The562’s cross country and track & field coverage is sponsored by an anonymous donation, in appreciation of Coach Ron Allice.
The562’s coverage of Millikan athletics in the 2023-24 school year is sponsored by Curtis Boyer.
Youth is the key word at Millikan this spring, as the track program is stocked with underclassmen showing promising talent.
Pedro Ramirez has taken over as head coach of the girls’ program, and will work with all distance runners. That’s an obvious fit given his role as the boys’ cross country head coach, fresh off a Moore League title in the fall. Detra King is head coach of the boys’ program, and will also be working with sprints, hurdles and relays.
“The girls are super, super young,” said King. “So we’re really not going to see what potentially we have until they have a few meets under their belts.”
The Rams do know they can rely on sophomore Nadia Mejia, who won the distance double at last year’s Moore League finals, claiming gold in the 1600 and 3200. She’s also the reigning Moore League cross country champion, and brings CIF experience where she finished 12th in the 3200 prelims.
Junior Catalina Trautner will also be one of the top athletes for the Rams this season, bringing back valuable experience in both hurdles races, plus the long jump. Coach King, the self-proclaimed “hurdle queen”, should definitely be able to develop her skills over the next few years, and will have plenty of opportunities to develop hurdlers of the future.
“Everybody is pretty much brand new to hurdling, the only returner is Catalina on my girls side,” explained King. “So everybody else is brand new to the event, but there’s tons of potential.”
Sophomore Leilani McIntosh has shown improvement from her freshman year and will run the 200 and the 400. The quarter mile is her better event, and King has super high hopes for her in that race.
The Rams also have some returning experience in the 800, where junior Yamile Rodriguez, senior Maribel Perez, and junior Emma Buth all finished Top 12 at Moore League finals last season.
