Washington Elementary Leads Track Meet

Athletes from eight local elementary schools competed in track and field events May 9 at the Westmont track. More than 200 students from Roosevelt, McKinley, Adams, Cleveland, Franklin, Monroe, Harding and Washington Elementary schools battled for local bragging rights, competing in about a dozen events. The annual All SBUSD Elementary Schools Track and Field Meet began five years ago under the leadership of Westmont alumna and Adams Elementary School principal Amy (Bergenske) Alzina and Westmont head track and field coach Russell Smelley.

“Russell and I started this event five years ago with the goals to expose our students to the sport of track and field and a college experience,” Alzina says. “We are extremely grateful for this ongoing partnership.”

Washington ran away from the competition finishing with 185 points. Adams edged out Roosevelt 127 to 121 for second place.

Westmont track and field athletes, who are competing at the Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in Gulf Shores, Ala., May 25-27, timed and measured the events. Recent graduates Becky Collier (social innovation and entrepreneurship) and Noelle Crosby (economics and business) directed the meet.

Following the events, the athletes toured the campus before eating lunch in the Westmont Dining Commons.

Alzina, who became the youngest principal in Santa Barbara School District history when she was 29, competed on the Westmont cross country and track and field teams before graduating in 1998. The day prior to the elementary schools track meet, Cold Spring School District trustees announced they had unanimously appointed Alzina as their new superintendent/principal. She will begin her new job at Cold Spring on July 10.