KENT BREAKS TWO HIGH SCHOOL RECORDS

By Jay Leon Guerrero

Hugh Kent is officially the high school king of long distances. After two meets, Kent succeeded in shattering both the 3000 meter and the 1500 meter records.

Kent, a senior from JFK, broke the 3000-meter high school record last week with a time of 8 minutes and 57 seconds. Kent kept the momentum going and shattered the mile record (1500 meters) by 10 seconds. Kent broke Isaac Ventura’s record by 10 seconds with a time of 4 minutes and 3.80 seconds.

Long distance records
3000 meters
Previous record: John Aquino IV (JFK) – 9 minutes, 21.78 seconds on April 27, 2013

New record: Hugh Kent (JFK) 8 minutes, 57.12 seconds on April 6, 2024

1500 meters
Previous record: Isaac Ventura (Guam High) – 4 minutes, 13.23 seconds on April 22, 2017
New record: Hugh Kent (JFK) – 4 minutes, 3.79 seconds on April 13, 2024

3000 meter record
“It was the first meet of the season, and I was feeling great. I looked at my pace (during the race), which was at about nine minutes, so I kept going,” said Kent. “I passed the line, and I looked up to see it was under nine minutes. It was a great feeling knowing that no one in high school has ever done that,” said Kent.

1500 meter record
Prior to the 1500 meter race Saturday night, Kent said he was going to shoot for a 4 minute, 10 second race. “I’m going for a time under 4 minutes, but realistically, I’m looking at a time somewhere around 4 minutes and 10 seconds,” said Kent.

As the gun sounded, Kent took off and immediately separated himself from the pack. At the final 100 meters, Kent was at around 3:49, and he sprinted to the finish to clock in at 4:03. His record shattered Isaac Ventura’s high school record by 10 seconds. Kent was all smiles after the race when he realized he had a new PR (personal record) time. His next goal is under 4 minutes for the mile.

With four meets remaining, Kent still has goals to win four goal medals and improve the records he just broke.

“I want to go under four minutes for the 1500, the goal is to make record times that will be difficult for someone to break in the future.”

– Record Breaker Hugh Kent

Aside from Kent’s races, there was still plenty of action on the track on Saturday. The Guam High Panthers continued its dominance in both girls’ and boys’ divisions with several athletes finishing first. (See Week 2 results attached)

In the girls’ long jump, Tiyan High School senior Gabby Quichocho won the event with a distance of 4.47 meters. “This season, we have a fairly new team, and the goal is to grow as a unit as the season continues,” said Quichocho. “I’ve been doing track for four years now, and my personal goal is to help the team by making the podium, especially in my jumps,” said Quichocho.

Genoel Asuncion from Okkodo said the team is looking to improve with every meet. The goal is to get as many Bulldogs as they can into the all-island next month.

“We are a team that is rebuilding. We have a new coach, but we are getting there,” said Asuncion. “Something we have now is better team discipline with our new coach. We all work hard at practice at the Okkodo track during practices to get better and improve,” said Asuncion. 

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