Jupiter High’s varsity track and field team had their first meet of the season at South Fork High School on Feb. 8. The athletes started the year off strong, hoping to repeat the success of previous seasons.

Many athletes set personal records, including sophomore Emma Dresser and juniors Dustin Kerrigan and Elijah Heredia.

“First meets are always hard on all of us,” said Dresser. “We put ourselves under a lot of pressure to do well.”

With a time of 17.16s, Dresser placed fourth out of 15 in the 100m hurdles. Heredia, usually a 200m runner, ran a 400m for the first time with 58.27s at the Feb. 8 meet and was proud of his results. 

“We were so happy to see that all varsity athletes did an amazing job, and that the hard work we put in to every practice pays off,” said Heredia.

Always a cheerleader for the team, Heredia congratulated his teammates on their efforts.

Kerrigan ran a 56.32s 400m in his first meet and placed second in his heat. His main sport is football, but he started doing track and field to improve his game. 

“I thought track would benefit me in the sense of becoming faster for football, so I joined the team this year. I’m starting to really like it,” Kerrigan said. 

Track and field athletes compete in a variety of challenging events, including sprinting (100m, 200m and 400m), middle distance (800m), long distance (1500m) and hurdles (300m and 100m). Jumping events include long jump, high jump, triple jump and pole vault, and throwing events include discus, shot put, javelin and hammer throw.

On Feb. 8, the Lady warriors came in third out of the nine teams present. 

The athletes are preparing for their next relay meet held on Feb. 14 on Jupiter’s track.