After a long offseason, the track team is ready to spring back into action. Since their last meet on February 28, 2026 at Fowler’s and Dinuba’s Track fields, the athletes have been practicing non-stop and are preparing for a new season filled with competition and personal goals.
Sophomore Brandon Zarr Rodriguez, a runner in the long distance event, expresses his readiness for this season.
“I’m for sure ready for this season,” exclaims Rodriguez, “I prepared for this season by doing around 7 weeks of practice before the season started. I’m looking forward to seeing more PRs from me and the team.”
Rodriguez has been on the track team for 3 years. He chose to be part of the field running event because of his past experiences and ambition for running. Dedicating his time and energy to the sport, he has been determined to keep his PR (personal records) to its utmost best.
“I got myself to try out for track,” he states, “It just seemed like something fun and I’ve always loved running. So I decided to try out and have been involved in it ever since.”
For others, like junior Jacob Monge, found the push to try out after encouragement from loved ones. Monge runs 800-meter race and recently has completed his first race in Dinuba
“I’ve been wanting to try out for the team out of my own interest,” says Monge, “but my uncles encouraged me to try out and pushed me ultimately to go out and try the sport.”
After the first meet of the season, Monge said the team felt proud but were ready to go back to practice and perfect in their respective skills.
“The team felt satisfied with our last meet,” Monge explains, “It was our first meet so obviously improvement can be made but I believe we all did well for our first meet.”
The track team is made up of many different categories of events. Each requires specific skills and training. One of the most popular categories in the running events are the meter runs and relay races. Meter runs range from short sprints like 100m and 200m races to longer distance events such as 1600m runs. Relay races range from 4×100 to 4×400, combining individual speed with teamwork, as runners must smoothly pass a baton to one another. These running events test not only physical strength but also discipline and mental focus.
“Even though we practice in our respective events,” expresses Monge, “we all still support and encourage each other as much as we can.”
Furthermore, track offers field events like jumps, throws, and pole vault . The jumping events consist of long jump, triple jump, and high jump. Long jump is where athletes sprint down a runway and leap using a single jump to go as far as possible in the sand pit. The triple jump involves a running start followed by one hop, a step, and then a final jump in the sand pit. The high jump challenges athletes to leap over a horizontal bar set at increasing height without knocking it down. Pole vault stands out as an event where athletes use a pole to launch themselves over a high bar. Some throwing events are shot put and discus. In shot put athletes push a heavy metal ball from their shoulder as far as they could. While in discus, athletes spin in a circle and throw a disc as far as they can.
WIth daily practices running from 3:45 to 5:15pm, the team continues to train hard and prepare for the upcoming meets. WIth dedication, teamwork, and determination, he team is ready to race into this season!
