Photo by Roberto Aponte ’17 — Robert Brooks ’17 (second from right) competes in the 200 meter race at the Chandler Rotary Invitational Meet.
By Chase L. Manson ’16
THE ROUNDUP
As the track season winds down, head coach Mr. Bill Kalkman looks forward to the state competition in May with a large team behind him.
“So far this season has gone really well,” Mr. Kalkman said. “Our attitude is great, everyone is working really hard.”
This year the track team yielded one of the largest teams with 180 members.
“The JV so far has done great,” Mr. Kalkman said. “But our varsity team performances are top notch.”
This year several school records have been broken in multiple events.
Isaiah Oliver ’15 broke two schools records in the long jump as well as an Arizona record in the 300 meter.
Luke Mason ’17 was looking to break the sophomore record in long distance.
Robert Brooks ’17 also broke the sophomore record in the long jump.
“This year our sophomores have done really well, breaking several records,” Mr. Kalkman said. “Luke Mason especially, can’t wait to see what happens later down on the road for him.”
Oliver said the team’s athletic strength is the underclass.
“We have a very talented team this year with a lot of young talent,” Oliver said in an email to The Roundup. “We don’t have that many seniors on the team this year but we are still able to compete at the big meets with all the schools.”
Mr. Kalkman said he believes the freshman class also bodes well for long term success.
“Our freshman this year have been fantastic,” he said. “The team can look to great success in the future.”
On March 27 the track team competed in the Fr. Harry “Dutch” Olivier Invitational and won.
“This year’s invitational was important,” Mr. Kalkman said. “It’s just a week after the death of Fr. Olivier, SJ and we hope to honor his memory.”
Also an important victory was the AMDG meet, which Brophy Varsity team won.
Mr. Kalkman attributes some of the success to the coaching staff.
“We have a fantastic coaching staff, we are so blessed to have outside coaching,” Mr. Kalkman said. “We also have great faculty coaching like Mr. Joe Klein and new coach Mr. Oscar Boraboa ’06.”
Mr. Kalkman has high hopes for the state meet, which is May 6 through 9.
“We will have tough competition, especially Desert Vista,” Mr. Kalkman said. “If you can beat them, you win state and we can do that.”
Oliver also said he believes the team will have a strong performance at state.
“State this year will be very close,” Oliver wrote in the same email. “Every year we are competing for the top spot at state and this year again we will be doing the same thing.”
