Saratoga News

Sports

Huang wins four Jr. Olympic medals, nails 2nd at Firebird

By Mike Barnhart

Lynbrook freshman Cindy Huang, who earned four medals at the USA National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships, captured second place at Fremont's Firebird Invitational on Sept. 13.

Of the 60 runners who competed in the varsity girls race, only Saratoga junior Katie Nast (12:13) ran the 2.05-mile course faster than Huang (12:20). Homestead junior Emily Evans, who also clocked 12:20, finished third. Junior Sumika Shiokawa of Cupertino ran 12:29 for fifth place, two spots ahead of another Lynbrook freshman, Lauren Tang (12:33).

Lynbrook sophomore Luca Signore placed sixth out of 73 competitors in the varsity boys contest. Signore's time of 10:32 trailed winner Kindu Ejigu of Santa Clara by 14 seconds. Cupertino seniors Mrinal Bedi (10:28) and Abiy Gebrekristos (10:42) placed fourth and eighth, respectively.

Lynbrook runners emerged from huge packs to claim fourth-place finishes in the junior varsity races. Junior Andrew Jang ran 11:46 in the JV boys contest, while sophomore Chianna Wang clocked 13:42 in JV girls.

At the Junior Olympics, held July 24-29 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif., Huang's third-place effort of 2:14 in the youth girls 800-meter race was her highest finish.

She also ran 10:42 to place sixth in the 3,000 meters and 4:48 for seventh in the 1,500. Huang also ran a leg of the 1,600-relay team that took seventh.

Thousands of age-group athletes from throughout the United States competed at the annual track and field festival. It was the third year in a row that Huang earned medals at the event.

A week later, Huang placed fourth in a 1,600-meter race at the North American Youth Track and Field Games in Hershey, Pa.