Lund qualifies for state meet in 400 meters

Collin Lund is Vista del Lago's only state qualifier and in fact the only state qualifier from the Folsom Cordova Unified School District for the track and field championships to be held this weekend at Buchanan High School in Clovis. Lund, a senior, placed fourth in the 400 meters Masters finals on Saturday at Folsom High, but qualified by beating the at-large qualifying time. Lund's time was 47.77. Not only did Lund qualify, which was a goal, but he also ran a personal-best time. "I'm ecstatic about my time," Lund said after the race. "I wanted to break the previous school record of 48.5 for a second time and I obliterated it. "I didn't think I qualified after I fell to fourth, but I felt I ran a personal-best time. I didn't think I'd make the at-large time, but I did, which was nice." Lund's performance makes up for a disappointing end to last season, when he sprained his ankle playing basketball on the day of the section championships. Now it's on to state. "My goal is to run a personal-best again," Lund said. "I'd like to catch Will Greene's school record of 46.6, but I think that's pushing it." Vista del Lago track and field coach Mike Kozlowski was proud of Lund's performance. "Collin's time of 47.77 makes him the 10th best time going into the state meet which shows how strong the field is this year in the Sac-Joaquin Section, as all four of our qualifiers are in the top-10 in all of California," Kozlowski said. "Collin is extraordinary and he literally has had as his goal of making it to the state meet since he was a freshman. He now holds the second-place mark in school history in all three sprint races 100m, 200m and 400m and has been part of each of the top-three all-time marks in both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays." Lund also ran in the 200 meters at Masters and placed fifth in 22.02, but did not qualify for state. Senior Brenna Mannion saw her stellar four-year career at Vista end, as she placed sixth in the 3,200 in 10:51.75. "Brenna had a great run, but the margin for error is very small in these finals races, being anything less than perfect and running a personal-record means watching the state meet rather than running in it," Kozlowski said. "Both Collin and Brenna have been superb throughout the year, are the male and female MVPs of our team and will be listed in our top-three record board for a good long time. We will have a tall order replacing the points contribution they have made in team competitions and we will never really be able to replace them." In the 800 meters, Blake Reid placed 11th in 1:56.45. Vista's boys' 4x400-meter relay team of Mason Hooey, Lund, Colin Mannion and Kyron Gulley placed eighth in 3:23.64. Gulley also placed seventh in the long jump (20-9) and ninth in the triple jump (43.5.50), while Sean Gottstein no-heighted in the high jump.