The Aptos High track and field programs will enter the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League finals riding a perfect wave.
Both the boys and girls squads finished dual meet competition at 5-0, but now they have a chance at perfection with their sights set on a championship Saturday at Harbor High School. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10am.
The stakes could not be higher for the Mariner girls team, which needs one more win to claim the SCCAL team title outright. In order to do so, they must defeat rival Santa Cruz one final time.
The two programs have been the class of the league all season, and Saturday’s showdown promises a fitting conclusion to the campaign.
The boys group, meanwhile, have a bit more margin. A second-place finish would still be enough to secure the overall SCCAL crown, a testament to the depth and consistency the Mariners have shown throughout the year.
Leading the charge for the boys are Bryce Boudreault and Brady Bliesner, two athletes who have powered Aptos across a range of disciplines all season. Boudreault has been a force in the field events, excelling in pole vault, discus and shot put.
Bliesner has anchored the distance program, starring in the 800 meters and middle-distance relays.
Together, Boudreault and Bliesner represent the kind of versatile, high-point production that championship teams are built around.
On the girls side, Ella Boyes and Kenzie Culbertson have been the program’s standard-bearers.
Boyes has dominated the hurdles while also contributing in the long jump, making her one of the league’s most dangerous multi-event threats.
Culbertson has been a workhorse in the distance events, racking up points in the 800 meters and relays throughout the season.
But what has defined this year’s Aptos program goes beyond its top performers.
Aptos head coach Thad Moren pointed to the willingness of several athletes to stretch themselves across multiple events. It’s a key reason the Mariners have remained so competitive in the team standings.
Isabella Hernandez, Ryder Yamaguchi, Bella Briceño-Nichols and Anthony Sandford-Carroll have each answered the call to compete in a wide range of events, filling scoring gaps and proving that Aptos’ depth is genuine.
“In order to be a competitive championship team, we need athletes that are willing to do a wide range of events and challenge themselves to score points for the team,” Moren said.
Moren said for the girls, it ends with a chance to add a league banner to a perfect record. For the boys, the math is already in their favor — now it’s just a matter of finishing the job.
