A bright blue color fills the sky above as spring athletes crowd the back fields of the school. Runners circle the track as pole vaulters fine tune their technique. Ana-Lucia Aleman, senior, can be found up over the hill training her events: shot put and discus.
Arms fatigued and eyes tired after a long day of school and practice, Aleman is among the crowd of her teammates heading to the parking lot to head home. Car doors open and shut as the track teams’ cars clear out but Aleman heads straight for the lacrosse field with her stick and cleats in hand.
This back-to-back is routine for Aleman as she makes the commitment for both varsity track and lacrosse every day this season. Playing sports can be a physically and mentally demanding task but for Aleman the scheduling plays a larger role.
“The biggest challenge with doing two sports is definitely the scheduling, missing practices due to games or meets makes me miss what we worked on the day before or if we make new plays,” Aleman said.
A typical day for her begins with school at 7:25 a.m. Due to senior privilege, she is released from school after her fourth hour class and is able to head home and take some personal time before her extracurriculars. During this time she fuels up nutritionally in preparation for her long evening of practice and activity as well as completes her homework for that night. After about an hour it’s time to head back to school for track practice. “It sounds pretty busy but once you get into the schedule of it all it all seems pretty normal,” she said.
One of Aleman’s favorite parts about track is the independent aspect. She describes it as “more of a competition with yourself rather than other teams.” The atmosphere of support from other schools inspires her to push herself and perform her best each time.
“I’ve already seen a lot of progress throughout the season and my form is getting better and I’m throwing farther,” she said, reflecting on her goal for the season to PR as much as possible.
On the other hand, Aleman enjoys lacrosse because it’s a team sport.
“You’re working with one another very directly and how you play together impacts the game,” she noted. As a team captain it is her responsibility to ensure the team dynamic is strong so they can play their best each game.
On the field, Aleman is a defensive player.
This position “has the most contact out of all the positions and it sorta just clicked for me,” she stated.
Her goals for herself and the team include playing her defensive position as best she can and for her team to get as many wins as possible throughout the season.
“Last year wasn’t a very good year for the lacrosse team but we have been working hard and coming up with new plays that have shown effectiveness and I definitely think we’ll be doing better this year,” she said.
