With the Arcadia Invitational, from Apr. 9-10, behind us, Arcadia Track has been one of the busiest sports teams at Arcadia High School. From weekly track meets to daily practices even on no-school days, here’s a closer look at the daily life of an Arcadia Track member.

At daily practices, Arcadia Track starts off with attendance and announcements, followed by warmups and drills. With the constant exertion of their bodies, track members agree that stretching and warming up is one of the most important things to do to prevent injury and achieve their best performance. Their workouts vary depending on the day, anywhere from 500-meter sprinting to 40-yard dashes to different circuits to get the best acceleration while still keeping up stamina.

Along with track workouts, members participating in field events have additional practice. Depending on their event, practices range from perfecting technique and strength on things like long jump, relays, high jump, and shot put. All of Arcadia Track also trains in the weight room to build their muscles and power. These practices start during 6th period and end around 4-5 p.m. Before a track meet, preparation includes light jogging and strides, keeping it easy for the next day.

As a member of Arcadia Track, the most important thing to remember is to try your best to consistently improve and push yourself. Members agree that on the team, people are constantly motivated to break through their PRs, since “there’s always room for improvement,” stated junior Leo Liang.

Junior Chloe Schell said, “the most important duty of any Track member is to work their hardest at every practice to bring themselves and others up.”

Junior Irene Lema also mentioned that “the most important duty of any Track member is being there for your teammates; being there for each other makes everyone do better because you have a support system.”

All Track members are also expected to help set up and clean up equipment during practices and volunteer to set up and clean up equipment during meets.

“For the Arcadia Invitational, I think I volunteered for 12 hours. I got there really early to help prepare and stayed at school until 11 at night. I liked cheering my teammates on and helping everything go smoothly, but I was really tired,” said sophomore Hailey Tam.

Experience-wise, Arcadia Track is a fairly close group of students. They spend multiple hours with each other every day and have outside bonding activities as well.

Lema described how her “experience on the Track team has been really nice. I’ve improved physically but also improved other skills like teamwork and sportsmanship. I have also made so many new friendships and that makes Track so much better.”

Well into their season, Lemo also said, “The season is going really well because the team has improved so much. Our times and marks have improved since the beginning of the season and many new PRs have been made during recent meets.”

Arcadia Track has been described as an incredibly rewarding experience for many, but it can also be mentally and physically exhausting.

Tang said, “the lows [of Track] are when we get punished because other people skip workouts.”

It’s a team sport, so when a few people are down, or if a few aren’t willing to pull their weight, the whole team is dragged down with them. However, these runners have remained positive and enthused. They find joy in the exhilarating atmosphere of Track meets and the constant encouraging community.

Photo courtesy of AUSD FACEBOOK