Saturday, May 9, 2026
We journeyed up to Ventura's Buena H.S. for Jacob's final track meet as a member of the Camarillo Cosmos youth track team before moving on to the Camarillo High School Scorpions track and field program.
The meet today was the VCYTC's
Varsity Finals
This was Jacob's fourth season
running and jumping for the Cosmos
As a grandparent, I can not stress nearly enough how good this youth program has been for both Jacob and Mary.
It is a solid organization, in my opinion.
The VCYTC Varsity Finals is an exclusive meet as competitors must first attain, at some time during the season, a minimum qualifying standard for an event. No easy feat by any means.
That Jacob qualified in FIVE events was truly a great accomplishment.
Historically, Ventura County has produced many great track and field athletes over the many decades starting with Clarence "Bud" Houser who won the Olympic Gold Medal in both the Shot Put and the Discus at the 1924 Paris Games. That was the last time a male athlete won Gold Medals in these two events in the same Olympiad. Houser was just two years removed from graduating from Oxnard H.S. at the time.
At the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, Houser again earned the Gold Medal in the Discus.
Today's meet again featured several truly amazing youngsters who performed at high levels.
The VCYTC is composed of 11 different youth track clubs:
Representing the El Rio community
Representing the Fillmore and
Santa Paula communities
Representing the Agoura and
Westlake communities
We arrived at Buena bright and
early to set up our canopies
Mary and her friend both competed
at J.V. Finals last week and both
have older siblings competing today
Vanessa's AI app turned these
two into Barbie dolls
This is all beyond my capabilities.
An hour after our arrival, the
meet was finally ready to start
Jacob's first event was the
4 x 100 Meters Relay
He ran the Third Leg as he is
proficient running the curve
He ran a GREAT leg if I do say so myself.
A Fifth Place finish earned the
team a medal
The medal winners in the
4 x 100 Meters Relay
The team's time of 49.46 was their
best of the season
It was a good way to start their day having shaved 1.07 seconds off their previous best mark of 2026.
Jacob's best marks, year-by-year, in this event were:
2023: 63.27
2024: 57.06
2025: 53.53
2026: 49.46
On to the Long Jump
It is hard to get good Long Jump
photos at this venue
Up in the air!
Nice vertical
Now, stick that landing
This was a tough event for Jacob today finishing in Ninth Place with a best mark of 15'-8".
Jacob's best marks, year-by-year, in this event were:
2023: 12'-3"
2024: 14'-0"
2025: 16'-0 1/2"
2026: 16'-3"
It should be noted that the winner of this event today shattered the previous all-time best Long Jump in VCYTC's history.
The long time previous record was held by the Moorpark Striders Steve Carnes who jumped 19'-8 1/2" in 1985.
Today, United Track's Daxton Andersen flew an astounding 21'-9 1/4" to now also lead the nation in this event for his age group.
400 Meters Dash heading
down the home stretch
It's going to be a tight race
for the Medal Stand
Jacob held off both of these runners
Third Place in a time of 56.97
A great day for a Personal Best!
Thumbs up indeed!
He was quite happy with . . .
. . . his performance in this race
Jacob's best marks, year-by-year, in this event were:
2023: 84.70
2024: 64.68
2025: 60.99
2026: 56.97
Time for the Coaches' Medley Relay which gave all athletes some needed rest time.
Not sure which staff was sponsored . . .
. . . by the T-Rex Society of Ventura
County but we all had fun watching
them compete
Back to the kids . . .
First lap of Jacob's 800 Meters run
Good stride
Battling again for a spot on the podium
Jacob finished in Fifth Place
with a time of 2:17.13
Podium Ceremony once again
Jacob's best marks, year-by-year, in this event were:
2023: 2:54.03
2024: Did Not Run
2025: 2:19.94
2026: 2:16.55
Although Jacob only ran this event nine times in his Cosmos career, some of his coaches believe that this may be his best event in the future if he trains more specifically for the event.
Running the Second Leg of the
4 x 400 Meters Relay
This event is always the last one of the meet and is for neither the cowardly nor the faint of heart.
Jacob entered the home stretch in
Third Place but . . .
. . . he turned on his jets . . .
. . . and handed the baton off
with the lead
Another extremely impressive leg on his part.
On the Medal Podium with a
Third Place finishing time of 3:56.25
His team again ran a seasonal best in beating their former fastest time by 3.85 seconds!
This was the FOURTH fastest time run in in the 4 x 400 Meters Relay in his age group in the FIFTY YEAR history of the Camarillo Cosmos program!
Jacob's best marks, year-by-year, in this event were:
2023: 5:39.02
2024: 4:31.98
2025: 4:09.75
2026: 3:56.25
After a great day to finish off Jacob's Cosmos career. There was but one thing left to do for Laurie and me.
Get some of Ventura County's
best BBQ for dinner
If only we could bottle the aroma
of burnt animal flesh coming from
Marshall's BBQ pit as we entered
I love this hombre's t-shirt!
I loved Marshall's Bodacious BBQ's half rack of baby back pork ribs more.
While we were having all of this fun in Ventura, there were American football games being played in Italy.
Italian DI Result
No surprise here as the Firenze Guelfi (6-0) hammered the Lazio Marines (2-5).
Italian DII Result
Girone B Conference Game
The Monza Daemons (6-0), with only two games left to play, are now in full control of the Girone B title with their second victory over a good Padova Saints (5-2) team.
Italian DIII Result
Girone A Conference Game
The Varese Gorillas (5-1) had a bit of a battle in outlasting the Lugano Rebels (0-5).
The Gorillas thus finished alone in First Place in Girone A. They have byes the last two weeks of the regular season.
Italian DIII Result
Girone D Conference Game
The Formigine Honey Badgers (5-0) cemented their stranglehold on Girone D with this important win over Pisa TFU (3-2).
Italian DIII Result
Girone F Conference Game
The Ravenna Chiefs (5-1) claimed the Girone F crown with this close win over the Verona Redskins (4-2). The Chiefs and Redskins both have byes the final two weeks of the regular season.
Today's final thought from a Cuban site on the net . . .
"When telephones were in fixed spots,
humans were free"
I am both guilty and agree.
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