Sedona Sweginnis | Sports Editor
February 14, 2025
With less than a month to go before the season’s first invitational, Triton Track preseason is in full swing. Looking towards the upcoming season, the track team is very optimistic, balanced with a healthy combination of promising freshmen and reliable returners. The upcoming season is packed with standard league meets as well as many prestigious invitationals, including SCHS’ very own annual Triton Invitational.
In preparation for the season that lies ahead, every event has been putting in extra work, running through rain or shine, to get this team in optimal shape by the time the gun is shot in the inaugural race of the 2025 season. With the majority of events holding grueling practice six days per week, the track program is fostering dedicated athletes with infallible mental toughness and the ability to put in the work and endure discomfort to reach their goals, characteristics that can carry over into the classroom and the workplace.
Sophomore Gabriel Sech, who has been a dedicated runner since middle school, enthusiastically reported that the team is “putting in the work and grinding through tough workouts” to be fully prepared by the time season rolls around. Sech explained that the team is developing every aspect of running by “working technique and building [their] mental endurance.” In track, as well as most sports, mindset and focus play an invaluable role in overall performance, which is why Sech also emphasized that, this preseason, the track team is “getting in the right mindset to start competing and racing smart” and finding composure amidst the stresses of race day by “trusting [their] training.”
The team will first exhibit the results of their diligent training in a few short weeks on March 1st at the Earl Engman Relays at Portola High School. Following this initial meet, the team will have a series of Thursday league meets and Saturday invitationals until the South Coast League Finals meet on Friday May 2nd at Trabuco Hills High School. After which, qualifying athletes will race their way through CIF leading to the renowned California State Meet, which will be held in Fresno, California for the last two days of May.
With an overall exhilarating schedule lying ahead of them, one particular meet stands out amongst the rest. SCHS will be hosting the 2025 Triton Invitational at its own Thalassa Stadium on Saturday March 15th. The meet will host many other top schools from Southern California and beyond and offers many incredible opportunities for the Triton Track athletes. Each member of the team is expected to volunteer at the meet in addition to racing in their events, creating a strenuous but overwhelmingly rewarding experience. Athletes are given the opportunity to serve their school and community by assisting at this meet and also get to enjoy meeting other athletes from various other high schools.
Still cherishing the countless memories made at last year’s Triton Invitational, sophomore Emma Burke expressed that she is most excited for “the Triton Invitational and getting to race with her friends” in the “upcoming track season.” The Triton Invitational is one of the few track meets that the Tritons will partake in that has numerous relay events available to the athletes, aside from the 4 x 100m and the 4 x 400m relays which are present in all league meets. Relays allow athletes to work together and enjoy running together in a unique atmosphere that cannot be found in traditional individual races, as expressed by Burke and her anticipation of the Triton Invitational.
Looking towards the 2025 season, the indefatigable Triton Track team has much to look forward to with numerous invaluable experiences and opportunities to let their hard work pay off waiting in the near future.
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