SHS hits the ground running for track and field
The runners line up for their race after warming up, jogging, and stretching. Once ready, they get down on their blocks and wait for the buzzer. As the buzzer rings its chime into the air they begin to take off, and almost as if eagle wings were on their feet, they ran with the wind and finished their race.
This is what race day looks like for Southwest High School track athletes. Alvis Harrington, sprinting coach of SHS, said that he enjoys allowing athletes to achieve new heights that they hadn’t thought they could before, and that’s why people should join track.
“It’s inspiring,” Harrington said. “The reason why we do this is to help other people achieve the goals that they probably thought they couldn’t achieve. I still like to coach because when I get to see someone accomplish something they didn’t believe they could do, it’s fulfilling as a coach.”
The girls’ track and field team has already won their league meet against Calexico, so they are on their way to defending their 6-year Imperial Valley League title.
But, it’s a common saying among runners at SHS that the competition is against the clock, not other people and that’s best seen with the athlete Yizereth Cisneros, the school’s ambulatory 100 and 200-meter runner. She uses a frame runner to run, and she said she enjoys competing and practicing with the rest of her team.
“It limits me but I can still run track,” Cisneros said. “But what keeps me motivated is that even though it’s a hard sport we’re still doing it and competing, And also it’s just fun. I made friends in track and I’m not in it just for the sport, it’s also because I like the environment and it’s a fun experience.”
Cisneros said that with the help of the track team and her effort, she could make it to the California Interscholastic Federation competition and win.
Other athletes like Ruben Fernandez, one of SHS’s newer long- distance runners, said he’s excited to start doing track because it’s different from other sports he’s played in the past.
“I’ve done baseball before and I think track is more mental than physical because you really have to push yourself, and that’s what makes it pretty hard,” said Fernandez. “It’s worth it though. To just be a part of a bigger group because with baseball it’s smaller and there’s different people here.”
Returning athletes like Mario Farias, one of the track team’s distance runners, said he keeps on returning to track because it takes his mind off his everyday troubles.
“I do track because it feels like an escape when I’m running,” Farias said. “Like when I’m running I’m not worrying about anything else but running. (SHS long-distance running coach) Bird thinks I can break 5 minutes on the 1600 meter and I hope that on the 3200 meter, I’ll get 11: 30. I also hope I can get sub 2: 10 on the 800 meter.”
Track in SHS is constantly changing due to new athletes every year, injuries, and outgoing athletes. Harrington said that this year in particular brought about lots of change as many previous athletes left.
“It’s a rebuild year,” Harrington said. “We get these types of years every so often in track where you get three to four years of solid track athletes, and then you have to rebuild again. Learning the culture, the regulations, and the goals we have for them are some of the things we rebuild.”