The Lompoc High School Track Season has started! The athletes have been practicing for a while and just had their first track meet on Saturday April 17th. I asked some of the athletes and coaches how they feel about the track season under the circumstances and regulations of COVID-19. I Interviewed athletes Benjamin Barthel and Avery Torres along with coaches Jake Brown and Samuel Milhous. 

First, I interviewed athletes Benjamin Barthel and Avery Torres about their views on the season. When I asked Ben how he felt about participating in track during the pandemic he responded with, “Participating in track is fun, it’s a nice way to interact with others, which we haven’t had a lot of.” We conversated about how the regulations affect the athletes and Ben said, “The regulations do make the season harder but not by a lot.” Ben says that he knew participating in track would better himself physically and mentally. He is fairly new to the sport as he has only ran track for one year before coming to Lompoc High. However, Ben comments that he is “excited to compete and participate because it forces me to make goals for myself.” When third year track athlete Avery Torres was asked what her excitement or nerves for the season were she responded with, ”I am most excited for practicing and having the feeling of somewhat normalcy to my previous routine. I am nervous for the track meets and the feeling of competing, but then again it is also something I am excited for too.”  

I then interviewed coaches Jake Brown and Sammuel Milhous. I started with asking the coaches about how they felt coaching during the pandemic and if the regulations had any affect on coaching. Their responses were optimistic. Coach Milhous responded with, “I am excited to be back out there with my runners again, although we had a very short break between cross country and track, we are all excited to be competing.” Milhous also said that, ”the current regulations have been a fairly easy adjustment for track considering we are able to social distance pretty easily and being outside helps.” Both coaches have agreed and set a schedule with the athletes that they have practices on Monday through Friday from 3:30 to 4:30.They plan to have meets coming up on 5 consecutive Saturdays starting on the 24th of April. When I interviewed coach Brown about his feelings on the season I was happy to hear that he responded with, ”I am optimistic about the season. I love the sport of track and field. We have a brand new track facility and we have some great athletes at Lompoc High.” I’m sure we are all so happy to hear how excited the coaches and athletes are for the season. I know I am. Hopefully we bring home some amazing wins!