Boy’s track and field starts their season with high aspirations.
“The goals for all of our guys is to beat their personal records,” Coach Jon Pereiro said.
Team members don’t just join for fun, they join to compete.
“The team is crazy dedicated. I am looking forward to seeing more personal records. The culture is real on this team,” Riley Mclyntre, senior said.
The team is one big family, but individually they feel they need to increase skill for one another to truly achieve what is expected.
“My primary focuses this season are to continue getting better each practice and to see my results when it comes to meets. My main goal this season is to qualify for state,” Yazan Masri, junior said.
With track starting indoors there are hurdles to jump over.
“The challenge with indoor season is space. It’s hard to work it out when other sports are currently going as well. Even though we face this problem, we make it work and find new ways to get better,” Pereiro said.
A lot is put into practicing and preparing for the big moments and split-second decisions.
“If you can control what goes on in the mind, you will have the opportunity to do something special. I try to embed this skill in all the athletes,” Pereiro said.
Despite individual goals, will be no “I” in team through this program.
“Track often is seen as a self-individual sport. Truly it’s all about bonding with teammates, not because coach told everyone to but because they do truly care. Seeing the amazing things that those players can do brings the teammates together.” Pereiro said.
Track and field has many events, so scheduling can be all over the place.
“It can get hard, but I see it as one big puzzle. To finish the puzzle, you have to put all the pieces in the right place,” Pereiro said.
The meets and competitions will come and go, but what happens in preparation of these events is crucial.
“In practice we usually go to the weight room and lift, and then sometimes we throw in the field house. Overall, practice is taken seriously, but we still have fun as a team,” Zack Arneson, senior, said.
Teammates think of this sport as more than just an after-school hobby.
“If I had to describe track in one word it would be team, because without my teammates around me working together to get better personal records, it would just be the disc and me,“ Collin Walzer, junior, said, “It’s better to be surrounded with people that all have the same will power to get better. It’s encouraging.’’