Women’s track and field began their season Feb. 13.

Last year, the team won conference and sent three runners to the state championships.

Alicia Zappia competed in the long jump and finished in 12th place, while Tria Ismay competed in the 400-meter hurdles and finished in eighth place. Jennifer Pedroza competed in the heptathlon and finished in 10th place.

This year Coach Sonia Rodriguez is left with the challenge of having a mixture of athletes on her new roster.

“I think one of the hardest things here is the fact that new athletes are going to be red-shirting this season,” she said when asked what one of the challenges she faced was. She hopes to get new athletes out there to compete.

She would like to work on allowing athletes to try different things and explore the events to get comfortable with them.

In high school, athletes are only allowed to compete in one or two events, so transitioning to college where the option of trying different events has been an adjustment.

She explained that helping them improve individually opens the opportunity for the team to do well throughout the season.

“Success comes when you take genuine care of your athletes,” she said, as she wants to work on strength and conditioning more than anything.

Her main goal is to always shoot for the top.

“Taking as many girls as we can to conference and state championships are the goal every season,” she said. “We’re always going to try to do our very best at conference level.”

Coach Rodriguz highlighted a few standout athletes to look out for this season. Addison Rose, a freshman who is one of the top distance runners, is looking strong. Rebecca Cummings, a freshman pole vaulter, vaulted close to nine feet at the first meet. Emily Thurman, another freshman, is also one to watch for.

The Comets’ next meet will be the Ben Brown Invitational at 9 a.m. on Friday, March 13.