Diaz’s 1600-meter record leads Owls in Ohio | Sports
Manny Diaz broke the junior indoor record in the 1600 meters with a time of 4:31.34 at the Spire Indoor Track Complex in Geneva, Ohio on Saturday.
The old junior record was held by Matthew White, who ran 4:38.46 in 2009. Diaz just missed the school record, held by Logan Caruso, who ran 4:29.98 in 2016. This was only the second time Diaz has run in an indoor meet and his first attempt at this distance. He also ran the 800 meters in a career best time of 2:06.14.
“His times were really great for indoor track,” said Bradford coach Tom Tessena. “We can hardly wait for the outdoor season to begin. (Diaz) has now qualified for the 1600 meters, the 3000 meters and the 800 meters for the TriState Coaches Championship Meet and is very close to qualifying for the PA State Indoor Championship in the 1600 meters.”
Diaz wasn’t alone when it came to performing well.
Senior Andrew Kane had three personal best performances. Kane placed 10th in the long jump with a leap of 18ft 10 inches. He ran the 60 meter dash in 7.63 and the 200 meters in 24.83. Kane qualified for the TriState Championships in the long jump and is very close in the 60 and 200 meters.
Freshman Brayden Friar and Sophomore Leo Paterniti recorded great times in the 3200 meters with times of 10:48 and 10:49 respectively. Freshman Joe Caruso posted personal bests in the 1600 meters (5:22) and 800 meters (2:21). The 4×800 meter relay team of Diaz, Caruso, Paterniti and Friar has also qualified for the TriState Coaches Championship.
“We only had five boys who competed today but they all had great performances,” said Tessena. “I am very proud of these five guys. They work hard every day and run in all kinds of weather. We are now only a month away from the start of the outdoor track season and we need more people to sign up.”
Anyone who is interested needs to sign up this week in the nurse’s office. The team has to fill 18 events, so quite a few people are needed.
“We definitely need more like the five guys we had competing today,” Tessena said.
This season will also mark the 50th year Tessena has served as head boys track coach for the Bradford Owls.
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