Noah Jones has been appointed as the new Track & Field head coach. Mr. Jones has many plans for the Track & Field athletes and is excited to return to coaching after his own personal retirement from the workforce.  He is ready to share his knowledge with all the young athletes. 

Jones has lived in Los Banos and worked for the police department since 1994. During that time he coached the Los Banos team throwers, and he coached shot put and discus off and on for approximately 10 years. He began his track career in fifth grade throwing the shot put and discus. And he continued throwing throughout high school and has always enjoyed track. 

Jones said, “One of my favorite things about track is that it’s a team sport but also very motivating personally. As long as you’re improving your time, distances, and heights each week, that’s a WIN in my book. I’m looking forward to our Seniors and seeing them compete one last time in their events, hoping they all set their own personal records. I’m also looking forward to the new athletes who have never participated in track and field, seeing what events they do.”

Another exciting thing about this season is the coaching staff. It’s the first time the team has had a coach for all events. Coach Luna will still be helping with the hurdles, as he announced himself stepping down from the position of head coach, in order to spend more time with his own younger kids.  Coach Salaz and Coach Ben will be helping the long distance runners, and Coach Willhite will be helping the jump events-long, triple, and high as well as the pole vaulters. Joining the team this year is Coach JC, who also coached freshmen girls basketball, who will be helping with the sprinters. Coach Jones will continue helping the throwers. All track events are very technical so having knowledgeable coaches is very important for an athlete’s success. 

 This season is very unusual due to the fact that Los Banos does not have a track this year.  It’s being renovated until further notice and so the practices will be held at Pacheco High School this season. The future of Los Banos’s track & field is exciting as for the 2025 season, the team will finally have an all weather track, updated equipment, and new facilities. An all weather track is a game changer and should allow for more consistent practices and track meets and make for better performing track athletes. 

Mr. Jones’ expectations for track athletes is to work hard and do their best at practices and meets. He stresses the importance of making personal records throughout the season for all athletes. If this happen, the team point portion should take care of itself. At this time, the team has officially practiced for one week. They’ll still have athletes joining track that are currently playing other sports.

The teams first track meet will be on March 20, 2024 against Johansen and Mountain House at Los Banos. You can contact Mr. Jones through the Remind app, with the code is @2024lbt. Mr Jones finishes off by saying, “I’m looking forward to working with all our coaches and athletes. Hoping they enjoy track as much as I did when I was in high school. GO Tigers!”