Athletes wanted for spring Track and field

Palomar’s Kevin Clurkey (351) competes during the Palomar College Cross Country Invitational held at Guajome Park in Oceanside CA on Sept 11. Clurkey was the top runner for Palomar men and finished in 28th place with a time of 22:59. Philip Farry / The Telescope

The Palomar track and field team is looking for more athletes for their upcoming season.

As the spring semester draws closer, so does the 2017 track and field season. This season the women’s track and field team will look to build off of their successful 2016 season.

Last season, the track and field team finished the season by winning the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference championship. In addition to winning the conference championship, Palomar also had several stand-out athletes. Among those athletes was DeOndre Young who won the conference championship in the hammer throw, and has since signed a letter of intent with D-1 Cal State Long Beach.

There was also Riley Chapman who won the PCAC championship in the 10,000 meter run last season. Despite having a smaller roster, the track and field team still managed to have success.

For returning athletes like sophomore Melissa Ventura, 19, the upcoming season could be even better.

“Since we showed last year that we could handle what we were doing at our events; our coach got really stoked,” Ventura said. “So they started giving us even harder training.

“So this year, people can expect better times and better records off of our team.”

As the 2017 season draws near, head coach Jennifer Williams said she hopes to have more athletes join the team to compliment they’re returning athletes. Coach Williams believes that many students, and potential athletes, might not know about the team because they don’t practice at Palomar.

Palomar’s Valeria Ramirez (357), Laura Jones (353), Savannah Gual (352), Riley Chapman (350), and Janette Perez (356) take off during the start of the Palomar College Cross Country Invitational held at Guajome Park in Oceanside CA on Sept 11. Palomar women’s team finished in fifth place with 104 total points. Philip Farry / The Telescope

Coach Williams made this statement: “As we look forward to the 2017 track and field season coming off a big 2016 conference championship win we are looking for more athletes to join our squad. With only three sophomores last year all of our freshmen are returning and we have a great group of freshman that came in this year.”

Palomar currently does not have a track on campus which forces the team to hold their practices at Cal State San Marcos.

Students looking to join the team will be welcomed with open arms by the returning athletes. Ventura says the team has a bond that will include any newcomers.

“Overall, our team is like a family bond. So there’s nothing really to be afraid of in joining our team,” Ventura said. “So they should be excited that they have a good group to work with and we’re all pretty good at what we do.”

Anyone who is interested in joining the track and field team must have a minimum of a 2.0 GPA . The track and field season is set to begin during the spring semester. For more questions contact Coach Williams at jwilliams3@palomar.edu.

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