Central Catholic Track & Field team have made a statement for themselves already in the opening week of this season, after racking up several golds and earning 2nd place as a team under the extremely windy condition at Edgewood Veterans Stadium. “We are glad to see improvements from all sides of team, especially the field events,” said Head Coach Gary Brimmer as he addressed his team on Thursday. Surging into another season of rise and shine with such an impressive opening performance, the Buttons are looking more promising than ever.

Despite no longer having Coach Walker taking command, the hurdles team’s domination continues under those Wednesday night lights, thanks to Senior hurdlers Zach Davidsmeyer and Raul Vallejo, who respectively racked up gold and silver in 110m (with 16.1” and 16.6” respectively). When they took the field later on that night in 300m, Davidsmeyer again contributed a gold to the team with a time of 41’’, while Vallejo knocks it through the finish line at 45”, earning him a third place. The addition of the new hurdles coach, Coach Watson, is also a big factor to the team’s current success. “I respect him a lot. He really knows what he is talking about”, said the former TAPPS state hurdles champion Davidsmeyer, when asked to comment on the change of command.

Meanwhile, it is the stable command in the long distance program that has boosted the Buttons to success. With Coach Brimmer taking the whistle for the 5th consecutive year, the long distance team is more solid than ever this year thanks to the return of two TAPPS all-state runners, Nathaniel Zapata and Michael Galvan. However, what’s scary about this team is, Zapata and Galvan are not the only cards Brimmer has on deck. With a bronze in 3200m by Senior Josh Uviedo and a 4th place in 800m by Junior Matthew Perez, the team has racked up more points than expected.

“Our team is in great shape right now”, said the 4-year veteran Zapata who crowned in the 3200m last Wednesday, “If the conditions were not so bad, we would have performed even better.” Not mentioning taking 4th in the 400m dash, Zapata along with Zach Davidsmeyer, Gibby Garza and Arnold McKesson also won the 4 by 4 relay with a time of 3’37”, a true testament of the boys’ excellence at what they do.

Not only Zapata, this year of track and field means something special for numerous excellent student athletes of this program. Defined as dedication and commitment, this 2019 track team may end up being the most solid group the seniors have been a part of. With these 4-year veterans continuing on their “one last dance” this season, the boys are definitely looking forward to making this year one to remember. “In the next meet, we are aiming to get top 3 again, hopefully getting some PRs along the way”, said Zapata.

The Buttons will be in action again this Thursday at Southwest Legacy, and the week after at Southside High school. So steer clear, all SA high school runners, because the Buttons are back on track and are coming your way. And watch out for the weather too, because it might just leave you in the dust. With the return of fearsome veterans Michael Galvan and Zeke Fetter in the coming weeks, the Central Catholic Track team will look forward to again taking the command underneath the Thursday night lights.