Woodside High School students lead Menlo Park middle school track athletes

The Menlo Park Middle School track season concluded Thursday evening at Woodside High following a two-year COVID-19 hiatus.

The season resumed with more than 60 middle schoolers from Hillview and La Entrada meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays in April and May to learn and compete in sprints, distance runs, hurdles, jumps and throws.

Students would typically rotate to two events per evening so they could gain exposure to different events.

The students were coached by adult volunteers and Woodside High track athletes (left to right in photo) Nicky Hart, Luke Buddie, Bridget Reynolds and Nathan Usher. All four were members of the Woodside track team and would stay after their practice to teach track fundamentals to the middle schoolers. Hart coached the hurdles; Buddie, who won the Central Coast Section high jump last Saturday, taught the jumpers. Reynolds and Usher instructed the throwers.

The track program will expand next year to include students from Corte Madera and Woodside Elementary.