LJ track: Fire and cream

Vike freshman Lilly Grunski
emotes after falling short
of her goal in the long jump.
(Photos by Ed Piper)


 

Fellow freshman Eugenia Kritsuk
pops a triple jump of 32'11",
a new PR, against Hoover.

By Ed Piper

Lilly Grunski is fire. Eugenia Kritsuk is cream.

The two freshmen jumpers, ranked among the top five in the county among ninth-graders, have started off fast in their high school careers.

Grunski was frustrated. She long-jumped a respectable 15 feet, 8 1/2 inches in a home dual meet against Hoover April 12. She had previously sprung a personal record (PR) of 16 feet, 2 1/2 inches, and she wanted more.

You could feel the heat. She scowled, the thick frames of her glasses not concealing her displeasure as she eyed the tape measurement in the sand pit at Edwards Stadium. Uhh. She lifted her shoulders: "Ahh!"

"In the triple jump, then, I'm going to have to jump 33 feet," she declared.

She still managed a smile for a photographer, despite her pique.

Meanwhile, the calm one, Kritsuk, her polar opposite, jogged quietly in the background, keeping her legs loose for the triple jump that would follow the long jump.

No fire. No stares. The other with darker hair, this one fair, light.

Yet the two are teaming together to help spearhead La Jolla track coach Paul Byrne's troops--175 strong across all running and field events, as well as through all four classes from freshmen to seniors--in an exciting outdoor track season that the head man calls "fun".

Lilly, with flames given off, launched a new PR of 34 feet, 5 1/2 inches in the triple jump a short time after her statement of resolve.

Her counterpart, the serene Eugenia, popped a long jump of 15 feet, 8 inches--just shy of her personal record of 15'9" set earlier in the season--versus Hoover.

Kritsuk then recorded a triple jump spanning 32 feet, 11 inches, a new PR, four inches beyond her previous best.

You can see the power in Grunski's legs. With Kritsuk, she looks more like a runner. (The two both compete in hurdles, as well as running legs on team relays.)

The two are sailing, and there is one more dual meet, this one again at home, this time against Patrick Henry April 26. There are the Dick Wilkins Frosh-Soph Invite April 28, and the JV City Conference Invite on Cinco de Mayo (5th of May) before league finals May 11.