When freshman Anella Palacpac was in middle school, she did not picture herself running track. She was always fast, but she was a soccer player, and she planned on sticking to the sport. However, after taking a year off of soccer, she did not feel prepared to try out for the school team, so she gave track a chance. She quickly found that she enjoyed it, and that she excelled at it. Palacpac currently runs the 100 meter, 200 meter, 4×100 meter and 4×400 meter, and is the fastest member of the relay teams. At the track meet on May 7, Palacpac placed 2nd in the 100 meter sprint.
El Estoque: What is unique about track?
Freshman Anella Palacpac: Track is an individual performance sport, so I feel more outstanding when I win. In a sports team, you don’t see that individual performance, but in track, if I win my 100 meter, it’s independent. It’s not like the whole team does the same thing you’re doing. It’s a responsibility, a responsibility towards yourself.
EE: How do athletes select an event?
Palacpac: In track, there’s not just one part. There’s distance, there’s hurdles, there’s all these types of things, so it’s mainly [based] on interest. We can do a maximum of four events each meet, so if you’re interested in long distance you go to that. I like short things, so I go to sprint.
EE: What’s a typical practice like?
Palacpac: At a typical practice, we get a little spiel from our main coach, [Kirk] Flatow, and we disperse into our teams — distance, hurdles, all of that. We do our warm ups by ourselves, then some workouts. At the end, we usually do core, we stretch again, and cool down.
EE: What are meets like?
Palacpac: Meets are pretty nerve wracking. [When you arrive,] you keep yourself warm and ready to run. We never sit down and do nothing. It takes a while because you have to wait for all the runners. Sometimes we do homework, but there’s a lot of gunshots.
EE: What are your favorite memories of the season?
Palacpac: One time, after a meet at Cupertino, we went to Yogurtland and there was no space in the car, so I had to kneel down near the bottom of the car until we got there, and that was pretty funny.Also, whenever I [reach a personal record] in a 100 or 200 [meter race], that’s always exciting. We have a 4×100 and 4×400 team, and I’m on that too. Even if we don’t win, it’s fun to be part of the team.
EE: What is your advice for anyone interested in track?
Palacpac: Just try it out, because I thought I would be alone and I wouldn’t be good at it. I ended up being really good and I improved. Improvement is always good. Always keep trying new things. I tried this, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to keep going through senior year.
Santa Clara Athletic Valley Championships are on May 16 at Santa Clara High School, and updates from Coach Kirk Flatow are available on the MV Running website.
