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Track competed at region last Wednesday and Thursday. Throughout the season, they have been training hard, and it showed at the competition. Parker Hightower came away with a first place, running an 11.36 in the 100-meter. Linzy Flinders ran 1:01:73 took second in the 800 meter with a time of 2:27:76, and the girls sprint medley, consisting of Cambrie Roper, Nicole Day, Isabel Hightower, and Linzy Flinders took second, with a time of 4:35.45.
The boys 4×100 meter relay team, consisting of Brage Anderson, Karson Parish, Parker Hightower, and Kabrien Cosby, took third with a time of 45.55, and the boys sprint medley, consisting of Carl Peel, Wyatt Roberts, Parker Hightower, and Kabrien Cosby also took third with a time of 3:50.46.
Additionally, Isabelle Hightower took fourth in the 100 meter, Nicole Day took fourth in the 800 meter, and Carl Peel took third in the 1600 meter, fourth in the 800 meters, and fifth in the 3200 meters.
Peel feels proud of the track team, and the progress they have made this season.
“I think we did very well, considering the size of the team,” Peel said.
As the team prepares for state this weekend, they are going to be lightening practice so they can perform at their peak.
“Running is really hard on your body,” Day said. “[This week], we’re taking it easy, so we have energy at state.”
Peel is preparing for the meet with business as usual.
“Our focus won’t change,” Peel said. “It’s just another meet, that happens to be important, apparently.”
Day agrees with Peel, and credits the coaches for the a large part of the success of the team.
“We have some of the best coaches in the state, and they know what they’re doing,” Day said. “At the beginning of the season, we all set goals for the season…we accomplished every single one of the goals that we set.
This year, Coach Scott Butler and Coach Bill Bedford decided to prepare for region and state by trying something new.
“As you train it is like putting money into the bank and when you race you are taking money out,” Butler said, relating training to a bank.
Four weeks ago, the coaches then decided to cancel some meets so the team could focus on their training more. They went to the Dixie Invitational and did very well; the majority of the team set a personal record.
“A lot of teams try racing 2 times a week and it just burns them out,” Butler said.
This season, by training more and racing less, the whole team has improved their times. The whole team have been pushing themselves to do their best.
However, there have been concerns with several athletes. Day and Isabelle Hightower, specifically have struggled coming back from injuries. Day is working with a physical therapist for her knee to get her back on the track. While Isabelle Hightower is coming back from an injury on her hip flexor, she has been working to strengthen it and ready for region, and possibly state.
Day along with a lot of team, have been improving their times. At the BYU Invitational a week ago; Day dropped seven seconds in the 800 meter.
“[BYU Invitational] was really rewarding, after mile repeats, to finally drop some time,” Day said.
Although they are excited for state, they are also looking forward to the season ending, so they can relax.
Each member of the track team has set personal records throughout the season. The new approach on training more and racing less has proved to work well. Bulter is happy with how far the team has come as a whole. He is pleased to see many kids do so well at region.
