By Glen Rosales
Special to the SUN

Dulce coach Lewis Martinez doesn’t really have an explanation for the growth of his program’s size, but he’s certainly not complaining.

“I think this is our biggest track team,” he said. “It’s a miracle. We have so many new students and they all just wanted to try it.”

On the girls side, there are a few veterans sprinkled among the new faces, Martinez said, and he’s relying on them to help lead the squad.

“We’re looking pretty good,” he said. “We have a couple of experienced girls and they’re working with some of the eighth graders and freshmen. We’re working them all into the different relays and letting them get a feel for the events. We have some good field events and sprinters and distance runners. So we’re working on that.”

The sprint relays look fairly settled with juniors Mattison Vigil, Jayanna Petago and Alya Rivas and sophomore Amari Castleberry, who have been together for more than a season and are expected to qualify for state again.

“I think it is very important for them,” Martinez said of having that state experience. “They now know they have to work a little harder. The competition is a lot more intense at the state level.”

So expectation levels have gone up.

“Moving forward, I expect them do a lot better at districts and my goal to get into the state meet and on the podium in the 4×100 and 4×200 and the medley relays,” Martinez said.

Adrianna Zamora (senior) and Brianna Zamora (sophomore) are sisters who are making strides in the 4×800 and they likely will be joined by freshman Michelle Tecube, although the team is still looking for a fourth for the event.

Still, the overall prospects for the program moving forward are quite bright with leadership and youth aplenty.

“They all take responsibility,” Martinez said of the leadership duties. “We don’t have one certain person who is the leader right now. They all help each other. Veterans help out the others who are not too experienced.”

Like the girls, the boys also have solid numbers, but also plenty of youth.

“We are doing okay, but we’re in a rebuilding stage,” the coach said. “A lot of the older ones have gone on to college. So we’re rebuilding the boys team with relays. We have some young boys who are really athletic, but it takes time to build with hand-offs and getting them not to bump onto each other.”

Perhaps the biggest news for the entire program is that the school finally got a pole vault for the first time since 2012 and there are athletes who have been giving that event a whirl, although it will likely be some time before the Hawks make in impact there.

For now, however, junior Jarius Willie, is looking strong in the 800 and Martinez is looking to build a 4×800 relay squad around him.

Junior Awlis Vigil is progressing in the triple jump and the 100 and 200 opens, while freshman Adrian Redwine does all three sprints, as does senior Jeixner Mosende. All three of them are on the 4×100 and 4×200 relays.

Sophomore Kash Trosper is looking to qualify again in the 3,200 run, while adding the 1,600 to his events, while freshman Caleb Garcia is becoming a solid middle distance runner.

“We’re just trying to get them ready for districts, get them past the prelims and get them that feel of being in the finals,” Martinez said. “Then go up there and have fun and work hard and do your best.”