For Grijalva and a pair of senior boys, it’s possible they thought the trip would come at the end of their track and field season.

Instead, it came as a three-day break before embarking on the athletic trip of a lifetime.

Grijalva is one of five individual girls and a pair of relays who will be competing in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association track and field championships Friday and Saturday at Cicero-North Syracuse High School.

“It’s really amazing. I hadn’t really had the vision of going in an individual event, so that’s really crazy,” Grijalva said Wednesday afternoon. “It’s very fulfilling going in the relays, because we’ve been working at that since last year. Going this year is really special, my senior year.”

Southwestern’s Emma Lewis is seeded third in the Division 2 2,000-meter steeplechase. P-J file photo by Tim Frank

Grijalva is seeded 10th in the Division 2 400 meters with a time of 58.34 seconds.

“With Alexis, she’s been a part of this team for five years. She’s been someone at practices and workouts that you look up to. She puts in the extra time. For her to make it individually and buy into what we’re doing is kind of nice,” Southwestern girls head coach Adam Frisbee said. “Midway through the season, she was maybe questioning a little bit about where she was. I told her to trust in what we were doing. … To see her drop the time she’s dropped in the past three weeks has just been incredible.”

Chautauqua Lake junior Jada Cole is tied for the second-best overall and Division 2 height at 5 feet, 6 inches in the high jump.

Southwestern freshman Emma Lewis is seeded seventh overall and third in Division 2 in the 2,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 6:59.71.

“Emma obviously has brought the performance, but she has also shown that you can be from Southwestern and go to that next level, and compete with those girls,” Frisbee said. “We know we have this piece with Emma and the other girls will work up to where she is. They’re going to try to run with her and she is going to push them.”

Southwestern sophomore Mikayla Johnson is seeded seventh in the Division 2 shot put with a distance of 37 feet, 3.25 inches.

“Emma is a superstar and I think that everybody knows that, but it’s been great getting some of those other names in there like Mikayla Johnson,” Frisbee said. “Her showing up with a big shot put was just an incredible surprise for us. For her to make it as a sophomore is great.

“He gets them to buy in. They are right on board right off the bat. He has them in the weight room in the wintertime. He shows them the progressions,” Frisbee added about Southwestern throwing coach Adam Brown. “He may not be a math teacher, but he’s a statistician when it comes to track. He can show them as a freshman you threw 37 feet, and by the time you get to your senior year, you should be here. To see them do exactly what he’s telling them to do shows who he is as a coach.”

Randolph senior Eve Adams is seeded 30th overall and 13th in Division 2 in the pole vault at 9 feet, 6 inches.

Southwestern’s 1,600-meter relay, Grijalva, sophomores Avery Johnson and Tryniti Card, and freshman Marlana Cresanti, is seeded fifth with a time of 4:02.05.

“We have the entire 4-by-4 and 4-by-8 coming back from last year. We could see it on paper. Coach (Pedro) Melendez and I broke that down,” Frisbee said. “We knew the future was bright. We had that idea and it’s great to see them step up right away and do it.”

Southwestern’s 3,200-meter relay, Lewis, junior Kate Miller, Card and Cresanti, is seeded 12th overall and fourth in Division 2 with a time of 9:31.44.

“This has just been awesome. Looking at where we finished last year, we were runners up in the 1,600-meter relay at sectionals. I think that was a little bit of a surprise for the girls, but I don’t think it was a surprise for the coaches,” Frisbee said.” We knew we’d have the core of that relay coming back and we knew the 3,200-meter relay could be really good.”

Gates open at 10 a.m. Friday with field events set to begin at 11 a.m. and track events slated for 12:30 p.m. On Saturday, gates open at 9 a.m. with competition beginning at 10 a.m.

“Two years ago, we took six boys, but no girls. This year we have three boys and seven girls. Our girls program has just been doing awesome, too. To be able to take a group of boys and girls together, really shows what our program is. It’s not just the boys program or the girls program, it’s Southwestern track and field,” said Southwestern boys head coach Jay Sirianni. “We coach everything together. … We focus on being a team first and succeeding as a team. This weekend is all about those individuals, who have earned the right to keep going.”