The track and field team placed sixth for the girls and eighth for the boys at the Varsity EKL meet on May 10. Although it was not their highest ranking meet, not all of the events were filled, and several people still set personal and school records.
Freshman and sprinter Jasmine Moore, who began the season as a JV runner, set a personal record in the 100 meter dash and placed seventh with a time of 13.38.
“Mostly in my head, I’m literally going ‘God, let me win, please, please,’” Moore said. “It’s just like a burst of excitement – you run off of adrenaline and competitive energy. I was kind of sad that I didn’t get a medal today, but there’s always next year.”
Both jumpers and throwers improved in field events. Junior Hunter Thomas placed fourth in shot put, and senior Alyssa Phelps won fifth in the triple jump. In the high jump, junior Kelly Urschel received second, and sophomore James Atwood third. And sophomore Nastia Daven set both a personal record in the long jump and a school record in the pole vault at nine feet.
“I feel pretty accomplished,” Daven said. “[I’m] ready to get some more. My goal is to beat 10 feet this season.”
Junior and distance runner Jenn Kealey ran the second leg of the four by eight hundred meter relay, which won fourth place with a time of 10:42.94. Kealey says she has high hopes for the team at Regionals.
“We just won our previous meet on both sides – that was awesome,” Kealey said. “We’ve raised the expectations from last year. It was hard because of the weather and getting half of our meets rescheduled and having to run inside, but overall I think our team has really come through it. I hope we can get some distance teams to state.”
