The track and field team is starting off on the right foot after coming out of a highly successful cross country season; the girl’s team went to states and won fourth place overall, and the boys placed second overall in CCS division II, while junior Grant Morganfeld made it to states placing 18th overall.  

“We did really well in cross country so I’m excited to see a lot of our runners do really well in the 800, 1600, and 3200,” Morganfeld said.

The distance runners have been training during the offseason, preparing for the shorter races in the spring compared to the 5k cross-country races. 

“I’m really excited to see the team perform this year,” Morganfeld said. “I think the coaches have done a really good job conditioning us over the break.”  

Spring workouts for distance runnings are focused more on speed work and shorter repetitions, focusing more on the anaerobic system. In addition, the team has a new distance coach, Peter Elarde, who will be working with returning coach Casper Vroemen. 

“We have had a really strong distance program these past few years, and just looking at the underclassmen I feel like that trend will continue for years to come,” junior Zachary Spain said.  

While the throwing team hopes to throw farther and stronger, and the jumping team looks to jump closer to victory, the running team hopes to run faster and improve their speed and times.

“Everyone is looking forward to PR (personal record),” Morganfeld said. “A lot of these athletes, especially the seniors, have been running for many years, and so we’re all looking for some steady improvement.”

The team has its first meet on March 1 at home against Homestead. Everyone on the team is looking forward to competitions, as well as the first invitational: Rust Buster. 

The team has nine dual meets this season, in addition to five invitational which includes the renowned Arcadia invitational in April. After the regular season, there are two CCS meets, followed by the CIF state final. 

“I feel like we have a lot of potential to go CCS this year, we just need to keep the team healthy to ensure we can keep our roster strong,” Spain said. 

The team has around 200 student-athletes, and many feel confident in the team this year, not only in the upperclassmen but the underclassmen too. 

“The freshmen show a lot of promise and they seem to be super enthusiastic which is always a good sign for the start of the season,” junior Sirisha Mitra said. 

The jumping team, participating in the long jump and the triple jump is looking forward to competing this season. In addition, this group hopes to accomplish much as it is jumping coach Ed Sullivan’s last year before retirement. 

“We’re just excited to jump and give coach Ed a good send-out,” junior Nicholas Irribaren said.

This season, the team hopes to make it as far as they can this season in the playoffs while improving their running times, jumping ability, and throwing strength.