Track and Field Privew

Austin Bolinger
Sports Editor

For a young team, the boys and girls track teams look very strong. The boys track team are fifty three deep and they do not have one senior. Most of these fifty three boys are returning and they are good. They have sophomore Donivan Montoya running distance for them after he ran Cross Country for Rangeview in the last Fall season. They also have sophomore Steffen Johnson that will be running sprints this year. “I expect J.B. to do great things after his return from the injured hamstring last year,” said Head Coach Gonzales. Coach Gonzales was referring to junior Jonathan Mathews. There are some young jumpers to go with the new jump coach, Mrs. Kilker. She will be replacing Coach Wright who was coaching before her. There will also be another addition to the coaching staff, Coach Berthold. He will be coaching the distance runners this year instead of Coach Sullivan that was the coach before Berthold. Under Coach Mills supervision will be the returning junior Sean Melton and Brandon Watts. Most of the throwers are returning this year. “We might be young, but with the commitment to the winter track this year was great. We have a lot of guys that are already in shape and the numbers were promising,” said Coach Gonzales.
As for the girls track team, they are looking pretty deep even though they are very young as well when it comes to their ranks. They have the returning sophomore Rikki Gonzales that also runs and placed in state for Cross Country. She will be running the long distance which includes the 800 meter, mile and 4X4. Senior Shilay Willis will be returning this year as one of the few seniors and as their 400 meter and 200 meter runner. With juniors Janessa Villanueva and Elisia Laws and senior Stephanie Burns running the 800 meter, mile and 2 mile, the long distance is looking very good. As for the girls’ thrower team, there is senior Samantha Jackson that is leading the team and Katie Pham that placed 7th in discuss and 5th in shot put in the state. There is also Kim Kenrich and Jasmine Thomas. “The throwers really carried us last year, when you can count twenty or twenty one points from them alone, it really helps,” said Head Girls Coach Anderson. “They were our anchor last year and I’m counting on them this year.” Having a strong team return for the throwers is going to take them far this year. To Coach Anderson, every race is important, “We run every race like it’s our last, and see how it all shakes out.”