It’s been nearly a month since the Vacaville Christian High track and field team had its season end, but head coach DeShawn Seymour Sr. can’t help but stop smiling.
At the start of the season, Seymour recognized that his first hurdle was building consistency in his numbers. Originally having over 30 student athletes signed up, the Falcons only managed to get around 14 competitors total to the track for their first league meet that fluctuated as high as 18 competitors throughout the season
“It was definitely a spectacle among many things…but we were ready to rock and roll,” Seymour Sr. said.
Getting their footing, all came ahead for the Falcons back on May 4th. Though strong marks were made in the Field events, the Falcons shined in between the race lines, winning numerous racing competitions.
“I want to say we ended up taking over 14 different championships,” Seymour Sr. said.
In such a small program, the Falcons only had two seniors that crossed the stage at seasons end with Chris Lespron and Cali Webb, both who won multiple league events.
Lespron won league in the 800 meters (2:26.49), the 1600 meters (5:01.78) and a member of the 4X400 meter team (4:00.82) with Aaron Laxamana, Apollo Adams and Dominque Ruff.
Seymour Sr. credits Webb to having one of the biggest leaps of improvement in the program. For her first time competing in Track and Field, Webb managed to finish her season with winning the Sierra Delta League Title as a member of the 4X400 meter team with Cate Ferreira, Kara Krulick and Katrina Husby, they finished with at 4:52.07.
In the 400 meters, Seymour Sr. saw a jump in Webb’s speed endurance and tried her out at that distance at the League final. Finishing at 1:04.62, Webb won the event, only to be eclipsed at sub sections nearly 9 days later when she finished 2nd in her preliminaries at 1:02.65, a new school record.
“I knew she had it in her to advance and run well at sub sections” Seymour Sr. said about Webb’s efforts. “I just wasn’t expecting a 62 (seconds).”
Proud of their efforts and hard works, Seymour Sr. sees that their hard work sets a precedent for their younger classmates to work towards.
“They went out with a bang,” Seymour Sr. said. “They gave it everything that they had, they left as league champions and were a couple of seconds away from making it to masters this year. What it did was not only raise the bar for the juniors and sophomores and the incoming freshman. It also raised the bar for our program and our league.”
Another notable leap of improvement that Seymour Sr. recognized was Ruff. An accomplished runner, the junior was always challenged from Jordan Sherman, a senior from Linden High School. Having lost to him at different events prior to this year, Ruff managed to beat Sherman at every league event in his races this year.
“He put in the work, he followed the blueprint and he did not take a loss from that kid once at all,” Seymour Sr. said.
Though a strong showing in sub sections by the Falcons ended with no one on the podium, but Seymour Sr. remains excited for the future of Vacaville Christian in Track and Field. Excited for the incoming class of 2026, Seymour Sr. is ready to watch his son, D.J. come into the fold.
Finishing up his time on the Middle School level, D.J., or known by his peers as, “Flash,” he has hit his marks in the 100 meters at 11.03, the 200 meters at at 23.21, both would of landed him on the podium at the SDL meet.
“It’s going to be extremely exciting to see him on the high school level where he’s going to be one of the youngest ones on the track,” Seymour Sr. said. “I’m excited to see the peaks, I’m excited to see the lows, the rebounds and the bouncing back. I’m just excited to see how far he can be pushed.”
