MATTAWA — Wahluke senior Tanu Buck said it’s been tough dealing with having his final track season ripped away this spring.

“I got pretty sad when I heard about that, I was really trying to go win a state title this year,” Buck said. “I was really working at that. But things happen, it’s life, so just have to keep moving on.”

Buck said he’s still been running and working out at home these past few weeks. With the season gone, Buck now begins to prepare for the next level as he gets set to continue his track and field career at Everett Community College.

A three-sport athlete — cross country, basketball and track — Buck said he’s always looking forward to track season, even as the basketball season winds down in the winter. A starting guard with the Warriors last year, Buck said he really started out athletically as a basketball player before giving track a shot in seventh grade.

“I decided to try out track, I did the 800 and I just started winning all my races,” Buck said. “I just started loving it and got good at it.”

The 800-meter race, Buck said, is his event. Buck said he’s run other events in high school, including the mile, 200 meters and some relays.

After failing to make the final event at the state meet his first two seasons with the Warriors, Buck said he finally broke through with a fourth-place finish last year as a junior. Coming into this spring, Buck said he really felt like this was his year.

“Last year, the top runners were seniors, and there were only a couple of us juniors that were on the podium,” Buck said. “I was looking forward to trying to win.”

With his senior season stripped away, Buck said he feels like he has a chip on his shoulder.

“I have to prove something now,” he said.

A driving influence for him as an athlete throughout his life was his aunt, Buck said.

“She’s like my mom pretty much, she pushed me for basketball, really pushed me,” Buck said. “She was my AAU coach. She was always pushing me, helping me to understand.”

Once he started to see success in track, Buck said his aunt really began pushing him into that, helping him to use what he learned in track on the basketball court as well.

Buck will have to save what he’s learned, in addition to the chip on his shoulder, until next spring when he’s able to get back on the track. Buck said he looks to use everything, including the motivation from losing the season, to motivate him to be the best runner he can be moving forward.

Buck said he’s setting his sights on being the best he can be, and added he wouldn’t mind setting a few records along the way.