Broken Records

Jewel Lluz • June 11, 2025

Peninsula’s track and field team has been on a roll, breaking three consecutive relay records this season. At the Arcadia Winter Championship this past April, the boys varsity relay teams broke two school records a third time, which they previously broke a month before: the 800 meter “Sprint Medley Relay” (SMR) ran by Andrew Alegre, Trevor Witkowski, Tyler Malinowski and Joshua Aviles, as well as the 4x400 meter relay ran by Trevor Witkowski, Sebastian Richardson, Tyler Malinowski and Joshua Aviles.

The 800 meter SMR is a race in which four athletes run increasing distances. The first athlete runs a distance of 200 meters, which increases until the final athlete runs 800 meters. The SMR record was first broken at the California Winter Championships in February where the boys earned the title of State Champions, and then a second time at the Redondo Nike Track Festival in March, where the team again won first place. The team broke the record one last time at the Arcadia Invitational in April, clocking in at 3 minutes and 18 seconds, winning second place in the entire nation.

The triumphant 800 SMR surprised the team, since prior to this race, they only won second place in the 4x400 meter, which was the event that they had more confidence in. Senior Josh Aviles, who ran the 800 meter leg, comments on his performance.

“Breaking the SMR was one of my favorites [memories from this season],”Aviles said. “That was definitely hyped [up] because winning while [also] breaking the record was surprising and unexpected.”

Last season, the team broke the 4x400 meter record that was set 20 years ago by about 0.5 seconds. However, with their increased intensity in training and significantly improved times this spring, it was obvious to the team that they had the ability to break the record once again. Junior Track captain Tyler Malinowki reflects on the team’s confidence and skills.

“We knew [that] we were going to break the 4x400,” Malinowski said. “This year, everybody is considerably faster — we knew for a fact that we were going to [break the record].”

The 4x400 meter record was first broken by an additional five seconds at Ayala High School in February, but every meet following that the time has dropped a few milliseconds. The relay team placed second in the Arcadia Invitational with a final time of 3 minutes and 18 seconds.

The Arcadia Winter Championship is the highest ranking meet that the track and field team participates in, where athletes compete at a national level. Despite the nerve-racking emotions that came with running against the top athletes in the nation, the team felt confident in their training and racing abilities, and knew that records and podium finishes were within their reach. Individual team members were also close to beating records, as Richardson and Aviles were both off the 400 meter record by 0.2 seconds. Additionally, Malinowski tied the high jump record at 6.33. With all the points combined, Peninsula ended up finishing second place overall at Arcadia.

“[We’re] not going to get competition like that anywhere else,” Aviles said. “So it was nerve-racking, but [our] confidence [was] definitely [higher]. [We] know what [we] can do with [our] abilities.”

Peninsula’s track and field team has been on a roll, breaking three consecutive relay records this season. At the Arcadia Winter Championship this past April, the boys relay teams broke two school records a third time, which they previously broke a month before: the 800- meter SMR ran by Andrew Alegre, Trevor Witkowski, Tyler Malinowski and Joshua Aviles, as well as the 4x400 meter relay ran by Trevor Witkowski, Sebastian Richardson, Tyler Malinowski and Joshua Aviles.

The 800- meter SMR, “Sprint Medley Relay,” is a race where four athletes run increasing distances. Starting with a shorter distance of 200 meters, the distance increases with each leg until the final athlete, who runs 800 meters. The SMR record was first broken at the California Winter Championships in February where the boys earned the title of State Champions, and then a second time at the Redondo Nike Meet in March, where the team again won first place. The team broke the record one last time at the Arcadia Invitational in April, clocking a 3:18:00 and winning second place in the entire nation.

The triumphant 800 SMR surprised the team, since prior to this race, they only won second place in the 4x400 meter, which was the event that they had more confidence in doing. Senior Josh Aviles, who ran the 800-meter leg, comments on his performance during the SMR.

“Breaking the SMR was one of my favorites [memories from this season],” Aviles said. “That was definitely hyped [up] because winning while [also] breaking the record was surprising and unexpected.”

Last season, the team broke the 4x400 meter record that was set 20 years ago by about 0.5 seconds. However, with their increased intensity in training and significantly improved times this spring, it was obvious to the team that they had the ability to break the record once again. Junior and captain Tyler Malinowki reflects on the team’s confidence and skills.

“We knew [that] we were going to break the 4x400,” Malinowski said. “This year, everybody is considerably faster — we knew for a fact that we were going to [break the record].”

The 4x400 meter record was first broken by an additional five seconds at Ayala High School in February, but every meet following that the time has dropped a few milliseconds.

The relay team placed second in the Arcadia Invitational with a final time of 3:18.

The Arcadia Winter Championship is the highest ranking meet that the Track and Field team participates in, where athletes compete at a national level. Despite the nerve-racking emotions that come with running against the top athletes in the nation, the team felt confident in their training and racing abilities, and knew that records and podium finishes were within their reach. Individual records were also not far off, as seniors Richardson and Aviles were both off the 400 individual meter record by 0.2 seconds. And Malinowski tied the high jump record at 6.33. With all the points combined, Peninsula ended up finishing second place overall at Arcadia.

“You're not going to get competition like that anywhere else,” Aviles said. “So it was nerve-racking, but your confidence is definitely going to be [higher]. You know what you can do with your abilities, especially [with] how we perform.”