By Hanson Han, Sports Editor
The new year has started, which means big changes for the Mills Track and Field team. With winter conditioning underway, Coach Lawrence Cappel has made some crucial additions to the coaching staff.
Coach Cappel has brought back Coach Pat Lewis as Mills’ throwing coach. Coach Lewis was a phenomenal throwing coach for Mills in the past, guiding many young throwers to championships and college offers. Coach Lewis has a lot of experience under his belt, coaching 20 years at Oceana High School, 15 years at Jefferson High School, and 10 years here at Mills. After his 10th year at Mills, he stepped away from coaching for a few years. However, in a turn of events, Coach Lewis has decided to come back to Mills and help restore its throwing team to what it used to be.
In his 10 years at Mills, Coach Lewis helped create a dynasty for the Mills throwing program. A testament to what Coach Lewis can do, would be in the 2016 PAL (Peninsula Athletic League) Championships, made up of 17 total schools. In the top 6 for men’s shot put, 5 of them were from Mills. Mills also placed first and second in the women’s discus.
Just a year later, in 2017, at the 48th Annual Pacific Grove Rotary Invitational, Mills took home all three podium spots in both women’s discus and shot put. Tulouna Langi, Julia Gibbs, and Taina Livai were all named Athletes of the Week in the San Mateo Daily Journal for their accomplishments. Langi was later named the San Mateo Daily Journal Girl’s Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
Another example of how Coach Lewis helped dominate the league was with Erik Kramer and Tevita Lataimua, who were league champions for all four years of their high school career. In their senior year, both throwers qualified for the state championship, a feat that is much easier said than done.
Ever since 2003, Mills has had 178 medals at the PAL championships, 49 of them being gold. The majority of these medals came from the throws. With all of these accomplishments all within the high school time frame, let’s look at the opportunities that these feats have created post-Mills.
Throughout her high school career, Sabrina Mendoza made 3 trips to CCS and 2 trips to state. This caught the attention from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, which subsequently offered her a scholarship to attend its program. She is now a Track and Field Coach for the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Another stellar athlete from Mills was Josh Uikilifi, who went on to CSM and Cal State Stanislaus, where he became a two-time Division II All-American. This title is arguably the highest achievement an athlete can earn.
But what does this mean for the Mills throwing program today? With the return of Coach Lewis, the foundation for what could be another dynasty is in place. The cornerstone has been laid, with the only problem being the number of athletes needed to build around it. A message to all would be to just give a shot. Putting yourself out there and giving it a go never hurt anyone. This upcoming season will be one you wouldn’t want to miss. Go Vikings!
