This season, Oak Park High School’s track and field team reached its height in participants, with over 250 athletes competing in a multitude of events. The variety of events has attracted athletes from the fall cross-country season, off-season sports and more.
“I’m excited about the fact we have so many new people this season,” junior Proshanto Kladopoulos said. “Last year for hurdles, it was just me and a couple of other people, but this year we actually have a significant team, so I’m excited about that.”
With the biggest strength of this team being the number of athletes and their positive energy, there comes weakness in the numbers.
“Challenges we’re going to face is our youth,” head coach Steven White said. “Getting people to learn new events and be competitive with them against other schools who might have more experience will definitely be an obstacle.”
No matter the strengths and weaknesses, this team is built on its motto: everyday matters.
“We talk about all the time how one day, whatever you do, one day leads into the next, and that following days leads into the next, and that all of the workouts are designed to work together as a whole continuum,” White said. “So it’s not like they’re just one-off workouts thrown together, everything is designed for each specific day. So I think the kids, the team embraces that idea, and they understand that you work hard every single day because that day, the next day, will take care of itself.”
Although track is more of an individual sport with each athlete’s own personal record, White still has an overall goal and expectation for the team.
“The goals are always the same. The goals are honestly to win as many league meets as we can and get closer to a league title,” White said. “My expectations for the team is just to get better at everything that we do, have a lot of fun and work hard.”
With all the athletes striving for new PRs, senior Katarina Modrzejewski’s goal runs deeper than just having a better time.
“My main goal is to get faster in each event that I run in so then be part of the A-Team for Chico State,” Modrzejewski said. “I committed back in October to Cal State Chico for the distance program for both cross country and track and I’m excited for what the journey has to bring.”
Before the season, the track team is constantly preparing; their off-season is a grind, where athletes are expected to train with the team, as well as individually.
“I’d say this year we had a lot of off-season practices. Two days out of the week, Wednesday and Friday, we were in the weight room doing a lifting schedule,” Kladopoulos said. “On Mondays, we would go to this gym in Westlake called Proactive for a session once a week. And then Tuesday, and Thursday, we’d be down here doing running workouts. So there’s definitely been a lot put into the season, like the pre-season.”
Whether it is jumping, running or throwing, all the events have a physical toll on the athlete, but the most challenging part is the mental obstacle.
“I just stay locked in and don’t let any distractions come near me,” senior Tyler Fuchs said. “As soon as I get on the blocks, I just go there. Be the first guy across the line. It’s really just me versus myself out there. That’s how we do it.”
As a runner, junior Ethan Marley’s favorite part of being a part of this team is the meets.
“[I’m always most excited for] the meets because the environment is always a lot of people and everyone is going,” Marley said. “There’s a lot of different events to watch and to race in, so it’s not just doing one thing and you’re done, you can do multiple things and it’s fun to cheer everyone on.”
After participating in the Tara Davis Invitational, Don Green Invitational, Coastal Canyon Moorpark vs. Oak Park, Thousand Oaks Invitational, Maurice Green Invitational and Meet of Champions, both the boys and the girls have placed on the leaderboard for their league.
With their next Coastal Canyon league meet against Royal, OPHS students, faculty and parents can come cheer on the team on April 9.
