Track season is off to an amazing start as they competed in their first two meets this week. Experienced and new athletes came together to compete on Wednesday in a Tri Meet and Saturday in an invitational. With the help of the coaches, Markeese Boyd, Dan Davis, David Jordan, and Mike Jursek, the teams were able to achieve impressive results, showing the potential for the rest of their season.
On Wednesday, they competed at home against Union City and Maple Valley. The girls competed hard, winning against Maple Valley, but falling short to Union City. Many athletes did exceptionally well, some beating PR’s and others placing first. Bradie Lehman placed first in all of her events, including the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. Cieara Barrett also placed first in all three of her events: 400-meter dash, 800-meter dash, and long jump. Avery Arbuckle placed first in Shot Put with a throw of 28 feet 6 inches. Annie Saenz jumped high jump in her first high school meet, with a height of 4 feet 10 inches, with Mya Barrett jumping the same to place second. The 4×100 meter relay team of Rakai Hill, Hannah Ryan, Annie Saenz, and Bradie Lehman, and the 4×200 meter relay team of Hill, Ryan, Saenz, and Lehman both placed first.
Mya Barrett shares her experience in the meet after high jumping in her first meet. When asked how she felt about the jump, she responded, “I have a cramp in my leg, so I was not jumping my best.” Though the pain got in the way of the jump, she was still able to PR, increasing her best height by two inches. She shares a little bit about what she will do next time to improve her performance: “I am going to stretch more and go practice it a lot more.” She adds that she was pleased with her results, but is hoping to do much better later in the season.
The boys’ team also had a tough competition, but was able to win in the end through their hard work. Tylend Allen won all of his events, which included the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash. Hollis Mick also had exceptional races, which included the 800-meter and the mile. Trenton Frazer won the 300-meter hurdles. Christian Castro places first in the discus with a throw of 99-09. Darrell Dean won the long jump with a PR jump of 18-09. The 4×100 meter relay team of Darrell Dean, Tylend Allen, Jeff Thomas, and Jett Smith placed first with a time of 46.78. First with a time of 1:37.10 was the 4×200 team of Darrell Dean, Trenton Frazer, Jett Smith, and Tylend Allen. The 4×400 relay team of Trenton Frazer, Paul Herendeen, Hollis Mick, and Connor Stevens was also first with a time of 3:43.67.
After the event, Trenton Frazer shares what he feels his best event was: “The 300 hurdles because I ran an all-time PR. My previous PR was a 45, and I ran a 42.” He prepared himself for the race by warming up thoroughly, making sure his muscles were warm. Frazer also wants to shout out two athletes he felt did really well. He explains, “Hollis in the mile, he just jogged behind the other guy, and then at the 200 finished really hard to beat them by a lot. Tylend also almost broke 11 seconds in the 100.”
On Saturday, both teams had to compete through harsh weather conditions, and many athletes scratched out of their events. They worked through the adversity, still managing to place well against the 12 teams at the invitational. The girls ended up fourth with 70 points, and the boys were third with 69 points.
The girls’ races consisted of a few first places, as well as a few PR’s from the athletes. Bradie Lehman places first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.50. Annie Seanz placed first in the high jump with a PR of 5 feet. Rakai Hill had a PR in the 100-meter hurdles, with a time of 15.95, placing fourth in the race. The 4×200 meter relay team of Rakai Hill, Annie Saenz, Cieara Barrett, and Bradie Lehman placed first with a time of 1:52.59. Annie Seanz, Haley Stimer, Bradie Lehman, and Cieara Barrett raced on the 4×400 meter relay team to place first with a time of 4:24.98. The other Concord athletes had tough competition, placing 3rd or 4th in most of their races. PR’s for this meet included Amiah Ward, Rachel Rundle, Rakai Hill, Avery Arbuckle, and Bella Coppernoll.
Sophomore, Bradie Lehman, shares what her most pleasing moment from the meet was: “I am most proud of our 4×2 team. We adjusted at the last minute when we had to have a fill-in runner, and we were still able to win.” Moving forward, she is looking forward to possibly having personal and team PR’s in the next meet. Overall, Lehman is extremely proud of everyone and is thrilled for what is to come the rest of the season.
For the boys, Hollis Mick was the only athlete to place first in solo events. Mick was first in the 800-meter dash with a PR time of 2:05.63. For the relays, the 4×400 meter relay team of Tylend Allen, Connor Stevens, Trenton Frazer, and Hollis Mick won with a time of 3:38.23. The other athletes had tough competition, with a few getting new PR’s, including Jeff Thomas, Issac Kreiger, Tylend Allen, and Paul Herendeen.
Hollis Mick has shown his exceptional abilities in these two races. This is his first year at Concord and has shown to be a significant addition to the team. He shares that his biggest motivation in track is “to get better times”. He had much to be proud of after his race on Saturday, but was most pleased with his 4.38-mile. Mick adds that for the next meet, he will plan on opening up faster in order to make better times.
Congratulations to all of the athletes who competed this past week. The results are just the start of the amazing season ahead of them. Their next meet is this Wednesday at Quincy, so come support them!
