by Mat George |

While many spring sports teams were finished at the end of the 2011-2012 school year, there were a couple that were still playing. The men and women’s track teams both participated in the state championships on May 25 and 26. The men’s track team placed fifth and the women placed 15th.

“[Placing fifth] was kind of a disappointment, but we worked hard,” junior Kyle Gabrielsen said.

Although the teams did not get first in state, they were proud of the outcome, competing against their own best times.

“I ran in the four by 400. We did great at state,” senior Danielle Coffer said. “Even though we didn’t make it to the finals, we ran our fastest time.”

Looking back on the season, the runners all had favorite memories.

“My favorite memories were at every meet, everyone from each team would always really get into the four by four, with it being the last event at every meet,” senior Lauren Holm said. “It’s really cool to see all the athletes from each team cheer on their teammates like that after the end of a long day,” she said. “You just see a whole crowd of kids running from one side of the track to the other to cheer and yell at their teammates in a really difficult race so that’s     always cool.”

Every person has a favorite thing about the sport or activity they partake in.

“I’d say my favorite part of track is seeing all the different groups mesh,” senior Ty Cogdill said. “In almost all other sports, you see the same type of kids participate, but in track the ‘groups’ kids are in vary.”

School sports can take up a large amount of time, especially if a person is doing more than one in season.

“Juggling soccer and track was a bit of a challenge but it was fun to take part in,” sophomore Sharee Zombo said. “The soccer and track seniors were always encouraging me.”

During the offseason, the runners still have to stay in shape for the next season.

“I do summer running, go to running camps, and in the fall I run Cross Country,” junior Jennifer Myers said.

When the season finally did end for the team, some already started looking  forward and settin goals for the 2013 season.

“I’m looking forward to defending our state title and hopefully being able to bring more points home for the team,” senior Tim Hannah said. “I, myself, want to win state in the 400 meter. I was ranked eighth in the state at one point last year and I hope to finish the year as a state champion.”