Fryer: Servite’s fleet of young, ‘incredible’ sprinters not wasting any time ...Middle East

The Servite track and field team has assembled the greatest speed group Orange County history.

“In state history, too,” said Rich Gonzalez, who runs PrepCalTrack.com.

Servite’s 4×100 relay team tied the Orange County record in the event on March 3 with a time of 41.24 seconds in the Trabuco Roundup.

Then the foursome broke the record with a 40.82 in the first Trinity Cluster Meet on March 20.

The Friars broke their own county record with a 40.56 in the Trabuco Hills Invitational on April 5.

Seven days later they broke it again, with a 40.00 in the Arcadia Invitational. That’s also a state record and the best time in the nation this season.

That 4×100 foursome is made up of two sophomores and two freshmen.

Servite this season also set county records in the 4×200 (1 minute, 23.88 seconds) and the 4×400 (3:12.33).

The 4×400 team is all freshmen.

“It’s incredible,” said Orange County track historian Don Chadez, who weekly publishes the season’s county leaders at FlashWest.com and annually publishes an updated O.C. track and field record book at that website. “Four freshmen that run a 3:12 in the 4×400, and the 40-flat in the 4×100? That’s incredible.”

The 4×100 team starts with freshmen Jorden Wells, sophomore Benjamin Harris runs the second leg, freshman Kamil Pelovello takes the baton for the third leg and sophomore Robert Gardner is the anchor.

The 4×200 group is, in order of how they run it, Harris, Gardner, freshman Jace Wells and freshman Jaelen Hunter.

The all-freshman 4×400 team is composed of, in order of how they run it, Hunter, Pelovello, and twins Jace Wells and Jorden Wells.

Gonzalez said it’s overdue that a California team runs a sub-40 4×100 relay.

“It’s time for California to get the feeling of what it’s like in Texas where for a few years they’ve been running it in the 39s (seconds),” Gonzalez said. “It’s shocking that no California teams have ever run in the 39s. But to see what Servite is doing, getting close to it so fast, it’s surprising and exciting, for sure.”

Some of the sprinters also play football, including Harris, who transferred to Servite from Long Beach Poly where he spent his freshman year. Harris already knew the other Servite sprinters before he transferred.

“Jaelen Hunter and I were on the same club team and I ran against Jorden a couple of times during club track,” Harris said Wednesday before winning the 100 in 10.51 in the Trinity Cluster #2 meet at Mater Dei. “But we were never all together until now. I made my move to Servite and it’s all been history from there.”

Harris also is the county leader in the 100 with his winning time of 10.33 at this past weekend’s Arcadia Invitational. That’s the second-fastest wind-legal time in Orange County history. Mater Dei’s Domani Jackson set the county record (10.25) in 2021.

The Servite group had one setback, when one of the 4×100 team runners stumbled after the baton exchange in the Texas Relays in Austin last month. But that’s been the only negative moment.

“We had a mishap in Texas,” Jorden Wells said. “We have to make sure it doesn’t happen again. We just have to keep trusting each other and that’s the biggest part of this, trusting our teammates.”

The Servite track and field head coach is Brandon Thomas, who was the sprints coach at the school under his predecessor Richard Gibbs when Thomas’ sprinter son Max Thomas was the Orange County boys track and field athlete of the year in 2021. Max Thomas now runs at USC.

Thomas also coaches at all-girls Catholic school Rosary in Fullerton. Rosary set the girls 4×100 county record at the Arcadia Invitational with a time of 45.47 seconds, the best time in California this season, and got the county record in the 4×200 with a time of 1 minute, 36.96 seconds in the Texas Relays last month.

Next up for the Servite group is the Mt. SAC Relays on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College. The track there is known as a quick surface.

The Friars have relay teams entered in the 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400 on Saturday.

Several of the Friars are entered in individual invitational events; invitational events are the elite, top-level events. Jorden Wells is in the invitational 100. Harris is in the invitational 200 in which his time of 21.17 at Arcadia tied him with Santa Margarita’s Leo Francis for the fourth-best time in California this season.

Los Alamitos speedster Devin Bragg is entered in the100 and 200 at Mt. SAC, too, and is very capable of winning either or both if at his best. Bragg’s 21.11 in the 200 at Arcadia is the best in the county and third best in the state this season.

Hunter is in the invitational 400. Other Servite sprinters are sprinkled into some non-invitational sprints and hurdles races.

Long Beach Poly’s 4×100 relay team is entered in the Mt. SAC Relays, too. Poly finished second to Servite at Arcadia with a 40.32, the second-best time in the state this season.

“Servite is getting so much attention, so much deserved attention, that people don’t realize how well Poly is running,” Gonzalez said. “You can bet they’re licking their chops to try to get Servite this weekend.”

Thomas said Poly’s presence could make Servite’s 4×100, which won the event at Wednesday’s Trinity League meet in 41.00 seconds, even better and even faster.

“We’re super excited about that,” Thomas said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

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