By: Alisha Vasquez
The El Diamante Field team is having a great season so far. For people who may not know, the field consists of various events such as shot put, pole vaulting, high jump, and long jump. Our field athletes work very hard. They have to practice, and training just to be prepared for the meet days.
There are a few students here on campus; Makayla Silva, Wesley Shafer, and Joseph Clark are seniors who are taking part in the field events. Coach Malone stated that, “Different field events in track and field require different sets of skills for athletes to succeed.” This is true because of the time, hard work, and effort all of the athletes put into each of their events.
Senior Makayla Silva typically takes part in the pole vault, but she has tried to do long jumps before because they have similar technique aspects. Pole vault and long jump both need speed, power, technique, and coordination. Since pole vaulting requires a lot of skill, Coach Malone commented that, “A high level of technical proficiency and the potential risks [is] involved in pole vaulting make it a challenging event for many students in track and field”. Makalya is unfortunately currently injured, but once she is back to good health, look out, because she has all of these great skills that are required to be successful in pole vault!
Next up is Wesley Shafer! He participates in the discus throw and shot put. For practice day he usually comes late to practice because he has to work right after school. So he had to warm up on his own but he does a jog and does some “skipping, jumping, and [light stretching]”. Something that keeps him motivated is his desire to improve the “distance of [his} throws” along with his technique. According to Coach Maolone, discus throw requires “technique” so this is great on Wesley’s part. He is finding something to focus and improve on so he and perform his event to the best of his ability.
Photo: EDHS Pole Vault Instagram
Joseph (Joey) Clark is the last senior being mentioned today. He competes in both shot put and discus throw. Joey first gets ready for his event by getting a warm-up jog, then does some stretches. After this, he starts to do his warm-up throws and, “slowly builds up in [his] full spin for both events”. Coach Malone says that the shot put and discus throw require coordination, technique, balance, and core strength skills.
Our field team has many strong athletes here at El Diamante. These athletes have an immense amount of skills so they can participate in different field events well, and safely. They have many skills and work so hard to succeed.