The track team, after a season of constant practice, is now gearing up to send its top athletes to a meet at Fort Walton for regional. One runner moving on to regionals named Sean Hoff man exclaimed that he really enjoys track and he is thrilled he will be running at the meet.

   During the district level, the boy’s team had many athletes placing including Ashton Wyse ranking 3rd in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:02.59, and Caden Emma ranking 2nd in the javelin fi nals getting 146-03.50 while Luke Massie wasn’t far behind getting 5th place. However, many others placed high such as Jacob Dorsch, who placed 6th in the 3200-meter run gaining a time of 10:33.54, the 4 by 800-meter relay with a time of 8:42.74, Luke Massie who tied for 2nd place with three others reaching a height of 11 meters and 9.75 centimeters in the pole vault and Connor Baker who tied for 5th reaching a height of 11 meters and 03.75 centimeters. Luke Massie also placed 5th in the javelin fi nals with 121 meters and 09.50 centimeters. Another athlete getting fifth is Troy Coughlin who fi nished with 41-06.50 in the shot put.

   Not to be outdone, the girl’s team also had athletes place during the districts track meet comprising of Elizabeth Mazel and Spencer Creighton who respectively ranked 2nd and 3rd in the girl’s pole vault. Both girls went on to compete at regionals, where Mazel placed 7th and Creighton closely followed in 8th. When asked her thoughts on the season, Creighton said “My favorite part is meeting new people but always coming back to familiar faces. I’ve been with this team for years, and I love watching old friends and new friends work hard and improve on the field. I’m infinitely glad to have had the experience.”

   Aside from these, the girl’s track and field teem classed high in the 400-meter dash with Amaija Powell taking 5th with a time of 1 minute 93 seconds, the 800-meter run having Elisa Williams take 5th again and receiving a time of 2:26.85, the triple jump finals with Bria Aylstock one place short of placing third but still managing to get 4th place, and last but not least, the girl’s 4 by 800-meter relay took 4th with an all-around time of 10 minutes and 55.12 seconds.

   Fielder Jasmine Beatty wisely said, “I love track and field, but mostly the field part.” Another runner that shouldn’t be overlooked is James Beeson who has just committed to run track as well as cross country at Trinity University. He exclaimed that he was thrilled to run track in college and it was a great opportunity.

   All these athletes have put in many hours before and after school to perfect what they do and a lot of their hard work is paying off . All we have to do now is sit back and watch to see any athletes move on to the state track meet.