First Meet in the Books!
Hello nighthawk families and fans,
Happy Friday! We had our first meet of the season yesterday at Orange Glen High School. It was a wonderful opportunity for our new athletes to have a chance to compete. We have some great performances and a lot to look forward to for the rest of the season. You can find the results from the meet here and the 4x400 relay splits here. Check out this photo gallery by our own Kelle Snyder.
Athletes of the Meet
We want to take the time to highlight a couple of athletes who had spectacular performances at our last meet.
Throws -
Tristan Tejidor (9) he had a great progression of throws in shot and on his last throw, improved by about 3 feet.
Sreeja Rai (10) she came out of the gate with an 11 foot PR over the lat season in discus and a couple throws later went another foot farther.
Sprints -
Kaylee Tan (12) won the 100m with a life time best of 13.01.
Cooper Lappin (11) ran a PR in the 400m with a 54.71 and later anchored the boys 4x400 team to a victory.
Jumps -
Sevanna Collins (9) jumped fearlessly in her first long jump competition.
Aadit Gupta (11) he opened the season with a PR.
Hurdles -
Yvonne Ho (9) at her first meet she took 2nd place in the 300 hurdles with a spectacular time. Without having a ton of time to practice she is already excelling in the hurdles.
Alex Guerra (10) after lots of hard work training in the winter Alex finished his first 300 Hurdles race of the season with a massive 6 second PR.
Distance -
Addison Shannon (9) Addy made her track season debut and instantly showcased her versatility with a strong showing in the mile and 4x400.
Sean Chang (10) Sean kicked off the season with a massive PR in the 1600m. His time is a testament to the hardworking he pin in during off-the season.
Congratulations to all of those athletes on a great meet. As you can see we have a ton of young talent joining our team, we are excited to watch them continue to grow and succeed this season!
Our Next Meet
Our next meet is coming up on Saturday February 25th with a 9:00 am start time. This is a home meet and we would love to have our snack bar open! In order to do so we will need parent volunteers to run the snack bar. If you are available on Saturday please send an email to NighthawksTrack@gmail.com letting us know! We really appreciate your help. Also, if your athlete got a new pair of spikes this season, and has an old pair they are no longer using, we are accepting donations of used spikes to pass on to a nighthawk in need! Have them bring their used spikes to practice and give them to one of our coaches. Thanks in advance!
House Keeping
Reminder that we practice from 4:10pm-6:10pm Monday-Friday and practice is mandatory. There are a few things to have squared away before you athlete can practice and compete with us.
Make sure they are cleared through dragonfly. More info on that can be found here.
Read, print & sign our team rules and varsity letter requirements. Bring this to the next practice and hand to one of our coaches.
If your athlete has another activity (tutoring, a club, flute practice, etc.) that conflicts with practice time or any of our meets, please have them fill out an outside activity contract and bring it to practice so our head coach can sign off on it. Find our meet schedule here.
Gear
We want to make sure all of our nighthawks have access to the gear they need to be successful in our sport. Luckily, track & field does not require a ton of gear. Here is what they need.
Water bottle - please make sure they are hydrating throughout the day and bringing a full bottle to practice.
Running shoes - they don’t have to be brand new or top of the line, but having proper foot support is important and will help avoid injury. If you are in the market for new shoes, we suggest visiting Fleet Feet in carmel valley. They offer a student discount for nighthawk athletes.
Comfortable running clothes - t-shirts, shorts, leggings, whatever is comfortable for them to move and run in. Please encourage your athletes to come with a pair of sweatpants and a jacket to have in case of a temperature drop. Especially in the beginning of season it gets cold once the sun sets and if their legs aren’t kept warm they are at risk of injury.
Spikes (or competition shoes) - There are a variety of spikes & competition shoes available for track & field athletes. We will have a representative from Fleet Feet coming to practice next week to explain the types of shoes they offer and what to look for depending on your event and experience. If your athlete has spikes from last season that aren’t super torn up, they can use them again. If they are getting new spikes and don’t need their old ones, feel free to bring them to practice and we can share them with another nighthawk in need! Once your athlete gets their spikes, have them show their coach before wearing them at practice. We can help navigate each athletes needs.
Meet our Coaches
We are lucky to have a great team of coaches leading our student athletes and would love to introduce them to you. They have a variety of backgrounds and experience to share with your nighthawks. Follow us on instagram to keep up to date with our team and to meet more of our coaching staff!
Coach Pablo Costes
Coach Pablo has been coaching at Del Norte since 2014. He was a distance runner for the Nighthawks when the program started as part of the school’s first graduating class. The track team was an important part of his high school experience and his goal as a coach is to help provide that for new athletes.