Angel now holds 4 school records across track and field and cross country

By DARIO RODRIGUEZ 

The Tower  

Records were made to be broken. Whether it be a world record or a personal record, they all meant to be broken by a destined individual. On March 16th of 2024 Oscar Angel shattered a 30-year-old school record, and showed the world what he was capable of.  

The 3200-meter school record for Manteca High School was previously set in 1994 at the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Finals by Hector Ceija with a time of 9:42.3. On March 16th, 2024, at the Dublin Distance Fiesta, where the best runners in the state of California and Nevada come together, Angel ran a time of 9:28.47. Angel is now the school record holder for the 5000m, 3 Mile, 4000m, and 3200m events as a Junior. Manteca High School’s distance program has significantly benefited from Angel’s success in both Cross Country and Track and Field.  

“At first breaking records was big deal for me, but now it feels like a milestones in my career,” said Angel in a recent interview. Angel is only a junior in high school and is setting the bar high for future generations of runners. 

“It feels good to put my name up on the leaderboards when no one has done it in the past 30 years, and I can only hope to break more records.”  

Manteca High School’s head track and field coach had this to say about Angel.  

“If you were to ask me if I thought Oscar was going to be at the level that he is at now back when he first started, I would’ve thought maybe senior year he would, but I was shocked on how hard he started to work and how much progress he has made since his freshman year,”.  

Many of Manteca high school’s records for cross country and track and field were set between the years 1980-2010, all by athletes who went on to run at the collegiate level. But as the years go on more and more athletes strive to achieve the impossible. Seeing Angel in practice and at meets, it is evident that he is putting every ounce of will into anything he does to better himself.   

Angel has gone from JV athlete to one of the best runners in the state and even the nation. He has accomplished feats that some people can only dream of. Some could say that he has done the impossible.