KING CITY — King City High’s track and field team will be hosting the 78th King City Invitational this Saturday at War Memorial Stadium.
The track meet will include boys and girls events in the varsity and frosh-soph divisions. The invitational will start at 9:30 a.m. for both the field and running events.
“Right now we have about 14 teams coming and we hope a few more enter before our deadline,” said King City Mustangs track and field head coach Ismael Rocha. “Our meet is always run well, and we give nice medals, serve a good lunch and this season we will be selling T-shirts.”
Among the high schools planning to participate are Carmel, Everett Alvarez, Gonzales, Greenfield, Hollister, King City, Lompoc, Morro Bay, Notre Dame (Salinas), St. Joseph (Santa Maria), Watsonville and others.
The invitational is one of the main fundraisers for the King City track and field team and gives the local communities the opportunity to see their children compete against quality competition. The Mustangs have 120 athletes out for team this season.
King City’s track and field program is also conducting a Snap! Raise fundraiser, where contributors can make a donation of their choice on the Snap! Raise site.
Donations will help the team pay for team warm-ups, buy proper footwear for individual events, update training equipment and for purchasing a fully automatic timing system (FAT).
“It takes a lot of money to provide for our large team,” Rocha said. “We only had 68 athletes out for track last season and we are close to double that this year. With the Snap! Raise fundraiser, we will have funding to run a good program.”
As of Friday, the team has raised $6,884 out of their $8,000 goal, with 17 days left to donate. To make a quick donation, visit tinyurl.com/kchstrack2023.
Track meets
In their last dual meet on March 16 in King City, the Mustang boys defeated Carmel by a 111-25 score and the Lady Mustangs beat the Lady Padres, 79-52. On April 6, King City will host Palma/Notre Dame and Santa Catalina.
Gonzales High traveled to Greenfield last Thursday and the boys team defeated the Bruins 73-59, and the Lady Bruins claimed a 74-33 win over the Spartans.
In the boys meet, Robert Gutierrez won the high jump and 100 meters; Giovanni Ochoa won the 800 and the 1600; and Gustavo Saldana claimed wins in the 200 and 400.
On April 4, the Spartan teams will travel to Seaside to compete against the host Spartans, Anzar, Ceiba College Preparatory, Marina, Oakwood and the York School.
