helping the girls win three championships in her tenure. The 4x400 meters relay team of Emily Meyer, Jaiden Stansbury, Taylor Oetinger, and Trinity Zelazo placed 10th with a time of 4 minutes, 30.29 seconds.
This story was originally published May 14, 2018 at 1:22 PM with the headline "Yosemite High's Sayda Taylor advances to Masters Meet."