Track and Field Summary ROUGH

When sports teams go on “hot streaks,” or a period of consecutive wins, the
implication is that these periods will end. Eventually, the train of good fortune will come
to a screeching halt. Inevitably, no team can be perfect for too long without there
remaining some aspect of legitimate competition. So how then, can AHS Track and Field
still be a legitimate team, and have maintained a hot streak for a mind-boggling four
years? What kind of team wins the Pacific League on all four divisions of competition for
the outlandish team record of 176-0?! It’s not as if the Pacific League has shabby
competition; on the contrary, the League hosts such teams as Muir, Pasadena, John
Burroughs, and Crescenta Valley. To put this in perspective, when this year’s senior
track members were freshmen, they will have ventured through their entire AHS Track
and Field careers without ever having seen the team lose once on any division. Certainly, success as
grand as this does not come without its demand of genuine grit.

What does “grit” mean in this context? Its definition is best illustrated. As early as
September, long before any competitive track meet takes place, many groans can be
heard from the field. On a stiflingly hot Monday, Head Coach Christopher Schultz has
just announced the day’s workout: what’s infamously known as a “five-four-three.”
That’s 500m, then 400m, then 300m of full sprinting for the entire distance. Furthermore,
if Coach Schultz sees that one running group did not contribute their best effort to the
workout, one interval is likely to be redone. Despite a sarcastic reaction from the more
vocal members of the team, the runners complete their workout. Here, claiming a
headache, stomachache, shin splints, backache, or even having too large a lunch does not
suffice as an excuse for this workout. These runners know this fact through and through,
and thus complete the workout without much hesitation. As one would expect, they may
get significantly tired, often affecting the “student” portion of student-athlete.
Nonetheless, they maintain the academic requirements necessary to represent AHS in
sport and bear the circumstances. Such a scene adequately sums up the grit that AHS
Track must assume for victory.

All of that preparation has willed many of their members to perform. This year’s
highlights include the 3:20.51 Boys 4x400m relay, composed of junior Nikko Ajao and
seniors Alec Jen, Tony Moseley, and Alex McElwee. On the girls’ side, freshman Isabel
Annino has also been a standout, running 46.40 in the Girls 300m hurdles race.
We would like to be able to list the accomplishments of every individual, but then
we would run out of room. Such is probably a good indication that Track has been pretty
successful this year. After all, their hot streak is still going.

When sports teams go on “hot streaks,” or a period of consecutive wins, the
implication is that these periods will end. Eventually, the train of good fortune will come
to a screeching halt. Inevitably, no team can be perfect for too long without there
remaining some aspect of legitimate competition. So how then, can AHS Track and Field
still be a legitimate team, and have maintained a hot streak for a mind-boggling four
years? What kind of team wins the Pacific League on all four divisions of competition for
the outlandish team record of 176-0?! It’s not as if the Pacific League has shabby
competition; on the contrary, the League hosts such teams as <John> Muir, Pasadena, John Burroughs, and Crescenta Valley. To put this in perspective, when this year’s senior
track members were freshmen, they will have ventured through their entire AHS Track
and Field careers without ever having seen the team lose once on any division. Certainly, success as
grand as this does not come without its demand of genuine grit.

What does “grit” mean in this context? Its definition is best illustrated. As early as
September, long before any competitive track meet takes place, many groans can be
heard from the field. On a stiflingly hot Monday, Head Coach Christopher Schultz has
just announced the day’s workout: what’s infamously known as a “five-four-three.”
That’s 500m, then 400m, then 300m of full sprinting for the entire distance. Furthermore,
if Coach Schultz sees that one running group did not contribute their best effort to the
workout, one interval is likely to be redone. Despite a sarcastic reaction from the more
vocal members of the team, the runners complete their workout. Here, claiming a
headache, stomachache, shin splints, backache, or even having too large a lunch does not
suffice as an excuse for this workout. These runners know this fact through and through,
and thus complete the workout without much hesitation. As one would expect, they may
get significantly tired, often affecting the “student” portion of student-athlete.
Nonetheless, they maintain the academic requirements necessary to represent AHS in
sport and bear the circumstances. Such a scene adequately sums up the grit that AHS
Track must assume for victory.

All of that preparation has willed many of their members to perform. This year’s
highlights include the 3:20.51 Boys 4x400m relay, composed of junior Nikko Ajao and
seniors Alec Jen, Tony Moseley, and Alex McElwee. On the girls’ side, freshman Isabel
Annino has also been a standout, running 46.40 in the Girls 300m hurdles race.
We would like to be able to list the accomplishments of every individual, but then
we would run out of room. Such is probably a good indication that Track has been pretty
successful this year. After all, their hot streak is still going.