State of Mind: Ten Track Athletes Make Masters

On Saturday, May 23rd, ten track and field athletes qualified to masters in their respective events, and two took home first place.

By: Fabian Anguiano

Jazmaine Stewart, ‘26, walked away with first place in the triple jump and long jump event, which felt, “So good knowing that I had an automatic qualification for state. Being able to come to these bigger competitions and excel and compete at such a high level is always a good thing to feel,” said Stewart.

Stewart prepared herself physically with a lot of practice, making sure she was hydrated for the heat, and eating properly throughout the week.

Mentally, Stewart prepared herself by believing that she is meant to be where she is.

Stewart believes that her hard work contributed to her winning because track is an individual sport, so working on the smaller things that you don’t think matter in your event, and then proceeding to implement them into the event itself, is what helped her succeed.

What Stewart believes she did best at the meet was, “Triple jump, I think being able to go out there, especially facing a recent injury, and still being able to compete and succeed is something that I think I did really well at.”

What Stewart believes she could have done better is having a better mentality in her long jump.

Going into state, Stewart is going to prepare by, “Working on the smaller things, starting to practice better mental habits, especially at state, because you’re competing against people that are highly ranked in state. So being able to also keep that in mind, that I belong here. I’ve worked hard to be here, and this is where I belong,” said Stewart.

Stewart had one more thing to say, “Go Rangers!”

London Butler, ‘27, is apart of the 4x400m team, the squad that made state for the 4x400m relay.

Butler prepared himself for the meet by working with his teammates and his coaches, such as Coach Allen and Coach Leppke.

Finding out that his relay team and himself made state felt good, and caused some shock at first, later on in the day, it felt like a surreal moment.

What Butler believes he did best at the meet was not giving up during the race.

What Butler believes he could have done better is having a better pace and keeping his breath throughout the race.

Butler will prepare himself mentally for state by blocking out all distractions and fighting hard.

Butler will prepare himself physically by taking his time on drills.

Luke Sanchez, ‘26, was also one of the four talented individuals that qualified to state for the 4x400m relay, for Sanchez, this felt amazing.

Sanchez prepared mentally for the meet by staying locked in, and just doing what he has to do.

Sanchez prepared physically for the meet by warming up well and taking time on his stretches.

What Sanchez believes he did best at the meet is that he ran faster than he usually does.

Austin Alcantara, ‘27, got first place in the triple jump, he said that feeling felt, “Really amazing. The first person I went to cheer on was with my coach,” said Alcantara.

Alcantara’s hard work strongly contributed to his first place win. He was working hard during the off-season, from eating right to doing every drill.

Alcantara prepared himself mentally by putting on his favorite music to lock in.

What Alcantara believes he did best at the meet was everything involving his triple jump, and his form was good.

Alcantara highlights that he could improve on his form and having more speed.

Alcantara will prepare himself mentally for state by keeping in mind who he is doing this for. “I’m going to just think about who I’m doing this for, myself and my family, and just being more confident in myself.”

Alcantara’s goal for state is to hit fifty feet and to place top five

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