Written by Ariel Connell, Staff Writer
As Riverside Poly’s track team kicks off a new season, students are getting new personal records, and the team is racking up point after point.
With meet after meet and invitational after invitational, Poly track has been improving day in and day out. Because track is an individual sport, scoring works differently, where only the top places in each race receive points for each dual meet, which is comparable to other individual sports like swimming.
Students this year are dominating both the track and the field. Senior Benjamin Solis explains “I have gotten a few new PR’s this season, and I’m looking to qualify for a few more invitationals soon”. Benjamin races mid to long distances, including the 1600, 800, and occasionally the 4×4. Students have been invited to weekend meets like the Roosevelt and King invitationals, where coaches decide who races, putting Poly’s best racers forward. Some students are even looking forward to qualifying for national races like the Nike Outdoor Nationals, which will be held in Oregon this summer.
Freshman Aubrey Connell explains that her favorite part of the meets is “not just racing against other people, but cheering for [her] friends,” iterating how “a lot of the team feels like a big friend group,” both on and off the track. The team is close knit and appears to be all friends, with students constantly on the sidelines cheering for their peers.
At their first meet against King, second to fourth year track students earned personal records left and right. At that meet, junior Ally Tayton set a new junior record for pole vault with a jump at 10’3″. She highlighted how she’s “so excited to continue to improve and hopefully set some new school records”.
Not only that, students have been excelling in high jump, long jump, shotput, and discus. Olivia McPherson (11) tells how she has “started the year off strong with some really good jumps and a good time in the 100 at the last meet” and how she is “nervous yet excited to see what the rest of the short season brings”.
The team looks extremely promising for the new year and students have been doing great in their events so far. Important meets are coming up, so be sure to listen to third period announcements and attend their meets to cheer on your peers and watch them achieve greatness!