By Claudia Casal

The Los Gatos track and field season is warming up as the team welcomes both newbies and veterans alike. The track and field season rolls around every year in the spring, and the Los Gatos athletes are now finishing their tryouts to begin running competitively in the coming months. 

Junior Lydia Chen returns to track and field for a third season. As a hurdles veteran, Chen has been competing in jumping hurdles since the eighth grade. The junior specializes in short races, often running in the 100-meter or 300-meter hurdle races. Chen is looking forward to reconnecting with her tight-knit hurdling team and is excited to begin competing together again. Chen expressed, “I’m really looking forward to competing and cheering my teammates on and seeing everyone do great in the season.”

Long-distance runner and sophomore Peter Malone is ready to start his inaugural season this year. The sophomore runs all year round, participating in the school’s cross-country team in the fall. From when he began running in middle school, Malone has already achieved impressive accolades in the sport, such as a two-time cross country and high school track and field long-distance team captain. Malones preferred events include the long-distance 1600 meters and 3200 meters races, for which his teammates know him for his impressive time. Looking forward to the season, Malone stated, “I haven’t raced since cross country, so I’m excited to see everyone in their uniform ready to compete.”

Freshman Connor Kappen has trained for months to earn a spot on the school’s pole vaulting team. This is the freshman’s first-year pole vaulting, and he is thrilled to join the small pole vaulting community at LGHS. As a newbie, Kappen has already found his place in the track and field team and feels ready to sport the Los Gatos jersey for the first time. Kappen gave advice for aspiring track and field athletes, stating, “Recovery is really important, if not more important than the actual workout. You have to make sure you’re in shape.” 

Junior Kaylee Cross is sprinting into the spring season. Cross’s biggest takeaway from training for the upcoming season is how much mental fortitude that becoming a good runner requires:  “Most of running is mental. Even if you think that you can’t keep going, you can actually go a lot longer.” Cross is always trying to increase her confidence and mental game as she primarily trains to build her endurance for her short sprint races. She is quickly finding her place within the sprinting community as she gets ready to run 100 and 300-meter races.

The Los Gatos track and field team is sure to have a great season, so make sure to attend future track and field meets to support your school.