Varsity track and field sprinter junior Eric Venner finishes a low intensity workout, slowly recovering from an injury he suffered a month ago, and trying to get a start in his junior season.

  Venner has been doing track since 7th grade and has continued to work hard every year. He works to not only make himself better, but also everyone else around him, but going into his junior season Venner got injured and has yet to compete this year.

  “I have been doing track for about five years now, and I plan to do it all four years of high school,” Venner said. “This year I will be running the 100, 200, and the 400 meter, and I will also be doing the relay which is the four by one and the four by four.” 

  Since then, Venner said he has been training a lot, putting several hours into training each day.

  “We have track every day, so it’s at least a couple hours daily, and then after practice I try to get in the weight room,” Venner said.

  Venner said putting so much time into track makes it really difficult to balance other things, like his social life and school.

  “Track is a very time-consuming sport. Practices are long during the week and most Saturdays are busy with meets, so I really try to balance everything as best I can,” Venner said.

  Venner said one workout he will do to help improve his speed is plyometrics. 

  “Plyometrics increase my explosiveness. I do eight different jumping workouts and complete 30 jumps for each workout for three sets,” Venner said.

  After working out, Venner said he will take the time to help his body recover.

  “A big part of my routine is recovery. I think it’s super important to treat your body well, especially when you are working it so hard all day,” Venner said. “I use heat pads and ice after practice and then I will also do some stretching.” 

  Varsity track and field sprinter junior Diego Hurwitz said Venner is an incredibly committed athlete and always works hard.

  “He has progressed a lot and gotten a lot faster over the years, but he has been hurt a lot throughout his career holding him back from his peak,” Hurwitz said. 

  Venner ran the 100 meter and 200 meter freshman year. In the 100 meter, he ran a time of 11.99 seconds. In the 200 meter, he ran a time of 24.22 seconds. Since then, he has improved to 11.37 seconds in the 100 meter and 23.23 seconds in the 200 meter. 

  “I am glad that I have been able to improve both those times, and this year I am super excited to do even better, win my events, and break some records,” Venner said.

 In the 2025 season his team for the 4×1 relay set the school record of 42.88 seconds, and his team for the 4×4 relay last year ran a time of 3 minutes and 27 seconds.

  “I hope this year I can help improve the times for both the 4×1 relay and the 4×4 relay,” Venner said.

  Varsity track and field sprinter junior Noah Hussain said that Venner has not only improved a significant amount, but has helped him improve a lot too. 

  “I have learned a thing or two from Eric which has helped me shave time off of my 100 meter. Alongside him improving his time in certain events, he has also become a much better leader over the years and helps everyone,” Hussain said. 

  Track and field head coach Pouyan Assadi said Venner is overall dependable, which makes a huge impact to the team.

  “On the track, he is the difference maker. Our team for the 4×1 has bonafide athletes like Rehan [Mumtaz] and Maddox [Ma], so adding Eric into the mix turns us into a truly dangerous squad,” Assadi said.

  Assadi said Venner has grown a lot since freshman year and that this junior year, he can be the key to success for the track team.

  “From a mental and emotional maturity standpoint, since freshman year Eric has gotten a better sense of how to handle his time and communicate with coaches about any pains he may have that can cause problems,” Assadi said. “He has trusted the process, and he has included the weight program and offseason training into his year round schedule, so it should pay off.

  Venner’s season started out slow after he strained his left hamstring at the 2026 California Winter Championships on Jan. 17. 

  “I got hurt running at the 2026 California Winter Championships on Jan. 17, and I strained my left hamstring,” Venner said.

  Assadi said Venner has the potential to have an amazing junior season if he can come back soon.

  “Eric took a big jump sophomore year, and now unfortunately he is injured, so if he can come back fully healthy, not too late into the season, and everything he has done in the last few months has stuck with him then he can have a great junior season and lead our team to success,” Assadi said.

  Venner said he hopes to come back in a couple weeks to finally start his junior season.

  “I want to make it back for the Swenson Werne invitation on March 21, and if I can’t then at least before the Standard invitation on Apr. 4,” Venner said. “I want to be able to come back, have an impact and win. That’s my favorite thing about this sport. Winning.”