The sun is shining. The distance runners jog around the red oval encircling the field for lap after lap, while the throwers chant “running sucks!” and laugh. It’s just a regular track practice. But just because it’s fun for the athletes doesn’t mean they aren’t serious about competition.

With a talented and disciplined team, the Lincoln track team looks to shake things up at the district and state meets. After placing second in the past three years, the boys hope to see a first-place finish at PIL districts on May 9 and 11.

“I’ve been doing track for four years, and I’d say we stack up pretty well against past teams,” says team captain David Fuller, a senior. “We could win districts this year.”

Both the boys and girls teams won the PIL Varsity Relays on April 4 – beating every PIL team.

But after a PIL championship meet record for points in 2017, the girls team is turning their sights towards the state championship in Eugene – which they have not won for 11 years.

“I think the girls are very close to the 2007 [state championship] team,” said throwing coach Laval Short.

“Day by day, we’re getting better, and kids are buying into the program; they’re demanding more of themselves; they expect more of themselves,” said Head Coach Eric Dettman. “We’re really excited about what the team looks like and the future we’re working towards.”

Lincoln sent a group of athletes to compete at the Centennial Invitational in Gresham on April 21st. The team placed third, and the Cardinals placed in the top ten 26 times during the meet.

“I think it bodes really well for the district meet,” said Dettman. “If we continue to build on these goals and values that we’ve set forth, Lincoln’s gonna be a team people are gonna be talking about for the next four or five years, and hopefully beyond that.”

You can look up Lincoln track and field results here.