NPHS Track continues to make history
On Saturday, Jan. 22, the NPHS track team opened their season with a victory. The team traveled to Phoenix, Arizona for the “Sundown Series”, a new meet that Newbury Park’s very own coach Sean Brosnan put together. The second Sundown Series is around the corner, approaching Feb. 19.
Lex Young, junior, got second place with a 4:08 mile, making for an exciting start to the season. “Usually in January you’re not as fast as you are later in the season because you’re still building and you’re still sharpening your speed, so, in January those times are really fast and a good indicator of how this season is going to be,” Young said.
Colin Sahlman, senior, continued to keep his throne as the fastest high schooler in the nation finishing his mile in Arizona at 4:05. “I think it was a good start to the season, you know just getting the speed back in my legs,” Colin Sahlman said. Colin Sahlman believes his drive to be the best and push himself is what ultimately leads him to winning first place.
The team walked away with several victories at their most recent track meets. This builds confidence within the team and opens new goals for them to achieve. Hector Martinez, junior, thinks this season is going to be special. “We’re going to surprise a lot of people this year,” Martinez said.
Martinez turned out to be right, two weeks later, Feb. 5, in the indoor track stadium in New York, The Armory, the team pushed themselves even more. Lex Young and Aaron Sahlman, a junior on the team, competed in a professional level race at The Armory. Aaron Sahlman and Young ran the 3000m with final times of 8:01 and 7:57 respectively. Young’s time is the second fastest time ever right behind his older brother Nico Young, with a time of 7:56. “It was a great day for Newbury Park,” Young said. “I was ecstatic… that’s such a great time and it’s like you can’t complain with 7:57 as a junior.”
Not only did these two juniors shock the audience, Colin Sahlman pushed himself even harder after his last race in Arizona and went on to break 4:00 in the mile in New York, making him the 13th high schooler to do so. “It being my last high school track season, I just want to go out there and set all the best times that I possibly can,” Colin Sahlman said. “I found myself in a position later in the race where I could potentially win, and I just stuck with it and gave it my all.”
The team’s support and excitement continues to allow them to break records. “We’ve got a lot of goals for this season, it’s definitely going to be memorable,” Young said. Needless to say, this team continues to hold the title as the fastest high school cross country and track team in history.
