Marin Catholic junior Hunter Juarez has made a habit of crossing finish lines well ahead of his competition during his breakout track season this year. In fact, Juarez has to be considered the undisputed fastest sprinter in the Marin County Athletic League so far this year, having gone unbeaten against MCAL opponents, in the 100 meters, 200 meters, 4x100 meter relay, and 4x400 meter relay.
Juarez recently clocked in at an automatically-timed, albeit wind-aided, time of 10.96 in the 100 meter dash at the prestigious UC Davis Woody Wilson Invitational, and followed that up with a wind-legal time of 11.08 at the Sacramento Meet of Champions. Both times are among the top six in the entire North Coast Section, so naturally he is expected to continue his dominance at the MCAL Championships on May 14th.
The Wildcats’ track and field coach, Wayne Patton, can recall a time when Juarez set his sights on being the MCAL’s fastest sprinter, something that is now a reality. But it has taken hard work to get him there.
“He’s one of the first guys here every day when I pull in and usually one of the last here,” Patton said. “He’s working on whatever small detail he messed up on in the last [meet]. That’s what Hunter is all about, improving himself throughout the year.”
That undeniable attention to detail is the reason Juarez enjoys running the 100 meter race so much.
“My favorite race is the 100 (meter dash),” Juarez said. “I love how technical it is. It’s a race of pure speed.”
Not even Juarez quite expected the success that he has had this season. Originally, Juarez joined the track and field team to improve his speed for football, where he earned honorable mention all-league honors this past fall. Now he is a captain of both teams.
“Coming into this [track] season, I expected to be fast,” Juarez said. “But not as fast as I am. It has become a true sport to me, not just training for football.”
Now that he has seen what he is capable of, Juarez has set lofty goals for the remainder of the track season. He plans on advancing past the MCAL and NCS championships to run multiple events at the state level.
Competing for Northern California titles is something Juarez is accustomed to. He played a fundamental role in last year’s Marin Catholic football team’s success as a lockdown defensive back. The Wildcats won the Division IV NCS title before losing to Central Catholic in the Small School Open Division Northern California Bowl Game. Juarez and the Wildcats open the 2016 season with Central Catholic on the road.
He reflected on the opportunity for the Wildcats to avenge last season’s loss and what his goals for the approaching football season were.
“I’m excited for our first game against Central Catholic (in the fall),” Juarez said. “We are going to give them a good fight. But a state championship is always [our] goal. And (individually), I want to be the best defensive back in Northern California.”
To an outsider, those may seem like lofty goals. To Juarez, however, it is just another challenge and opportunity to make an impact on a bigger stage. That quest starts this spring, where it will hopefully finish at the CIF state track and field meet, at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
