Filled with injuries and triumphs, varsity track and field had their league finals Monday, April 25. The team became the 2022 Liberty League Champions, and seven athletes qualified for the California Interscholastic Federation Preliminaries, which took place Saturday, May 7. Junior Treasure Brown advanced to CIF Finals to compete in shot put and discus following the CIF Preliminaries.

Brown specializes in shot put and discus and competed in the CIF finals Saturday, May 14. She was named CIF champion in shot put, setting a personal record of 39.06 feet. Additionally, Brown placed third in discus. She advanced to CIF Masters in the shot put event, which took place Saturday, May 21. The top 12 girls in Southern California for shot put competed in CIF Masters. Brown ranked 11 at CIF Masters and did not qualify to compete in the state meet.

“I was really nervous because there were some girls who were throwing marks we’d never seen before in my three years of competing against them,” Brown said. “I [was] super nervous [for CIF Masters] because I [competed] against the best girls in Southern California. I’ve been competing against these girls all my life because of club track, but we’ve all [have] leveled up to a bigger and higher level of thrones—all I [could] do is my best.”

Freshman Eden Oje said this track season has been filled with many obstacles. Oje, throughout the season, continuously placed top five in the event for the 400-meter dash.

“I was injured the entire time—I had shin splints. It made everything a lot harder for me personally having to run through it. But, being with the team made everything a lot better, and it made me want to push through my pain,” Oje said. “I was so proud because the whole season, I feel like I worked a lot harder than I usually would. I got a lot done.”

Brown said she also faced some of her own obstacles such as difficulties finding a place to practice and how her nerves would affect her performance ability.

“It’s been a roller coaster. There were times I’ve [done] well,” Brown said. “Then there were some moments when I would not perform to the best of my ability.”

Sophomore Paige Porter was one of three athletes who qualified for CIF Preliminaries and was not able to attend due to ongoing injuries. She said she wanted to advance to CIF Finals and set a new personal record.

“There were certain track meets I wanted to go to, but I wasn’t able to because I had gotten injured a couple of times during the season. I wanted to make it to CIF, which I did, but I wasn’t able to compete because I was injured,” Porter said. “Though during the season, there was one track meet I ran in where I got a really good personal record, so I was really happy about that.”

Oje also qualified for CIF Preliminaries but because of injuries, she wasn’t able to participate in the preliminaries. Oje said she had many aspirations this season. Though she wasn’t able to achieve them, she has begun to set goals for next season.

“My goal this season was to reach under a minute in the 400. That was my biggest goal, and I wasn’t able to achieve that. I was always really close. I was always a few milliseconds off,” Oje said. “Definitely next season that’s gonna be my goal—to get at least under or at least 58 seconds in the 400 meter.”

Brown said the biggest highlight of her season was the team winning the Liberty League and the team’s continuous hard work.

“Winning the Liberty League with the team was something I will remember,” Brown said. “I am very proud of them and myself.”