To say that it was fait accompli that the Girls' Track and Field Team was going to win the CIF Championship and the State Championship in 2018 would have been pure folly. A lot was up in the air when the school year began as it related to the Girls Track and Field team. The team was not one of the most highly regarded teams going into the season, not appearing on "best of" lists in the major Track and Field pre-season publications in Southern California, let alone California. However, one component that was not up in the air was who would be leading the Serra program.
Coach Christopher Calvin, only in his second year at the helm of the Serra Cavalier Track and Field program, provided the steadiest of hand and a consistently motivating message and presence, leading the most challenging practices the entire year and reminding his team at every turn that very few regarded the team as highly as it should have been regarded. The result was a season for the ages, as our Serra Cavaliers Girls Track and Field team, first, won the CIF Southern Section Division IV championship, upending the four-time defending champion Oaks Christian team, and then won the CIF State Championship, the school's second California team title and first since 2012.
Jasmyne Frost, who led the way at the CIF Southern Section and State meets and was named All-State by MileSplit and Track Athlete of the Year by the Daily Breeze, said of Coach Calvin, "Coach Calvin pushed the team and I to work hard each day. My team and I were worried in the beginning of the season because nobody knew about us or we weren't ranked, but Coach Calvin consistently told us to 'trust the process' because we will eventually prove everyone wrong. Therefore, with these words, it motivated us and made us more 'hungry' for success. Coach Calvin has always believed in us because he knew our potential from the beginning."
Coach Calvin is known for being cool under pressure, and nothing demonstrated that more than the final event at the State Meet for the Cavalier squad. Needing at least a 3rd place finish from the 4 x 400 squad to win the State Championship, Coach Calvin didn't flinch. "There's no pressure, I tell them, when you are prepared," Calvin said. "They were very prepared for this. We were talking about this moment since August, focusing on what it takes to get here not necessarily getting here. The girls have been putting in the work."
This could be the first of many achievements for the squad and for Coach Calvin, as five of the six members of this 2018 championship Cavalier squad return in 2019. For now, though, it is time to take a breath and relish a season that ranks as one of the all-time great seasons for any Serra squad, and it is also time to congratulate Coach Calvin for being an incredible example of what it means to be a Cavalier.
Source: MileSplitCA