2015 Men and Womens Track Preview

By PHILIP MCMICHAEL
PTSFalconer.com STAFF WRITER
 
 

When it comes to the sport of Track and Field, numbers are everything.

Head Coach Tammy King believes that this statement has dual meanings. Everyone is aware that the faster you run, the shorter your time and thus the more competitive you are. But for a small high school like Palmer Trinity, the actual number of athletes on the team can be a critical factor in the team’s success.

Meets are scored by the total number of points accumulated through all the events. A first place in an event usually warrants 8 points, whereas an eighth place (the maximum numbers of runners in an event) gives the team one point. This single point can be critical if a team has enough athletes to put into every single event.

For the first time in years, Palmer Trinity’s Track Team will be able to capitalize on many possible points from events that it did not previously have the resources to enter into. With 93 students on the total track roster, many students carry enormous potential entering into their first ever season as a track athlete, but there are a few who have and will continue to turn the heads of coaches and athletes throughout Florida.

Coach King, who has raced professionally, says that 12^th grader Janelle Gonzalez is looking to have a very successful year and even has the potential to win the state championship for her event, the 800 Meter. With an opening race time of 2 minutes 27 seconds, King says that Janelle could break the 2:15 mark by the end of the year, a very fast time for a high school girl. Others runners like Ivan Robledo (’15), Henry Fernandez (’17), Duncan Stoner (’18), and Gaby Cepeda (‘17) are poised to have very successful seasons.

Thrower Sophia Iglesias is looking to beat her personal (and school) bests in the discus and shot put.  11^th graders Marcus Kyle and Guillermo Bonet , each of whom have performed impressively at the team’s first meet, believe that the team will be “looking good” for the upcoming season. Kyle himself hopes to make it past the regional meet and continue on to the state championship for discus. Although Bonet has only just begun track, he is already a standout football player and athlete, and hopes to use his speed to win a few races of his own. The team will compete in its next meet on March 14^th, in the Dade Christian Crusader Invitational. Expect to see breakout performances, broken records, and more from this year’s new and improved Track and Field Team.