The boys and girls varsity track and field teams completed their pre-season training and are now heading into the season with fresh minds and clear goals to accomplish.

Both the athletes and coaches are optimistic about the season according to Sprints Coach Larry Grier.

“I believe in our athletes, this year they will be accomplishing all of their individual goals and that will help us as a team accomplish the main goal, which is going to states,” Grier said.

Last spring, the boys and girls teams performed well in the District Championship as the boys finished runner up and the girls finished in fourth place, with many runners also going on to compete in the Regional Championship Finals. One athlete was able to make it to the State Championship meet. 

This year the team is taking a different approach as they hope to make states. According to Grier, the road to States starts with hard work and going to practice everyday.

“During this pre-season training process I feel like we had a lot more people show up than last year and because of that I believe that we are ahead of schedule,” Grier said. 

Last season there were not many seniors on the team as the girls only had one and the boys had two which made the team’s average age very young. Because of this, many athletes returned and this year, some new faces have joined the team.

“Because we were such a young team last year I think it makes this year so much better because a lot of athletes will be coming back with more experience and more confidence in themselves,” Head Coach David Suarez said.

With the increased number of people joining the team this year there will be a lot more opportunities for athletes to try out new events that could help the team earn points.

“This year I will be trying out long jump, which is an event that I didn’t do last year. I think it would not only benefit me but also the team this season as we try to have the best season possible,” sophomore Lena Gabrielle said.

So far both the boys and girls teams have been practicing five days a week including two days where they use the weight room. 

“I think it is very beneficial to us now to be able to use the weights as we can get stronger and faster for our events,” junior Sebastien Lacrete said.

The Raiders will have their first meet at Palmer Trinity on Feb. 16 where they hope to start off their season on the right track.