Aalynah Coleman, Staff Reporter
Rancho Cucamonga High School’s Track track team is a force to be reckoned with.
Track is an intensive sport that requires strength, endurance, and passion. Many members of Rancho Cucamonga High School’s track team have participated in the sport prior to high school, while new runners joined their freshman year. One aspiring track star on our campus is sprinter Claudia McLaurin, who initially joined the basketball team in her freshman year, but decided to join track to better understand the sport. McLaurin explains, “I’ve been running on the track team since my freshman year starting on Varsity. I joined because I wanted to know how track really was.”
McLaurin took a risk to try something new, and it resulted in her finding a passion within the sport. McLaurin states, “There have been so many ups and downs with the sport. [There have beenTimes where I have wanted to quit, but there is nothing else like it.”
McLaurin takes her track career very seriously and is determined to perfect her skills. McLaurin not only runs with Rancho Cucamonga High School’s track team, but regularly runs outside of school. “I do run outside of school for the Academy of Speed”. The Academy of Speed is a fitness training facility in Rancho Cucamonga.
Her training isn’t easy and is very time consuming from starting with warm up to multiple running distances. Her training consists of a “30 minute warm ups to get ready, A skips, B skips, high knees to stretch your legs out, then a running workout with” where she the 200 metreb dash eight times. The target for practices are to work mostly on your core and legs, but track is a full body sport. Through all the hard practices it all pays off during the track meets. “The thing I enjoy about track the most is the track meets because that’s where the hard work pays off.” For Claudia McLaurin, track meets consist of her running relays, the second event of the track meet. After her relay she gets to take a break for around 2 hours for her next event which is the 100 metre dash then another 2 hours for the 200 metre dash. According to McLaurin the track meets last for around 6 hours. Even though the track meets are long and tiring they all end with a step closer to CIF, which Claudia is looking forward to the most this season.
Making it to CIF will be a big accomplishment for McLaurin. “I am looking forward to CIF because I was unable to go last year.”
By going to CIF, Claudia McLaurin will be able to show how much she improved from last year ,it would be a new achievement. In addition to making CIF, McLaurin will be able to assist the Rancho Cucamonga High School track team in possibly getting a higher placement in last year which, which they placed 4th. Claudia McLaurin’s determination to go to a D1 school for track is what motivates her to do her best and go pro.
The Cat's Eye 