Now a senior, Conor Mason fights through a hard race during a 2024 Track and Field meet. Photo courtesy of slohs_tf_xc Instagram.
San Luis Obispo High School athletes are heading into their first track meet, SLO Out of the Blocks, on Saturday, February 15. The meet starts at 10:00 a.m. and is expected to last until 1:30 p.m..
With SLOHS’s first 2025 track meet fast approaching, what is on athletes’ minds and do they think they are ready?
“I’ve been doing the optional meetings when I can and running on my treadmill when there are no practices for several days. I’ve been pretty lax on it before the mandatory meetings, so I’m going to keep on testing my endurance and speed,” said sophomore Henry Auran.
A big part about track and field setting goals. This season there are 297 athletes in the sport, each with their own individual goals. Some are more crazy than the next as there are seniors going for their best times and freshmen just trying to figure things out.
“My goals for this track season is to get faster and hangout with friends… My hope for this track meet is to run a sub 5:30 mile.” said freshman Logan Jerkovitch.
This first track meet, SLO Out of the Blocks, is only our school. This is where coaches get to see what their athletes are capable of. This is also where some find out what track is really about. As arguably one of the harder sports here at SLOHS, why do so many athletes join every year?
“I felt like I just wasn’t doing enough activities last year so I decided to do track so I could balance that and theatre. Track is not only a great opportunity for exercise but also a way to be more involved with our school,” said Auran.
Even when this track meet is only going to be our school, that doesn’t mean it isn’t going to be competitive. Each person is competing for that podium placement. This might feel more easy to athletes but never underestimate how hard track is.
“I’m happy that the coaches have made sure that we are all aware that Track is not just a free period. Track is something that you have to work for if you want to be good at it and if you don’t want to be good at it then you shouldn’t be here,” said Auren
Let’s keep these spirits high as SLOHS makes its way into its first track meet of the 2025 season!
