For two years, Amy Quinones ran behind one of San Benito High’s all-time great runners in Vanessa Estrada.
Whether it was in practice or during races, the 5-foot-8 junior did her best to keep up with the fleet-footed Estrada, who is now running cross country and track at Northern Arizona University.
“The first time I ran with Vanessa, a 3-mile run, I was out of breath and dying,” Quinones said. “But I’m glad I stuck with it.”
Quinones’ resiliency paid off in a big way on May 9, as she won two individual events and nearly a third in the Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division Track and Field Championships at Gilroy High.
Quinones won the 800-meter run in a personal-record 2 minutes, 20.19 seconds, the high jump with a mark of 5 feet—equaling her PR—while finishing runner-up to teammate Marisa Villegas in the 1600, with a time of 5:14.62.
“Right after my last race (the 800), Marisa ran up to me and gave me a big hug,” Quinones said. “That’s when it finally hit me I was all done with my events and had won the 800 and high jump. I was so proud of myself and in awe of what I was able to achieve. It was a sigh of relief. In my freshman and sophomore years, Vanessa was my role model, so I was just trying to follow in her lead.”
Quinones has taken the baton from Estrada; in the fall she won the MBL Gabilan Cross-Country Championships in dominating fashion, conjuring up images of when Estrada ran away from the competition.
“I thought to myself, ‘If Vanessa could win all these races, maybe I could do it,’” said Quinones, who will be back at Gilroy High today to race in the combined MBL Championships, as athletes from both the Gabilan and Pacific are racing together to determine the league’s qualifiers for the CCS Championships.
Entering the week, Quinones had the section’s 16th best time in the 800, the 21st best mark in the 1600 and is tied for the 14th best mark in the high jump. Based on her times and marks, Quinones isn’t expected to be in contention for a CCS title.
However, Quinones said if she can bang out a couple of more PRs and advance out of the semifinal round, it would be a huge success. At the MBL Gabilan Division Championships, Quinones didn’t actually out-jump the second- and third-place finishers—they all jumped 5 feet—but she won based on less attempts.
Quinones hit the mark on her first try, and neither the second-place finisher nor the third-place finisher got it on their initial attempt. Even though she’s not a natural in the high jump, Quinones likes doing the event because it offers her a change-up from running.
While the high jump is a highly technical event, the 800 and 1600 are often decided by strategy, a finishing kick and the ability to run through pain. At the MBL Championships, Quinones staved off a challenge in the 800 from Notre Dame-Salinas runner Alex Lathos, who attempted to pass Quinones on the final straightaway of the last lap.
“I knew if I didn’t push, I wouldn’t be the 800 champion,” she said. “Even though I was hurting, I had to put that aside. I had the attitude that whoever had the most guts would win the race.”
Quinones has always loved running, but she always thought she would end up running the 100 and 200, not the mid- and long-distance events.
“(In grade school and middle school) I was a sprinter,” she said. “I didn’t run long distances until my freshman year.”
After two years looking up to Estrada, Quinones entered her junior season knowing it was her time to take the lead and start winning championships.
“This year has been everything I hoped for and more,” Quinones said. “But there’s always room for improvement.”
