Once again, our Track & Field team has made impressive progress. This time, it was triumphing at the CIF Southern Section Division Finals on May 14. The event had schools all over Southern California and the scores of our athletes were very impressive. There were three coaches, Coach Christopher Schultz, Coach Jacques Sallberg, and Coach Harji Singh, who accompanied our athletes to the meet at Moorpark High School, in Moorpark, California. 

With a mark of 3:56.83, our girls 4 x 400 Relay team of freshman Layla Roslan, seniors Shriya Velichala, Jane DePrima, and Sy’rai Yarborough, finished 7th in Division 1 and 10th overall. They were one spot short of qualifying for the Master’s Meet. They currently hold the 15th fastest time in California and are ranked as number 136 in the United States.

For a lot of athletes, it was their last season, with graduation being only days away. And although competing isn’t a new thing to them, worries arose, but failed to hinder their performance.

“I was very nervous,” shared Yarborough, “but I was excited to do what I love, running.” 

“I, too, was nervous about making it to the Masters Meet,” added Velichala, senior “but I was [also] excited to be around such competitive athletes.”

The training for CIF was tough, but it made use that our athletes stayed robust and showed them the meaning of resilience.. Sy’rai shares that apart from the exercises and rigorous training that the team underwent, they added their own exercises on top of everything.

“I really focused on warmups, and made sure that my exercises were thoroughly done,” Yarborough stated. 

“I focused more on speedwork. I was going over hurdles almost every day and I also worked on my start out of the blocks because that is a part of the race that I needed to work on. I also try to visualize the race in my head. It helps me stay focused and remember what I need to do when it comes time to race,” Velichala stated.

Although collaborative, the event highlighted a few athletes:

1. Senior Shriya Velichala finished second in the Division 1 300-meter hurdles. For the third week in a row, she ran a personal best and a school record in 44.78 seconds. She qualified for the Master’s Meet this week by placing 3rd overall in all  4 divisions (Divisions 1-4).
2. Senior Matthew Le finished 8th in the Division 1 Long Jump (20’9″) and 9th in the Triple Jump (42’11.5) to cap off a successful season.

“After my 300m hurdle race, I felt good because I ran a new personal best time and qualified for the next round.This gave me more motivation for my next event, the 4x400m relay. I knew I had to run one of my best races in order to help my team have a good chance of making it to the next meet. I did end up running my fastest split of the season. Unfortunately, we did not qualify for the next round but I was still really proud of my team because we all gave our best and improved our time by 3 seconds from the week before,” said Velichala.

But what stands out the most is the team camaraderie that occurred. The remainder of the contending institutions were up against a tight-knit group that would be difficult to overcome on  that Saturday morning. And this group will be very much missed!

“I will miss the family atmosphere of Track & Field and the dynamic among all of us [teammates],” added Yarborough.

“What I will miss most about the Track & Field Team are my teammates and my coach. My teammates have been my biggest support system throughout the year. They are always encouraging me to do my best and hearing them cheer while I run makes the biggest difference for me during my races. I am also going to miss our coaches. Since my freshman year Coach Schultz has always pushed me to believe that I can do more. I think it’s hard to find a coach that is as dedicated to his athlete as Coach Schultz is so I am definitely going to miss having him as a coach,” Velichala stated.

So next time you see them, congratulate our Track & Field athletes. They have had a very successful season and look forward to their accomplishments in the future! Go Apaches!

Photo Courtesy by DCI