THE TRACK AND FIELD teams at Servite High School and its sister school, Rosary Academy, have collectively assembled some of the fastest sprinters in the state.
The 4X100 relay teams at Servite and Rosary are No.1 in the state and individual sprinters from the Royals and Friars are at or near the top in the state and county rankings.
One common denominator is Brandon Thomas, the head track and field coach at both schools.
Thomas, who has coached many of the Rosary and Servite sprinters in elite club programs, credits their successes to experience, dedication and hard work.
“They came here with a lot of experience already,” Thomas said. “So, a lot of them are used to being national champions. They’re used to the spotlight. All we did was just bring those guys together on one team and you’re seeing the result of that. They could have gone to any school they wanted to, but the opportunity for them to do it together in high school, I think was appealing to them.”
SERVITE
Track athletes typically train in such a way as to steadily improve as the season goes on and then peak down the stretch for the CIF Southern Section and CIF State meets at the end of season.
Servite’s 4X100 team is right on schedule.
The foursome tied the Orange County record in the 4X100 at the Trabuco Roundup in March with a time of 41.24 seconds in the. Then they set a new county record, running 40.82 in the first Trinity Cluster Meet on March 20.
THE SERVITE 4X100 RELAY TEAM (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT): JORDEN WELLS, BENJAMIN HARRIS, JAELEN HUNTER AND ROBERT GARDNER. PHOTO COURTESY OF SERVITE HIGH SCHOOL
The Friars then broke their own record with a time of 40.56 at the Trabuco Hills Invitational on April 5. One week later, the 4×100 team broke it again, running 40.00 at the Arcadia Invitational. That’s also a state record and the best time in the nation this season.
The 4X100 team starts with freshmen Jorden Wells, sophomore Benjamin Harris runs the second leg, freshman Kamil Pelovello takes the baton for the third leg and sophomore Robert Gardner
is the anchor.
The 4X200 team features Harris, Gardner, freshman Jace Wells and freshman Jaelen Hunter.
The all-freshman 4X00 team includes Hunter, Pelovello, and twins Jace Wells and Jorden Wells.
Harris chose to attend Servite after watching his friend run “some crazy fast times” for the Friars under the guidance of Coach Thomas.
Harris, who transferred to Servite from Long Beach Poly, also knew about Thomas’ reputation as a top sprint coach and knew some of the other talented freshman who would be attending the Catholic High School along with him.
“I knew we could be something special,” Harris said. “I felt like we could get some records like we have this year. I feel like it was a good switch for me coming from Long Beach Poly to Servite.”
ROSARY
While Thomas is the head coach of the track and field teams at both schools, Jon Gilmer coaches the sprinters at Rosary.
Just like their brothers at Servite, the Royals sprinters are young and came to the school with experience competing for club programs.
“They’re immensely talented,” Gilmer said. “A lot of the girls come from youth track and are Junior Olympians and have been doing this for years. Then making that transition to high school, I coached some of them as little kids growing up. So, it’s kind of like an extension of the program that they had already been in.”
Sophomore Justine Wilson, who won or placed high in some of the state’s top meets as a freshman at Rosary has improved on her success during her sophomore season.
Wilson owns the fastest time in the county in the 200 (23.89) and the 400 (55.32) and is part of the state-leading 4X100 relay team along with Tra’Via Flournoy, Jada Faison and Maliyah Collins.
The quartet notched a 45.21 at the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays on April 19.
Collins’ time of 11.72 in the 100 is the fastest in the county.
“It’s honestly amazing and it’s really fun knowing that I have a good team behind me,” Wilson said. “We work hard together, but we also we have fun together. So yeah, it means a lot.”