It’s officially track season! The season started off with a scrimmage on Monday at home. Concord High School’s track team faced Springport and Jackson Prep in a non-league tri-meet. Epic returning coaches continue to inspire our track athletes and help bring home wins for the boys’ and girls’ teams: Mike Jurasek is the head coach for the boys’ team, and David Jordon is the girls’ head coach. Dan Davis is also the returning assistant coach for both of these teams.

Neveah Martin is a freshman at Concord, and this was her first track meet! At the meet, Martin participated in the long jump and ran the 100—and 200-meter dashes. When asked how she felt before the track meet, she explained, “I was a little nervous because I’ve never run track before.” Martin continued, “But overall, it’s been really fun!”

Sophomore Maddox Hutchinson is a long-distance runner for the boys team. At the meet, Hutchinson placed 3rd in the 1 mile and 1st in the 800-meter dash. Hutchinson explained that he was very confident going into the mile but, unfortunately, did not place as high as he had wanted.

Despite this, he plans to improve his time throughout the rest of the season. Next up was the 800-meter dash. When asked about his feelings after the race, he explained, “I was pretty happy! I was not expecting to do that well after dying on the mile.”

Sophomore Marissa Mandrelle also ran in the meet and did a fantastic job! Mandrelle participated in the long jump and ended up placing 1st. She also ran in the 100-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles and ended up placing 1st in the 100-meter hurdles. When asked how she felt about the 100-meter hurdle race, she said, “I was extremely nervous before, but after, I was really proud of myself and felt like I had the next race.”

Senior Ashton Easterwood is a returning hurdler for the boys’ team. Easterwoods preferred races are the 110-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles. Easterwood explains, “I took it lighter for my 110-meter hurdle race because I’ve been out with an injury.” Easterwood continues explaining, “For the 300-meter hurdles, I ended up running an all-time PR (Personal Record) because I felt very comfortable while running.” The most important thing Easterwood wanted to focus on during this meet was to work towards building a foundation and getting comfortable with running in races again.

So, with that, congratulations to both teams and all who volunteered to run the event. This is just the beginning of an amazing Concord track season, and we can’t wait to see the amazing things our athletes will achieve as we move towards the end of the year! Concord’s next track meet will be on Wednesday, April 17th, at Maple Valley.