Ask some coaches of Paly’s 2008 boys’ track and field team whether the squad has any weaknesses, and each will pointedly respond with a single word: “no.”
Such conviction behind the team’s strength suggests a promising boys’ track and field season ahead, with anticipation of solid performances from both a multitude of experienced seniors and a considerable number of younger athletes alike.
The sprinting team this year returns without powerhouses Trent Hart and Will Frazier, both of whom competed in the 2007 Central Coast Section Finals. Yet head coach Jason Fung optimistically believes that the current team’s athletes certainly have the ability to fill the empty sprinting positions that Hart and Frazier have left behind.
“We may not have Trent speed, but we have the talent to get up to Trent speed by the end of the season,” Fung said.
The sprinters hope to utilize veteran experience from returning athletes senior Mike Scott (who, along with sprinting, competes in the long, triple, and high jump) and young but talented sophomore Daniel Jones. Both were members of the 4×100 meter relay team that placed fifth in the 2007 CCS Finals. Other returning athletes, such as juniors Paul Brown and Ariel Arsac-Ellison, and first-timers are projected to bring much skill to the team as well: “we’ve got a lot of up-and-coming sprinters,” Fung said.
Great expectations are also set for the track and field team’s distance group, as many of its athletes are returning from solid 2007 track and field and cross country performances.
“With Philip MacQuitty, we have the best distance runner around,” distance coach Jeff Billing said. “We also have Charlie Avis, who is running track for the first time in his career. That gives us a really strong one-two.”
Beyond MacQuitty and Avis, both of whom competed in the 2007 California Interscholastic Federation State Cross Country Championships, the distance team still teems with skilled athletes who “are in phenomenal shape,” Billing said.
The younger distance runners are also proving themselves early on as forces to be reckoned with.
“The frosh/soph are running faster times this year than what the seniors ran when they were their age,” Billing said. “That translates to better track and cross country seasons for the future.”
The throws section of the team is also expected to have a successful 2008 season. Throws coach Brandon Shalkowski anticipates sound performances from senior Dennis Muaka, juniors Andy Maliska and Ashraf El Gamal, and sophomore AJ Castillo, among several other younger shotput and discus throwers.
To gear his athletes up for the upcoming season, Shalkowski is focusing on enhancing a broad range of aspects of his team.
“Early in the year we’re working on getting stronger both physically and mentally,” Shalkowski said. “The team spends a lot of time in the weight room lifting weights. We’re working on getting mentally prepared to make a quality throw.”
Considering the team as a whole, including its athletes training as hurdlers, mid-distance runners, and jumpers, Fung recognizes the well-rounded nature of the 2008 track and field lineup.
“We’re covered in every event, one way or another,” Fung said.
Accordingly, Billing sees the merits of such a balanced team.
“We could have a runner in every event have a chance to win that event,” Billing said.
However, such abundant amount of talent is accompanied by some amount of “difficulty” nonetheless.
“The hardest part will be deciding who to run at leagues when I can pick only three [per event],” a smiling Billing said.
With the boys’ track and field team poised for a 2008 season full of ability and skill, Fung hopes to take the season’s progression one step at a time, setting his sights first and foremost on performing well at leagues. After that comes the objective of “getting as many kids into CCS as we can so we can contend in CCS,” he said.
The boys’ track and field team will face its first dual meet of the season against Mountain View High School after school Thursday, March 6 on the Paly track.