As spring sport season begins, girls and boys track are looking to continue their legacies as two of the best teams in the state. With skilled runners and dedicated coaches, Westside is looking forward to a successful season.
“From last year we’ve established more goals together as a team and we’re working towards creating a sort of ‘family,’” Jaylen Knight, senior on girls track, said. “We’re bringing the team together and it’s very exciting. It makes the hard days that much better.”
Along with girls track, boys track is looking to improve. After losing some key components to the team, the boys will have to work hard to accomplish their goals.
“We did lose a lot of good runners the last couple years, which is always a struggle for most teams,” Jaydon Carlson, senior on boys track, said. “We lost Milo Greder, who has the state record in the mile, as well as some of our best sprinters. Although, according to the D-Crew group chat, our number one struggle is the fact that we can’t take our shirts off during practice anymore.”
As the girls continue to practice for tough competition, head coach Jonathan Preister knows his runners will overcome any obstacles throughout the season.
“I think our biggest struggle this year will be getting everyone on the same page, we need to make sure everyone knows their roles and what they need to do to make sure they are helping the team as best as possible and really developing that middle depth of the team,” Preister said.
By setting goals, the track teams will be able to find success.
“We want to stay positive and push ourselves everyday to reach some of our goals and have some big performances this year throughout the team,” Knight said. “We have a lot of strength and potential this year in all aspects on the track and with the goals and values we’ve established as a team, I truly think we’re going to do some big things this year.”
In the words of boys distance coach, Tobin Ehlers—
“Hey, run fast, jump high, throw far.”
The girls and boys track teams will compete at their next meet this Friday March 23 at Millard South.
Photo by: Olivia Washburn
