With their season on the horizon, Orestimba High School’s track and field program will look to lean on their experience and their momentum from last season for the upcoming year.

Throughout various meets last season, the program saw multiple athletes cement themselves in the program’s record books in multiple events, including the 100-meter, 200-meter, 800-meter and 1600-meter races and shot put event.

In last season's CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division V finals, Orestimba finished within the top five in multiple events, including the 800-meter race, 1600-meter race, the high jump, triple jump and discus throw.  

Taking the helm as the program’s head coach this season is Charles Kothenbeutel, who was previously one of the program’s assistant head coaches for six years. Additionally, Kothenbeutel is the head coach for Orestimba’s boys’ basketball team.

In his first season as head coach, Kothenbeutel hopes to get an idea of where the program is at early in the season and build a foundation of where the team needs to grow with a plan for the rest of the season in mind. Additionally, he looks forward to seeing the student-athletes continue their growth while also reaching their goals.

“We’ve got a lot of, I would say, really talented athletes this year and then it’s about the news kids, the ones who are or the ones who last year was their first year that are growing, Kothenbeutel said. “It’s always seek growth because that’s the thing with track, it’s nobody playing defense against you. It’s you competing against the clock or the yardstick. It’s you versus you.”

Kothenbeutel said the team has focused on conditioning within the last few weeks, adding that some of the athletes were involved with winter sports.

Senior Patricio Kearney, who has been involved with the program since his freshman year, has cemented himself as one of the most decorated athletes in the program’s history. He currently holds the program’s best time in the 4x800 relay race and the second-fastest time in the 3000-meter and 3200-meter race while also sitting in the top five for SMR 800-meter, 1600-meter and 800-meter race. 

While it’s now a no-brainer for Kearney to be involved with the track and field, it was an afterthought for the senior to consider participating at one point. Instead, another sport was taking up most of his time: basketball.

From his freshman to junior year, Kearney played on the school’s basketball team. It was when he noticed that a lot of friends were involved with track and field that Kearney decided to participate in the sport.

“A bunch of my friends were doing track [and field] and I also wanted to do it because I was pretty fast like sprinting wise. I knew I was pretty fast,” Kearney said. “It was an enjoyable year, it was really fun.” 

That decision also led him to join the school’s cross country team in his sophomore year.

Now in his senior season, Kearney decided to not get involved with basketball. Instead, he focused on training for this season. Some of the things that Kearney did and focused on include running 65 miles per week and prioritizing recovery and consistency.

Kothenbeutel mentioned Kearney as one of the leaders within the team. For Kearney, this offers an opportunity for him to not only mentor new and returning underclassmen athletes with tips and advice on how they can improve but also to try to be an example like previous athletes who’ve set an example for the program prior to him joining. At one time, Kearney was once a freshman who was trying to figure out what areas he could improve upon.

“I believe I set an example for the younger athletes on my team, especially more towards the distance kids. They see putting in the work consistently,” Kearney said. “They see me doing just what it takes to become successful. I think I set an example for them that way they have steps to follow and someone to chase.”

Another athlete who broke out last season was sophomore Imelda Beltran. In just her first season, Beltran has already established herself in the program record books. She currently holds the program’s best time in the 400-meter race at 1:01.15 and is within the top four placement in all-time records in five other events: the triple jump, long jump, 4x400 meter relay, 4x100 meter relay and 800-meter race.

Furthermore, Beltran is also a multisport athlete with her involvement with the school’s girl soccer, flag football and cross country team. A lesson that she took from her experience in playing multiple sports for track and field is communicating with her teammates and embracing the challenges that come with competing in sports.

Being already cemented within the program’s all-time records list adds more motivation for Beltran to improve upon her first season.

“It gives me some type of motivation to get better and try to set more records,” Beltran said. “Overall, it motivates me a lot to become a better person.”

Orestimba will begin their season in the 6th Annual Tiger Rustbuster Invite on March 1st at Patterson Community Stadium.

“Track and Field is one of the most remarkable sports out there, especially when it comes to the environment of a track meet and if anybody could ever make it down and just get to experience what it’s like to sit in the stands with some of our athletes and see just how caring they are for one another how supportive they are for their teammates. It really is just a remarkable thing.” Kothenbeutel said.

Navtej Hundal is a freelance journalist in Stanislaus County.