ALISO VIEJO, Calif. – The Soka men's and women's track and field teams kick off their 2025 campaign this Saturday, February 8th, at the Sunshine Invitational in Santa Barbara. The first of three winter meets for the Lions, Westmont College's home opener provides solid competition across all levels, and Soka looks to take advantage and hit the ground running. The track and field teams compete at home the following week at the highly anticipated Soka Indoor Qualifier, which returns to SUA on the 15th after a year off in 2024. Expectations are high for the team to perform well at home and secure coveted spots at the NAIA Indoor Track National Championships in Gainsville, Florida at the end of February. 

Sprints and Hurdles
Perhaps the strongest class in recent memory on the men's side, the Lions return both of last season's outdoor national qualifiers in senior Keito Newman and sophomore Hope Suka, conference champions in the 400-meter hurdles and 400 meters, respectively. They also add a promising newcomer to the mix in Andrew Magnuson, a freshman 100- and 200-meter specialist from Clovis, CA. 
On the women's side, the talented 60-meter duo of Naylah Oliveira Santos and Miki Kawamura reunite on the track for the final time, as Oliveira Santos returns to short-distance after representing Soka in the national championships this past cross-country season. Alongside Kawamura, sixth at last year's conference championships, they add a promising newcomer of their own in freshman hurdler Karyna Carbollosa.

Distance and Mid-distance
Sophomore Yuko Hashimoto looks to continue her run of form after capping off her cross-country season with second-team all-conference honors and a national championship berth. Hashimoto is joined in the women's mid-distance group by third-year Jasmine Lorenzo, who looks to improve on her 6th place finish in the 800-meter from 2024's Sunshine Invitational. The highly experienced men's distance squad returns all three national qualifiers in cross-country for their final indoor season with the Lions. Seniors André Souza, Jordan Bravo, and Naoki Kasai, first team all-conference selections who placed first, fourth, and sixth at the Cal-Pac cross-country championships, look to punch their tickets to Gainsville in the coming weeks.

Jumps/Throws
Conference champion Naiyla Dixon leads a young group of jumpers in the last year of her collegiate career. The triple jumper will share the sandpit with promising newcomers Kazuyo Nashida, Mili Fukada, and Solar Kawabata on the men's side. Junior shot-put technician Abdul Alim Fatawu, last year's Cal-Pac silver medalist, rounds out the throws in his penultimate season with the Lions.