PUKALANI – The KSM track team worked their way through their final practice meet before the start of the season Friday March 18, at the Upcountry Tri-Meet at the King Kekaulike stadium.

“We did pretty good. It’s a good training meet; no wind, no rain. It was a very good meet,” said track coach Bala Spencer.

The two other teams who competed in the tri-meet were King Kekaulike and Seabury Hall. It was a practice meet, meaning that the scores would not be tallied up to declare a winner, but individual scores could be used to determine state qualifiers.

The Warriors took this meet as an opportunity to participate in events they would not normally take part in to practice and test theselves.

It was less a meet than “a very long, high intensity practice,” Coach Bala said.

“It’s a good start for  me, and hopefully I keep going up and get a couple more feet in,” senior shot put and discus thrower Diondra Gomes said.

Junior long jumper Ashley Wendt took the meet as a learning experience. “Iʻve learned what I need to work on, and if I work on that, than Iʻll be able to reach my ultimate goal,” Wendt said. Wendt jumped a distance of 15 feet and 1 inch, closing in on the gap between her current standing and her ultimate goal of 16 feet.

Coach Bala has a good outlook on the future of the team. “Weʻre very young. Weʻre excited to see where that takes us,” he said.

Coach Bala said that a challenge the team must overcome is a lack of numbers. “We have very few girls; maybe 12 in total,” he said.

The KSM track team is still accepting student-athletes, and Coach Bala said he hopes that more students come out for the team.