Prep talk: Southern Section track and field prelims are Saturday

It’s the time of year in high school track and field for athletes to start entering peak form and take the first major step on the road to the state championships May 30-31 at Buchanan High School in Clovis.

The Southern Section prelims will be held on Saturday at four sites. Division 1 will be at Trabuco Hills, Divison 2 at Ontario, Division 3 at Yorba Linda and Division 4 at Carpinteria. Field events begin at 11 a.m. and running events at noon.

The qualifiers advance to the Southern Section championships May 17 at Moorpark.

For the relay competitions, this is the time of year coaches get real nervous about dropped batons and being disqualified for lane violations.

The fastest 4x100 relay team in the state is Servite, which will compete in Division 3. Coach Brandon Thomas has his fingers crossed that his young team is ready to keep running fast times.

“We’re trying to end with a bang,” he said. . . .

The Southern Section swimming championships are Friday and Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College. The City Section swimming championships are Saturday at L.A. Valley College.

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