One thing Gilroy track and field coach Ryan Johnston loves about Jourdan Soares is that he isn't afraid to ask questions.
Even better, in the coach's view: Soares listens and applies what he learns.
"I'll tell him what he needs to do, and he'll work on it the rest of practice to try and get that better," Johnston said.
Soares' willingness to listen, learn and put in the work needed to improve helped him become the only male athlete from Santa Clara County to advance to the state meet in four events -- the 100-meter dash, 400 and 1,600 relays, and the long jump.
"He's one of the few high school athletes I know of who asks questions about how to get better," Johnston said. "I told him that's one of the reasons why he's doing so well."
Soares, the Mercury News boys track and field athlete of the year, qualified for last year's state meet as a member of Gilroy's 400 relay squad. However, he did not compete because of a knee injury suffered in the Central Coast Section finals.
Still, Soares went to the state meet to support his teammates and was struck by how fast all the sprinters were.
"It made me realize how much harder I needed to work to get to those guys' level," the junior said.
Johnston saw Soares put in the work and then some. Once a week, Soares would work with his teammates on the 400 and 1,600 relay squads after going through a regular practice. He also watched himself compete on video -- and was quick to point out flaws that needed correcting.
"He was disappointed that he couldn't show what he could do last year," Johnston said. "This year he wanted to make sure everyone knew who he was and what he could do. He had that much more to prove to himself and everyone else."
Soares made a name for himself at the CCS meet. He won the section title in the 100-meter dash with a personal-best time of 10.66 seconds and also ran the anchor leg of Gilroy's 400 relay, which won a CCS crown with a school-record time of 41.77. Soares also placed second in the long jump with a mark of 22 feet, 9 inches, and helped the 1,600 relay team place second, a result that clinched Gilroy's team title.
Things didn't go as well at the state meet. The only event in which he qualified for the finals was the 400 relay, in which the Mustangs lowered their school-record time to 41.66 during the preliminaries. In the finals, however, Soares and his teammates just missed earning a medal -- Gilroy placed seventh by three-tenths of a second.
Soares' performance at this year's state meet has made him even more determined to put in the work for next year's event.
"I want to make the top three -- not just get a medal -- in the 100," he said.
"He could easily be a finalist at next year's state meet in several different events," Johnston said. "If he goes in four events, he could almost win the team title by himself. He has the talent and the work ethic to do something like that."
Shanique Walker had never competed in a sport before joining Mt. Pleasant's track and field team as a sophomore.
In two years, Walker has blossomed into one of the country's elite high school track and field athletes. The senior is ranked fifth nationally in the triple jump and 26th in the 100-meter hurdles; Walker placed in the top five in both events earlier this month at the state meet.
"In my P.E. class her freshman year, we had a track unit, and I saw she had some abilities where I thought she'd do well," Cardinals coach Steve Nelson said. "Not that I thought she'd do this well."
Walker, the Mercury News girls track and field athlete of the year, advanced to the state meet in four events: the 100 hurdles, the 400 relay and the long and triple jumps. Although she finished third in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.17 seconds and fifth in the triple jump with a mark of 39 feet, 21/4 inches, she was disappointed with those results -- neither was a personal best.
Nevermind that the running surfaces were wet, that she was competing on a bad ankle or that she had to run in the 400 relay final between competing in her chief events.
"She expects a lot out of herself," Nelson said. "She's got goals that she hasn't quite reached yet."
Those goals include surpassing 42 feet in the triple jump -- her personal record is 41-6 -- and breaking 14 seconds in the 100 hurdles, where her best is 14.11. Because top-flight competition brings out the best in her, Walker is confident she can achieve both goals at this weekend's U.S. junior national championships in Eugene, Ore.
"I'll be running against faster girls, and I know they'll push me," she said.
The triple jump is Walker's best event. Mt. Pleasant's jump coaches, Jimmy Brown and Jamal Elmidge, were impressed with how quickly Walker was able to master a highly technical event.
"She does a really good job of keeping everything fluid," Elmidge said. "You want to keep everything going down the runway and have the first phase be equal to the second phase and the second phase be equal to the last phase. She has no wasted motions. She's very balanced and very symmetric."
Walker has yet to choose a college, and Nelson said scholarship offers have been limited because she was "late on the scene compared to other kids."
Make no mistake, though -- her coaches expect that she will be competing for an NCAA Division I school next spring.
"Whichever school is lucky enough to recruit her will get an athlete that's only scratching the surface of what she can do," Brown said. "She can go as far as her coaching allows her."
GIRLS HONOR ROLL
Sprinter of the year: Alexandra Diaz, Piedmont Hills, So.
Hurdler of the year: Lauren Madigan, St. Francis, Sr.
Distance runner of the year: Allison Sturges, Mountain View, Jr.
Horizontal jumper of the year: Cydney Leath, Mt. Pleasant, Jr.
Vertical jumper of the year: Rachel Bolton, Homestead, Jr.
Thrower of the year: Samantha Sinclair, Mountain View, Jr.
BOYS HONOR ROLL
Sprinter of the year: J'Tier Favors, Gunderson, Sr.
Hurdler of the year: Kamara Biawogi, Prospect, So.
Distance runner of the year: Kevin Bishop, Monta Vista, Jr.
Horizontal jumper of the year: Ricky Strehlow, Wilcox, Jr.
Vertical jumper of the year: Marc Toney, St. Francis, So.
Thrower of the year: Cody Bickham, St. Francis, Jr.