Weston McEwen, Umatilla and Riverside 4x100 relay teams pass batons on the final turn at the Buckaroo Small Meet Invite in April 2019.

Head coach: Sam Cornelius, 5th year.

Assistant coaches: Richard Moore, 3rd year; Viviana Colin-Torres, 1st year; Makayla Mangione, 1st year.

2019 season: Boys placed fifth at district, while the girls were sixth. 3A state placers/qualifiers: Johan Peña, 200 (Q); Hannah Payne, 4×100 (Q), 4×400 (Q), 100 (7th), 200 (8th); America Pacheco, 4×400 (Q); Marco Landeros, 300H (4th); Valeria Echevarria-Clemente, 4×400 (Q)..

Key returning athletes: Johan Pena, sr. (sprints); Marco Landeros, so. (hurdles); Hannah Payne, jr., (sprints, relays); America Pacheco, jr. (sprints, relays); Valeria Echevarria-Clemente, so. (sprints, relays); Jose Sanchez Torres (4×100, 4×400, 400m); Brian Franco (horizontal jumps); Connor Graham (TJ, 800); Jesus Carmona (javelin); Jacob Harris (hurdles); Nathan Ellis (hurdles, discus); Diego Magana (800, 4×400).

Impact newcomers: Tyrese Boyd, fr. (hurdles, 4×100 relay); Tony Jiménez (mid-sprints); Matthew Hammond (distance, TJ); Quentin Johnson (throws); Miriam Landeros (relays, hurdles); Miranda Landeros (relays, hurdles).

Of note: Italian exchange student Benedetta Bugari is excited to experience American high school sports, travel with the team, and meet new people.

Coach Cornelius’ outlook: We are proud of how our team has grown, with a lot of sophomores who missed out on the track season last year, and a few first-time athletes. With participation in high school sports on a national downward trend, we are excited about our numbers this year, but participation on the girls side remains below our target. We have a goal of bringing both of our girls relay teams — the 4×100 and 4×400 — back the 3A state championships this season, but our girls will really need to dig in and come together to make that goal a reality. There’s raw talent on the track, but we have polishing to do. On the boys relay side, the goal is to figure out who is up to the challenge, then train that group of kids to the level where they get on the bus for one more meet after the district championships. In the individual events, we have a big group of kids out this season, and the first few weeks and meets of the season will be spent exploring strengths and weaknesses. In regards to the throwers, we have a great group of dedicated, hardworking returning throwers and Coach Moore has some newcomers under his wing who look to very promising. Our distance crew is solid, and they have put in a solid year of training, starting last summer, as they prepared for their upcoming season on the Pirates cross country team. Our vertical and horizontal jumps teams have grown this year, and we will be leaning heavily on our accomplished seniors to pass on their knowledge, technique, and dedication to the incoming freshmen.