The starting pistol goes off, the boys 400 meter relay racers kick their gears into high speed. On April 6, the Bonita Vista Track and Field team hosted a meet at the Bonita Vista High (BVH) Track and Field stadium. The dual meet put the BVH Track and Field team against Chula Vista High (CVH).

“We’re playing [CVH] and their team is much smaller, a lot of the events we’re doing are Bonita versus Bonita. It’s kind of like a practice meet for us,” freshman and short distance runner Sofia Nunez said.

Nunez ran the 400 meter dash—one lap—around the field. She finished in first place with a time of one minute and 0.89 seconds. This meet was hand timed with a stopwatch, rather than laser timed where the stopwatch stops as soon as a runner crosses the finish line.

“This isn’t a meet that we particularly cared for because it’s hand timed, so we don’t really get our official times,” junior and relay runner Saul Gonzalez explained.

Sophomore and girls’ long distance runner Morgan Murphy explains that in a dual meet with a small team such as CVH, there is a significant difference in the competitors on the track. Knowing this, Murphy entered in two events: the girls’ 1600m race and the 800m race..

“Our coach said to treat it more like a training day rather than if we’re doing an invitational against 20 other schools with state runners against state runners. That’s when you really have to focus on one event and try to get that PR [personal record],” Murphy said.

For lunch that day, she fueled up with a grilled cheese sandwich. In preparation for the meet, Murphy did warm-ups on the field, running with high knees across with a partner. She explains that preparation comes before and during the meet.

“You have to sleep a lot and eat well. That’s really the only thing you can do,” Murphy said. “If you think you’re going to do bad, you’re definitely going to do bad. However, if you have that positive mindset, you can push through the pain.”

Knowing that CVH is a smaller team was a mental challenge for BVH because the meet was not highly competitive. Regardless, Nunez explains that she tells herself to try her best despite how she and the team perceive the competition.

“The mind definitely wants to make you think that you don’t need to try, but it’s still a meet and the records are still going in so you need to try your hardest,” Nunez explained.

Similarly, Murphy still puts in her best effort despite the perceived competition. She explains that the fastest CVH runner and the fastest BVH runner in the girls’ 1600m race had a notable difference in their time. Freshman Renee Khuong ran the race in six minutes and thirteen seconds, placing first, while CVH sophomore Cassidy Muraoka ran the race in six minutes and 44 seconds, placing third.

“I don’t really think about [the competition] because you still have to put in the same effort and you have to try to run your best time, no matter what the competition is,” Murphy said.

A similar pep-talk went through Gonzalez’s head as he ran his quarter of the 400m relay. Positive thoughts for himself and for his teammates helped them finish in the best place they could, given the informal nature of the dual meet.

“Towards the end of it I was like, ‘Just get there, just finish strong. Don’t stop. Just keep going.’ And once you hand off the baton, give your teammate the best motivation,” Gonzalez said.

Going forward, Murphy and Nunez intend to continue improving their best run-time for their prospective events despite this meet being uncompetitive. Nunez explains that she has been having a great first year, despite her unfamiliarity with the event. 

“It’s been going pretty good. Definitely not what I expected. I’m definitely new to this sport. So I don’t really know, technique and everything, but it’s going good so far,” Nunez said.