Still testing the waters early in the season, Diamond Bar High School varsity track and field is working to improve runners’ form, especially targeting its weaker events, while also handling an increase in roster size.

The boys won their first match on default while the girls are tied for second in the league after losing their first match.

The Jim Polite Invitation held at Walnut High School allowed the team to gauge its runners’ skill at the start of the season. The team suffered several injuries going into its first league meet against Ayala on March 15. The girls were defeated and the boys won by default after an Ayala athlete competed without an approved physical.

“Since then, we’ve had two or three weeks until our next meet, and I think we got healthier. I think some kids have improved their times, gotten in better shape,” head coach Joseph Beaudion said. Yesterday, they faced Claremont

However, this year’s team is much larger than previous years. According to Beaudion, it’s a burden to have so many Brahmas on the team and the coaches plan to cut the roster size for next season. With such a large group of participants, the team is working to improve its organization at practices, and have added new coaches to the staff this year.

Key sprinters include senior Sophia Arnold and sophomore Brita Liggins and seniors Papa Midley, Ryan Gan, and junior Dylan Kinney. In distance events, juniors Kinney and Paul Abdo as well as senior Armaan Kohli for the boys and senior Anabelle Cheng and freshmen Brianna Valdez and Olivia Valdivia for the girls are top runners. Juniors Ashley Ng and Alison Kim and sophomore Samantha Blazek for girls and juniors Marcus Castro and Bryan Kwon as well as senior Nick Navarrete for boys stand out as throwers. Additionally, freshman Malik Scurlock shows promise in throwing as well, according to Beaudion. Seniors David Ripley and Chris Geere also represent the team well in jumps and pole vaults, respectively.

The Brahmas’ strongest event is the girls 100, 200, and 400, while the team finds weakness in the triple jump, due to a lack of experienced competitors in the event.

The team will compete against Bonita on March 21.