The West Ranch boys’ and girls’ track and field program is on the rise, according to boys’ coach Mark Crear.
Crear, who’s a first-year coach for the boys’ track and field team, said the 2026 season has been a year that has been about building a culture at West Ranch. And with the boys’ and girls’ teams achieving second-place finishes in the Foothill League, respectively, he’s seeing the work pay off.
“Hats off to Canyon. We go into the year thinking, ‘Who’s fighting for second?’” Crear said in response to the Foothill League race. “We haven’t been in the top three in quite some years. So, for us to do that, it’s a really rewarding experience.
Crear said that there were over 170 athletes competing in the West Ranch track and field program but added that it’s an indicator of the culture he’s trying to help build alongside the rest of the coaching staff.
“This year we had over 170 athletes. About 75 of them are sprinters,” he said. “It was challenging, but out of that, we’re able to create a pipeline and succession plan. Hopefully, the new culture of West Ranch is that we work hard, we play hard, compete hard. And that’s what we’re trying to build.”
During the 2026 Foothill League season, the West Ranch boys’ and girls’ teams claimed head-to-head wins over Golden Valley, Castaic, Saugus, Hart and Valencia.
The lone loss of the season in league competition for the Wildcats was a defeat to Canyon Cowboys, who won the boys’ and girls’ Foothill League titles.
This season, the Foothill League titles were determined by head-to-head results in dual meets and tri-meets.
Last season, the Foothill League had a one-day meet to determine the league champions.
On Saturday, the Wildcats competed in the Arcadia Invitational, a track and field meet that Crear described as the “Olympics of High School.”
Tamea Crear, the Foothill League’s and CIF reigning 200m champion, finished seventh in the 200m invitational race with the 24.03 time. And on the boys’ side, the Wildcats had Tyler Halvorsen, who competed in the 800m open race and ended the day in 30th with a time of 1:54.92.
The Wildcats compete again in the Mt. San Antonio College relays meet from Thursday to Saturday. And with one last meet until the Foothill League prelims, Crear is looking for the Wildcats to stay healthy and have the most momentum possible going into the competition.
“Now it’s time to get in the zone, right?” Mark Crear said. “We have to figure out who’s going to be running in the league prelim and then start creating specific workouts for them, with the ultimate goal of us performing when it counts.”
