Photo by Raymond Link ’20 | Brophy runner Kenny Fitzgerald ’20 runs during a meet last season.

By Xander Welty ’21

THE ROUNDUP

After a finish in the top half at the state meet last year, the Track and Field team is looking for a strong showing in this upcoming season.

Varsity Head Coach Mr. Bill Kalkman said that he would love to see the team perform well in early season events such as the AMDG Invitational, but the end goal is to ultimately win a state championship.

“I think we continue to have a real desire amongst the guys to be at their best by the time we get to the end of the track season,” Mr. Kalkman said.

The team has not changed much from last year, as they lost very few seniors, and they are hoping that the chemistry among the team will give them a boost this season.

“We only lost two guys from last year and it’s basically the same team. I think the comradery and chemistry amongst all of us is good,” said senior Atllas Hopkins ’19.

Hopkins runs the 100m sprint, the 4x100m relay, and jumps the long and triple jump and is hoping to win state with the relay team and the long and triple jump.

Another runner who is looking to have a successful season this spring is distance runner Anekin Hetman ’19.

Hetman runs the 800m (half-mile), 1600m (mile), and 3200m (two miles), and is hoping to set a personal record in both the mile and two-mile races.

He also wants to break the record for the number of runners on the team who can run under a 5-minute mile.

The team broke the record last year and Hetman believes that it shows that they have a very deep team if they can break it again this season.

With big meets such as the AMDG Invitational and Chandler Rotary coming up in March, the team is beginning to build momentum going into the season.

“Track and Field, you know, you got the team side of it and the individual side of it,” Mr. Kalkman said, “We have a lot of athletes and a lot of events that are trying to be state champions or champions in their events.”