KING CITY — King City High School distance ace Israel Limosnero set a school record in the 800 meters at 1:55.17 last Saturday at the Central Coast Section Track and Field Championship Finals at Gilroy High School.
Limosnero led for most of the race but was able to hang for third place, earning at spot in the upcoming California Interscholastic Federation State Meet.
“Izz had taken the lead in the race until the last 100-120 meters,” said King City head coach Israel Rocha. “He ran a really good race against some strong competition. It will be a fun experience to take him to the State Meet.”
King City distance coach Miguel Zamudio was cautiously optimistic before Saturday’s event but knew that anything could happen in a highly competitive race.
“I knew it was going to be hard to run for a State placing,” Zamudio said. “Israel’s favorite race had been the mile, although he started running the 400 to build up his speed and ran a personal best of 51.49 in that race. He ended up running the nearly back-to-back 400 and 800 double and he also enjoyed being part of our 4 x 400 relay team. With such an improvement in his speed, we saw he was capable of running some good 800 races. By the time league was over, the 800 was his best event and he ran his best in the most important race so far this season.”
The 18-year-old Limosnero is a resident of San Ardo and the son of Claudia Zuniga. He broke the 800 meters record that was held by Eduardo Orozco, who had the record at 1:56.51.
The State Meet will be the last competitive race for Limosnero for a while, as he will begin basic training in the Marine Corps just two days after graduation from King City High School.
The State Meet will take place the weekend of May 26-27 at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
