With the 2024 track season around the corner, I took the opportunity to interview Santaluces 400m runner Nathaniel Louijene, who is on the path to sub-50 in the 400m.
Nathaniel, also widely known as “Nate,” is a Junior at Santaluces High School and has been running on the track team since his Freshmen year.
When questioned about why he decided to join the team, Nate said he loved being around people who wanted to accomplish the same things as him.
Nate feels that being around people with shared passions motivates him and pushes him to want to accomplish all his goals.
When asked why he wanted to pursue track, Nate left me with a beautiful comment: track is “an outlet for me to get away from reality for a little.”
Nate’s goal for the upcoming track season is to get his grades and GPA up while aiming to qualify for states this year. He also announced that he plans to add the 800m as one of his events this year. To achieve this, Nate has been working out during the off-season, which consisted of him increasing the mileage he’d usually run and incorporating speed sessions into his routine.
Now that the season is approaching, Nate has switched from solo sessions on his own and started conditioning with the Track & Field coaches to get back into peak shape for his Junior year. Nate doesn’t have a specific college he wants to attend at the moment; instead, he’s focused on performing well not only as an athlete but also as a student. As the first meet approaches, we look forward to seeing Nathaniel’s performance on the track and the results of his consistent training during the off-season!
