From 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm every Monday and Wednesday, young runners swarm Arroyo Grande High School. These elementary and middle school students are in the Peregrines Youth Track Program, led by Heath and Laurie Owens.
The program began last year and is part of a larger organization they started called the Central Coast Athletics Foundation. Last year, there were around 40 kids enrolled in the program, but this year that number skyrocketed to 120.
The Central Coast Athletics Foundation hosts other events to keep kids running. With races like the “Jingle Bell Dash” and “Ryan’s Ranch Run,” the foundation emphasizes staying active and having fun. Central Coast Athletics also hosts the all-ages open-invite “All Comers” track meets during the summer.
Central Coast Athletics also sponsors other groups in the community such as providing watches to the cross country team, awarding scholarships to seniors (two for AGHS students and two for Nipomo High School students), and giving back to AVID.
The Peregrines are kids from 3rd to 8th grade passionate about running. The track club exposes these kids to track events including distance running, shot put, discus, long jump, high jump, and sprinting.
“A lot of times kids won’t see the high jump or the long jump until high school,” Joe Thorne, Peregrines distance running coach, said. “And so they don’t have the opportunity to even explore it and see if they like it or not.”
The Peregrines Youth Track Club allows kids to explore a sport typically introduced in middle school and high school at a younger age, inspiring an early love for track and field.
“[The kids] are having so much fun, and that’s what it’s all about,” Laurie Owens said. “We want them to have a great time.”
The Peregrines coaches are all community members with a track and field background.
“I started track when I was a youth as well, but I ran in high school and then from there I went to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and ran for them,” Owens said. “I was a hurdler, 400-meter hurdler, [and I] became an All-American. So I’ve done [track] all my life.”
The coaches’ impressive backgrounds in track and field make them extremely qualified, but their ability to work with kids makes the program successful.
“The staff of the group this year are very experienced and knowledgeable but then can remove themselves from that and work with kids,” Thorne said. “So when they have something to say, they know what they are talking about.”
Heath and Laurie Owens came together with other runners in the community, such as Thorne and program director Jean Drummond Peterson.
“I think one of my favorite parts about coaching the Peregrines is seeing how excited these kids are about running,” Peterson said. “[Track is] one of those sports that you do together but you also do as an individual.”
Managing 120 kids can be challenging, but the coaches have a system that allows practices to run smoothly.
Practice starts with a warm-up involving laps around the track, running drills, and hip mobility. Following strides and leg swings, the workout begins. The Peregrines’ track workouts vary, sometimes involving bleacher runs or plyometrics. After the workout, the kids can explore individual track events, such as hurdles or long jump, with coaches showing them the ropes.
The Peregrines Youth Track Club’s goal is to foster a love for track and field in the community’s youngest members and help them stay active while making new friends. The kids are excited to run, jump, and throw, and the organization hopes to help them maintain this excitement throughout their lives.
