The Track is Back

On February 7, the Healdsburg High School Track and Field team officially began their 2022 season with a mindset of hope and optimism. This comes after the team, like most other sports teams, was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and suffered two half-seasons in a row as the hope that the pandemic might end continued to be shattered. The 2020 season was canceled as early as March, and the 2021 season was only able to begin in April but was subsequently canceled shortly thereafter.

Many of the team’s junior and senior athletes have only had at most one full year of track. That does not, however, mean they are not skilled. The HHS Track and Field team is showing exceptional skill and dedication in their performance so far, and an unusually large number of freshmen joining the team assures that they will have no lack of talent. The older members have shown excitement and optimism in getting to train the new athletes and helping them reach their full potential.

Over the next several months, the team will practice for a variety of events, encompassing 3 major categories: running, jumping, and throwing. Every weekday after school is spent at practice, starting off with a mile run or jog encompassing 4 laps around the school’s track. Then the team engages in stretches and running exercises to complete the warm-up. After warm-ups, the members break off into their running, jumping, or throwing groups. The runners are the athletes who compete in races of various styles, such as long distance, hurdles, or relays. The jumpers compete in events to measure how far or high they can jump, competing in the well known long jump and high jump. The throwers, along with the jumpers, make up the “field” portion of track and field and use their strength to compete in the discus and shot put events. Throughout the season, the team will compete in various meets against teams from other high schools throughout Sonoma County to put their skills to the test.

If all goes well, and the pandemic doesn’t interfere, the Healdsburg High Track and Field Team can hopefully look forward to a successful full season, and the entirety of Healdsburg High School can come out to cheer them on.