Bonita starts off hot in preseason opener against San Dimas

It was one hot day for the Bearcats as they faced crosstown rival, San Dimas, and went home victorious.

Bonita’s track team has been working hard since January and even had challenges placed in order for runners to make the team. In early February, the sprinters did timed trials to see how they would fare in a real race. The sprinters who did not make the times listed were told to either find another event or stay on the team and work even harder. In shot put, the team faced cuts that decreased the size of the team. Both short distance and shot put did well against San Dimas.

Before the meet started, coach Shalynn warned the runners about the hot weather conditions. The runners were told to stay in the shade and drink fluids in order to avoid feeling worn down by the sun.

Sprinter coach Johnny asked all the runners if they were feeling nervous and they responded to him accordingly. He encouraged the sprinters saying “If you are nervous, then you are not prepared enough for this. You have to be more confident.”

The team took his advice and ran with it during the meet. Confidence shone through all of the runners during this meet. Facing San Dimas first was a perfect way to ease into the season. Once everyone got their first race over with, they felt more confident and ready for the next race.

San Dimas and Bonita’s teams differed greatly from each other, especially in size. Bonita’s team was two times the size of San Dimas’s team. San Dimas has fewer runners in both long and short distance. Bonita has far less hurdlers than San Dimas does. San Dimas’ jumping team is much larger than Bonita’s, especially their pole vault team. Bonita does not have the advantage of having a pole vault program.

Bonita looked different in hurdles compared to last year. The addition of coach Derek has helped out the team this year. The boys looked more competitive and were determined in their 300 meter race. Hopefully, the hurdles program will improve greatly this season with the new coach.

Most of the usual top runners were not running in their main events because they have an invitational on March 7. The invitational called the Cougar Classic, will be held at Azusa Pacific University, and will be a qualifying meet for the prestigious Arcadia Invitational in April.

The team looked good against their rivals and hopefully will work even harder in practice the next two weeks before they face Glendora on March 26th.

—-Jenna Ortiz