Track is getting off to a running start this year at Henry J. Kaiser High School, as the first meet of the season took place this Saturday at the Kaiser campus.
The Kaiser Track Team dashed past many of the other competing schools, placing first in several events. Kai Strawn ran a blistering 10.75 in the 100-meter dash, a new school record. Sean Connell also ran the 100-meter dash and placed second. Connell, Strawn, Brennan Seto, and Kolby Kaneko placed third in the boys’ 4×100-meter relay.
Kealia Kamalani, Kimberly McCoy, Kaylee Pae, and Dahila Monson got first place in the girls’ 4×400 meter relay. McCoy, a Junior at Kaiser who also placed second in the 400-meter dash said that she is very happy with how she has performed in the meets.
“I think with more work Kaiser will definitely do very strong,” McCoy commented on Kaiser’s performance. “We’re hoping to win Eastern’s, perform well in OIA’s, and potentially even show some really strong performances in the State Championship.”
It is apparent the Kaiser Track team has excelled in these first few meets, but the hard work isn’t over yet.
“These upcoming track meets will be very important,” Kaleialoha Arnett-Cook, a freshman track student explained. “There are five qualifying meets before the championship where the top three competitors from the event compete with the other districts across the state.”
The track students have been practicing hard, Monday through Friday every week to prepare for and excel in the competitions.
“Usually in practice we start off with dynamic stretches and then we run two laps around the track,” Arnett-Cook explained. Then we either do one hundred fifty meter sprints or we split up and do specific training for our specific events. At the moment I am doing the discus and shot put events, so on Tuesdays I practice for those.”
There are a lot of different reasons that the members of the Track team participate in this sport. McCoy chose to run track because her dad ran track when he was in high school.
McCoy also encourages other students to join the Track team. “I have made a lot of my close friends through Track,” she said. “And I think it is a lot of fun.”
The Kaiser track team can’t perform their best without the help of their coaches and the community surrounding them. So be sure to come out and support the Cougar Track and Field team these upcoming Saturdays.
