Cheering on her teammates, freshman Addison Hichman, one of the four freshmen on the women’s 4 x 800-meter relay team, watched with freshmen Riley Hill and Madeline Duchesne as Maggie Campbell finished the final leg to win regionals and qualify the team for the state meet.
“It was exhilarating to see one of my closest friends finishing the relay strong,” Hill said. “To see everyone else on the relay do well was one of my proudest moments this season.”
The women’s 4 x 800-meter team won with a time of 10:19.6. The group is one of the fastest 3200-meter relay teams the school has seen.
Coach Walt Fletcher can see the potential in his young team.
“Its impressive that four freshman girls won a regional title and dropped a minute off their time over the course of the season,” Fletcher said. “Looking over the next couple of years, it makes me happy as a coach to see the potential that they have.”
Senior Melena Robinson has broken the school record for the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes and holds the 55-meter dash record for indoor track. Senior Bradley Barham threw 54 feet, 1’ inch at the North Henderson Open in the shot put, breaking the school’s record by 31 inches. Barham also competed in discus with a personal record of 135 feet, 9.5 inches.
“One of my events went really well at regionals. My other could use some work,” Barham said. “I feel like I have a really good chance at placing top five at state. To prepare for state, I want to not stress myself mentally. I have been training for this, and I know that I can do it.”
The women’s team won the conference as well as the regional championship with Robinson winning most valuable athlete. The men’s team placed fourth at the conference meet and eighth at the regional meet.
The men’s team will send seniors Thomas Jones, Brandan Naef and Dylan Shamburger along with junior Graham Neve to the state meet in the 3200-meter relay this Saturday. Shamburger will compete in the 1600-meter and 800-meter events. Barham qualified for the state meet in both shot put and discus.
At the state meet, Robinson, Campbell, junior Taylor Meadows and sophomore Shylee Stocks will join the 4 x 800m team to compete in the 4 x 400-meter relay. Senior Gracie Tate will compete in the 300-meter and 100-meter hurdles. Sophomore Abby Jackson and junior Madison Conner will compete in the high jump.
“I joined track to challenge myself with a new sport,” Hichman said. “Running has opened up a new world to me and I have loved every minute of it.”
By: Brandan Naef
