Westlake High School Track & Field Team Expecting Exciting Season

by Tara Spencer

With many talented athletes returning, Westlake High School looks to have a successful season.

With time trials scheduled for March 1st, the track and field team could not be more excited. However, sprint Coach Jim Benkert, who also is head coach of Marmonte League championship football team, says that he “needs speed from his football team to provide a more balanced point scoring attack in the tough Marmonte league.” Thankfully, many of the football players are also sprinters for the track team.

With so many athletes returning to Westlake, it should give the team an advantage over their Marmonte League opponents. These athletes include sprinters Brooke Edell and Sara Schwartz, and hurdlers Marissa Martinez and Rachel Maurer. There is also sprinter and hurdler Adam Augustyn, who was ranked among the best 15 hurdlers in the state before getting injured last year. And don’t forget hurdler and jumper Clark Nelson as well. High jumper Gino Colella, who qualified for the CIF Masters Meet last year, and Megan Cutaran are both expected to do well this year. Lastly, distance runner Nicki Ghazarian, Kelly Colwell, Deanna McNurlan, Alicia Williamson, and others should be turning in some great times. Marmonte League cross country champion Mikey Giguere, Mikey Lacey, Rocky Peterson, and more will be burning up the distance events as well. In addition, Westlake has several new faces to the scene. Jenny Giguere, who was named “Best Newcomer” of the year for the 2011 cross country season, will be a force to be reckoned with in the distance events. Abigail Smith, an up and coming sprinter, will also be one to watch for. Sean  O’Bryan is said to add depth to the boys distance team as well.

Westlake High School is very excited about this year’s upcoming track and field season. They look forward to hopefully attending many prestigious meets such as the Arcadia Invitational, the Pasadena Invitational, the Ventura County Championships, and the Mt Sac Invitational. We wish the WHS track and field team a great season and much success.