MEET PREPARATION:
"Most of you were not prepared for the meet on Tuesday. I don't mean mentally and physically prepared. I mean having everything you need. You always need WATER AND OR GATORADE ETC. AND PLENTY OF IT. HEALTHY SNACKS, AS YOU SAW, EVEN SHORT MEETS LAST UP TO FOUR HOURS. Any personal items you may need. Plenty of warm and dry clothes for the entire meet. Any items you need to compete, shoes, spikes, (if you need them), sweats and uniform. School sweats and extra for weather changes. Gloves and something for your head or ears. Make sure you have your name on things and you keep up with your stuff. You should have a track bag that is always checked to make sure you have the right things in it. If you have an injury or a tendency for headaches etc. make sure you have any health items you may need, ibuprofen, band aids, tape, etc. whatever else you may need. If you have a tendency to get an upset stomach have antacid or whatever you might need. If you have asthma have your inhaler. If you have a sore throat or a cold have your own cough drops, etc. The bottom line is simple ladies: EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED AND BE PREPARED FOR ALL SITUATIONS. TRACK MEETS CAN BE STRESSFUL, PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY, BE PREPARED FOR ALL POSSIBILITIES".
The title of this post comes from the fact that I always carried all three, Carmex, Kleenex and cough drops because not only did I know that I would always need them but I would always need to have them available for kids. Simple things that we take for granted many of our athletes did not have routinely. Additionally several of my assistants and I kept extra snacks in our track bags for kids who didn't bring anything to eat. When their main meal came from school lunch every day there often wasn't anything at home to bring to a meet.
While the picture of the 1997 cross country team looks like a good sized team it is misleading because we had so many runners that year who DNFed (did not finish) races throughout the season that it was sometimes difficult to even have 5 runners for a scoring varsity team much less have a scoring open team as well. Once again the scrimmage was a good indicator of what me might expect from the season. We had 10 girls compete but only 6 of them crossed the finish line. Two had to finish away from the official finish line because they had to run it as a time trial because they did not have the required nine practices to compete and we had two others drop out after running the first mile for time. And two runners who were in our top 7 at the end of the season didn't participate at all. On the boys side we had 6 total run and finish but two of them had to do it as a time trial. The season was definitely going to be a work in progress.
By our last meet before Region, the CSML meet we had 7 girls run and finish in varsity where they finished 4th in the 4A league. We had 6 run in the open division and only 3 of them finished so had they been scoring it we wouldn't have had a scoring team. The boys fared better from a number standpoint by this late in the season with 7 runners and 7 finishers on both varsity and open. They still only beat one team though in 4A.
When I was going through my newsletters and making notes for this post I wrote "no highlights" of the 12 meets that we ran through Region and that comments sums up most of the season. The good news is that Tara came out for the team, a promising freshman who would trade off and on with Danielle a junior for the top spot on our team. Additionally our top male runner Kelly a junior home schooler showed consistent improvement and promise looking ahead to his senior year.
I believe the only reason we didn't have any DNFs at the Regional Championship was because there was no open race and we were only allowed to run 7. On the boy's side Kelly was once again our top runner but he was our only runner under 19 minutes (18:58); and we only had one other runner, Noah under 20 minutes (19:37). They finished 25th and 37th so for the 6th year in a row since the team qualified in 1990 and 1991 we had no guys at state.
The girls did what they had been doing. The improved throughout the season. They embraced the concept of team and running for each other even if they may not be good enough to run with each other. Our 1-5 at Region was 4:40 and 7 was another 1:06 back. They knew and believed in the importance of every runner being important and every point being critical and they finished 4th out of 11 competing teams and earned the last qualifying spot for state making it 8 years in a row that the girls' team qualified for the state meet. Five of the seven girls ran their personal best at Region whereas none of the boys did. Their times from the scrimmage to Region show that while they were not top caliber runners, they worked hard and improved enough to reach their goal of being a state qualifying team. Tara (25:05 - 22:31); Danielle (22:10 - 22:33); Elisa (25:01 - 23:45); Sheila (28:09 - 25:08); Kawana (29:56 - 25:35 PR); Tamara (30:04 - 25:50); Rebecca (32:50 - 26:04 PR).
As tough as swimming had been for us in the past while we were in the South Central League being moved to the Colorado Springs Metro League continued to be brutal. We were at the point that getting beat by less than 50 points felt like a success. That was why I believed that it was so critical to keep the kids focused on personal improvement and why I kept such accurate records with top 10 performances in every event in yards and meters. The girls had goals to get on those lists and become part of the program's history.
The coaches and athletes wanted to stay with the SCL because we had built relationships with coaches and athletes from the Pueblo schools and even though they had a couple of dominating programs we could be competitive with the majority of them. Additionally there was mutual respect something we didn't have with several CSML elitist programs. The coaches weren't asked about the move. Our principal who had only been there a year or so and had no history in our district or the surrounding area pushed to have us in the CSML. I don't know what difference it made to her anyway it isn't as if she was the type of administrator who went out of her way to support our teams. The move was reported this way in the Gazette Telegraph; "COMING HOME: Sierra officially became a member of the Colorado Springs Metro League after playing in the South Central League. The board voted to allow the Stallions to move from the SCL to the CSML beginning next fall, except in football. That move won't be talked about until the next two-year cycle ends in 1998." "It was a win-win situation for us," said Sierra principal P T-C. "Our request was not just to leave the SCL, but become a part of the Colorado Springs high school sports community. We feel having a closer contact with other students in town will help our students. We're doing a great deal as far as outreach programs go right now, and this will help those programs". She was gone before the football decision ever came up and I don't have any idea what kind of "outreach programs" she was talking about. It sucks when "here today - gone tomorrow" administrators make decision with long term ramifications that they're not around for.
Here's just one example of how our kids were sometimes treated by our city neighbors. We were at the Air Academy Invitational when the starter's pistol failed to work. The starter a coach from the school said, "Never mind, we'll just borrow one from one of the Sierra kids"! He immediately regretted it because he realized what an ass he was but the point had been made. We loved the SCL.
And how did we fare in the CSML? Our dual meet record was once again 1-7 and at the League meet we finished 10th only beating Harrison from our school district who also came back from the SCL. A couple of scores - 1st Rampart 434, 2nd Liberty 430 --- 10th Sierra 50, 11th Harrison 41.
Preseason signups for track looked like we were going to have a huge team and numbers are always a good problem to have because it gives you so much more flexibility with kids and events. The initial list had 63 athletes including managers. It turned out early to be a good thing that we had the numbers. I gave the girls a handout with the entries for our scrimmage with long time rival 5A Rampart and wrote this: Ladies, Sierra has a great track and field tradition, even in a scrimmage we expect nothing less than your best. What we see today will help determine a lot about what happens in the 3 meets before Spring Break. Good luck, have fun and represent Sierra with pride". Here is a copy of the entry sheet with changes that had to be made highlighted in pink!
After the scrimmage I wrote; "Ladies, considering 30 slots in the scrimmage had to be dropped or changed because of people not being at the scrimmage for various reasons, you did a good job. We will talk about some things in today's meeting that need to be corrected before Saturday's meet. For now, I just want to give you the results and tell you that we are very proud of those of you who competed".
Autumn and Kawana the young ladies who were alternates as freshmen last year for the state meet were both back and working hard. And as for the 63? By the time we took the team picture later in the season there were 36 in the picture. Like I said, you can never start with to many. As for the 3 meets before Spring Break that I mentioned, we were 3rd behind two 5A schools at the Icicle Relays at Rampart: Heritage 83 - Doherty 78 - Sierra 77. A great opportunity to reemphasize the idea of Every Point - Every Place - Every Event which was our mantra. Then we had two league meets we were leading the first one when it was rained out after 7 events and we won the 3rd one with 141 points more than the other three teams combined who scored 124 total; another example of how our depth was so beneficial.
There were years when we tried to hold practice over Spring Break but they were not well attended and I decided it wasn't worth it to ask myself or other coaches to give up their time for a handful of athletes so I printed out a combination of workouts that they could do that would be beneficial without them having to be at an organized practice and they were on the honor system to turn in their workouts to count towards letter points.
"Because so many people leave town, work, have to babysit, etc.; we do not have organized practices over Spring Break, unless you make arrangements for sessions with event coaches. You are expected to choose workouts from the selections below, keep a log and turn it in after break to get letter points. The more practices you do the more points and bonus points you will receive. Always work out with at least one other person. Work out every day if possible. This is the perfect time and these are the workouts that will give you the base and conditioning you will need to get through the rest of the season and be successful. Make excuses and fail to train and the results will be obvious".
Our first meet after the break was the Panther Relays. This year instead of bringing in an out of state team to beat us they brought in several top 5A teams and a team from Rustenburg, South Africa. We won the meet with 66 points and Rustenburg was 2nd with 61 followed by four 5A teams; George Washington 61, Doherty 58, Rampart 47 and Longmont 45, before last year's District Champion, Air Academy 39. Despite the fact that we won we were not pleased with our overall performance which is pretty clear from the newsletter comments.
"There are a lot of ways to evaluate the success or failure at a track meet. Although the final score is the one most people look at you all know that is not what I consider the most important. Looking at the things we look at, competitive spirit, improvement from prelims to finals, teamwork, willingness to accept whatever challenge we ask of you, competing right to the end for every place (point), warming up, stretching and cooling down properly, paying attention to announcements so that you are not just going down to start warming up when they have already made last call for your event, etc. This meet was a total disappointment. If you don't like it, accept the reality of it. Just like we talk about total team victory or total team effort, there is definitely total team disappointment.
When we get to the end of a meet and we aren't putting our best effort (and people) into the 4 x 4 and medley and people even stop cheering you've basically said you quit. When you all leave and go to the bus without waiting for the final results, you've said you don't deserve to win. I hope this is the last time I have to talk about these things this season. I expect more from all of you and each of you.
It's easy to do all the right things when you're dominating a weak field in a Tuesday meet, it should be just as easy in a large invitational when you are being challenged. The rules don't change and the expectations don't change. If anything you should be willing and able to perform at a higher level. To accept the challenge, not shrink from it.
Before I give you meet results there are a couple of other things that I need to emphasize. The eligibility list is unacceptable. You had better be in classes during Access (A time when teachers were available before school started), that you are having trouble in. If you do not need to be in those classes you need to be in Postage's, Payton's or Garretson's room. Since the majority of you are failing or near failing math, use Coach Keller as a resource. Coach Gray told you on the bus that he is always available in his room to tutor during Access. There is no excuse and the list better improve.
Finally, not eating the day of a meet and during a meet is not going to be tolerated. If I see it or hear of it happening again, you will be removed from the meet. You cannot perform on empty and I will not let you try.
I am very disappointed in the overall team performance Saturday.
How did they respond? The upperclassmen asked to have group meetings again because they felt that they hadn't done a good enough job of getting expectations across and I'll have a comment on grades later in this post. They won their next League meet against 5A schools, they won a small relay meet that we hosted, they finished 2nd to 5A Doherty 110 - 109 at the CSML Championships, and then they won the Lewis Palmer Invitational with 140 points over Western Slope powerhouse Durango 118 and 12 other teams. After that meet, Tim Bergsten sports writer for the Gazette Telegraph wrote the following:
"There are 13 individual events in girls track and field. But Sierra proved it is still a team sport Saturday at the Lewis Palmer Invitational". I followed it up with the following comments: Ladies for 13 years Coach Payton and I have preached to our teams and to the GT that track is about TEAM. No matter how good an individual is they can't carry a team to a championship except possibly at state. This may be the first time in 13 years that the local press has given recognition where it should be given, the team concept of track and field".
"From the very first event where we had to plug in an alternate at the last minute to the last event
where we also had to plug in an alternate and Kawana anchored with her first 400 ever, you did a great job of being a team and getting the job done".
Next they finished 2nd in the City Freshman Sophomore Championship behind Rampart 101 1/2 - 98. Then they won the Cheyenne Mountain Invitational with 130, again beating runner up George Washington (99 1/2) and 14 other teams. GW was one of those teams that had the superstar athlete that the paper loved to cover. Then they went to the Regional Championships and brought the title back to Sierra.
"Ladies congratulations on the completion of the best track season in Sierra's history. Your Regional Championship was an overwhelming victory. It was the 10th Regional Championship in Sierra's 14 year history. We talked early in the season about returning to the top of the Region as a team goal, you worked towards that goal and did what was necessary. Congratulations on a job well done".
As for Kawana and Autumn? Kawana qualified for state on the 4 x 100 relay and scored points in the triple jump while Autumn scored points in the 300 hurdles and just missed qualifying for state by finishing 4th in the 100 hurdles. They were both on the medley that was disqualified for dropping the baton.
And the "best season in school history" didn't end with the Championship at Region. The girls went on to finish 2nd at the State Championship meet held at the Air Force Academy. They finished just 10 points behind perennial champion private school, Mullen. In essence they were the first place public school in the state.
Freshman Joelise made her mark at this meet anchoring the State Champion 4 x 200 relay team, the 3rd place 4 x 100 team with Kawana running a leg, 5th place in the 200 meters and 4th in the long jump. Sophomore Tasha M. won the State Championship in the discus, junior Christina was 3rd and senior Liz who didn't get many opportunities to compete during the season because she was the 3rd thrower on our team finished 6th. We placed in 9 total events.
"Ladies, congratulations on the highest state finish of any girl's team in school history. The previous highs were the 1996 girl's track team that was 4th and the 1990 girl's cross country team that was also 4th. You did what we asked and that was simply to keep a positive attitude, a competitive attitude and do the same things you had been doing all year. You were and you are outstanding.
As proud as we are of your performances, we're more proud of the many positive comments we received about you throughout the two days at state. People commented on how much you enjoyed competing. The Gazette reporter commented on how polite and well spoken you are. People commented on how much you supported one another as a team. And on and on. Thank you for taking the lessons we teach to heart. You truly are student-athletes and you carry yourself with the class we expect of you. Speaking of student-athletes, the combined GPA of the 21 girls who went to state as competitors, alternates and managers was 3.12. Great start, we'd like to see it even higher next year".
The school recognized the team with a nice assembly for their accomplishments.
By our last meet before Region, the CSML meet we had 7 girls run and finish in varsity where they finished 4th in the 4A league. We had 6 run in the open division and only 3 of them finished so had they been scoring it we wouldn't have had a scoring team. The boys fared better from a number standpoint by this late in the season with 7 runners and 7 finishers on both varsity and open. They still only beat one team though in 4A.
When I was going through my newsletters and making notes for this post I wrote "no highlights" of the 12 meets that we ran through Region and that comments sums up most of the season. The good news is that Tara came out for the team, a promising freshman who would trade off and on with Danielle a junior for the top spot on our team. Additionally our top male runner Kelly a junior home schooler showed consistent improvement and promise looking ahead to his senior year.
I believe the only reason we didn't have any DNFs at the Regional Championship was because there was no open race and we were only allowed to run 7. On the boy's side Kelly was once again our top runner but he was our only runner under 19 minutes (18:58); and we only had one other runner, Noah under 20 minutes (19:37). They finished 25th and 37th so for the 6th year in a row since the team qualified in 1990 and 1991 we had no guys at state.
The girls did what they had been doing. The improved throughout the season. They embraced the concept of team and running for each other even if they may not be good enough to run with each other. Our 1-5 at Region was 4:40 and 7 was another 1:06 back. They knew and believed in the importance of every runner being important and every point being critical and they finished 4th out of 11 competing teams and earned the last qualifying spot for state making it 8 years in a row that the girls' team qualified for the state meet. Five of the seven girls ran their personal best at Region whereas none of the boys did. Their times from the scrimmage to Region show that while they were not top caliber runners, they worked hard and improved enough to reach their goal of being a state qualifying team. Tara (25:05 - 22:31); Danielle (22:10 - 22:33); Elisa (25:01 - 23:45); Sheila (28:09 - 25:08); Kawana (29:56 - 25:35 PR); Tamara (30:04 - 25:50); Rebecca (32:50 - 26:04 PR).
As tough as swimming had been for us in the past while we were in the South Central League being moved to the Colorado Springs Metro League continued to be brutal. We were at the point that getting beat by less than 50 points felt like a success. That was why I believed that it was so critical to keep the kids focused on personal improvement and why I kept such accurate records with top 10 performances in every event in yards and meters. The girls had goals to get on those lists and become part of the program's history.
The coaches and athletes wanted to stay with the SCL because we had built relationships with coaches and athletes from the Pueblo schools and even though they had a couple of dominating programs we could be competitive with the majority of them. Additionally there was mutual respect something we didn't have with several CSML elitist programs. The coaches weren't asked about the move. Our principal who had only been there a year or so and had no history in our district or the surrounding area pushed to have us in the CSML. I don't know what difference it made to her anyway it isn't as if she was the type of administrator who went out of her way to support our teams. The move was reported this way in the Gazette Telegraph; "COMING HOME: Sierra officially became a member of the Colorado Springs Metro League after playing in the South Central League. The board voted to allow the Stallions to move from the SCL to the CSML beginning next fall, except in football. That move won't be talked about until the next two-year cycle ends in 1998." "It was a win-win situation for us," said Sierra principal P T-C. "Our request was not just to leave the SCL, but become a part of the Colorado Springs high school sports community. We feel having a closer contact with other students in town will help our students. We're doing a great deal as far as outreach programs go right now, and this will help those programs". She was gone before the football decision ever came up and I don't have any idea what kind of "outreach programs" she was talking about. It sucks when "here today - gone tomorrow" administrators make decision with long term ramifications that they're not around for.
Here's just one example of how our kids were sometimes treated by our city neighbors. We were at the Air Academy Invitational when the starter's pistol failed to work. The starter a coach from the school said, "Never mind, we'll just borrow one from one of the Sierra kids"! He immediately regretted it because he realized what an ass he was but the point had been made. We loved the SCL.
And how did we fare in the CSML? Our dual meet record was once again 1-7 and at the League meet we finished 10th only beating Harrison from our school district who also came back from the SCL. A couple of scores - 1st Rampart 434, 2nd Liberty 430 --- 10th Sierra 50, 11th Harrison 41.
Preseason signups for track looked like we were going to have a huge team and numbers are always a good problem to have because it gives you so much more flexibility with kids and events. The initial list had 63 athletes including managers. It turned out early to be a good thing that we had the numbers. I gave the girls a handout with the entries for our scrimmage with long time rival 5A Rampart and wrote this: Ladies, Sierra has a great track and field tradition, even in a scrimmage we expect nothing less than your best. What we see today will help determine a lot about what happens in the 3 meets before Spring Break. Good luck, have fun and represent Sierra with pride". Here is a copy of the entry sheet with changes that had to be made highlighted in pink!
After the scrimmage I wrote; "Ladies, considering 30 slots in the scrimmage had to be dropped or changed because of people not being at the scrimmage for various reasons, you did a good job. We will talk about some things in today's meeting that need to be corrected before Saturday's meet. For now, I just want to give you the results and tell you that we are very proud of those of you who competed".
Autumn and Kawana the young ladies who were alternates as freshmen last year for the state meet were both back and working hard. And as for the 63? By the time we took the team picture later in the season there were 36 in the picture. Like I said, you can never start with to many. As for the 3 meets before Spring Break that I mentioned, we were 3rd behind two 5A schools at the Icicle Relays at Rampart: Heritage 83 - Doherty 78 - Sierra 77. A great opportunity to reemphasize the idea of Every Point - Every Place - Every Event which was our mantra. Then we had two league meets we were leading the first one when it was rained out after 7 events and we won the 3rd one with 141 points more than the other three teams combined who scored 124 total; another example of how our depth was so beneficial.
There were years when we tried to hold practice over Spring Break but they were not well attended and I decided it wasn't worth it to ask myself or other coaches to give up their time for a handful of athletes so I printed out a combination of workouts that they could do that would be beneficial without them having to be at an organized practice and they were on the honor system to turn in their workouts to count towards letter points.
"Because so many people leave town, work, have to babysit, etc.; we do not have organized practices over Spring Break, unless you make arrangements for sessions with event coaches. You are expected to choose workouts from the selections below, keep a log and turn it in after break to get letter points. The more practices you do the more points and bonus points you will receive. Always work out with at least one other person. Work out every day if possible. This is the perfect time and these are the workouts that will give you the base and conditioning you will need to get through the rest of the season and be successful. Make excuses and fail to train and the results will be obvious".
Our first meet after the break was the Panther Relays. This year instead of bringing in an out of state team to beat us they brought in several top 5A teams and a team from Rustenburg, South Africa. We won the meet with 66 points and Rustenburg was 2nd with 61 followed by four 5A teams; George Washington 61, Doherty 58, Rampart 47 and Longmont 45, before last year's District Champion, Air Academy 39. Despite the fact that we won we were not pleased with our overall performance which is pretty clear from the newsletter comments.
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| Sierra & Rustenburg, South Africa Throwers |
"There are a lot of ways to evaluate the success or failure at a track meet. Although the final score is the one most people look at you all know that is not what I consider the most important. Looking at the things we look at, competitive spirit, improvement from prelims to finals, teamwork, willingness to accept whatever challenge we ask of you, competing right to the end for every place (point), warming up, stretching and cooling down properly, paying attention to announcements so that you are not just going down to start warming up when they have already made last call for your event, etc. This meet was a total disappointment. If you don't like it, accept the reality of it. Just like we talk about total team victory or total team effort, there is definitely total team disappointment.
When we get to the end of a meet and we aren't putting our best effort (and people) into the 4 x 4 and medley and people even stop cheering you've basically said you quit. When you all leave and go to the bus without waiting for the final results, you've said you don't deserve to win. I hope this is the last time I have to talk about these things this season. I expect more from all of you and each of you.
It's easy to do all the right things when you're dominating a weak field in a Tuesday meet, it should be just as easy in a large invitational when you are being challenged. The rules don't change and the expectations don't change. If anything you should be willing and able to perform at a higher level. To accept the challenge, not shrink from it.
Before I give you meet results there are a couple of other things that I need to emphasize. The eligibility list is unacceptable. You had better be in classes during Access (A time when teachers were available before school started), that you are having trouble in. If you do not need to be in those classes you need to be in Postage's, Payton's or Garretson's room. Since the majority of you are failing or near failing math, use Coach Keller as a resource. Coach Gray told you on the bus that he is always available in his room to tutor during Access. There is no excuse and the list better improve.
Finally, not eating the day of a meet and during a meet is not going to be tolerated. If I see it or hear of it happening again, you will be removed from the meet. You cannot perform on empty and I will not let you try.
I am very disappointed in the overall team performance Saturday.
How did they respond? The upperclassmen asked to have group meetings again because they felt that they hadn't done a good enough job of getting expectations across and I'll have a comment on grades later in this post. They won their next League meet against 5A schools, they won a small relay meet that we hosted, they finished 2nd to 5A Doherty 110 - 109 at the CSML Championships, and then they won the Lewis Palmer Invitational with 140 points over Western Slope powerhouse Durango 118 and 12 other teams. After that meet, Tim Bergsten sports writer for the Gazette Telegraph wrote the following:
"There are 13 individual events in girls track and field. But Sierra proved it is still a team sport Saturday at the Lewis Palmer Invitational". I followed it up with the following comments: Ladies for 13 years Coach Payton and I have preached to our teams and to the GT that track is about TEAM. No matter how good an individual is they can't carry a team to a championship except possibly at state. This may be the first time in 13 years that the local press has given recognition where it should be given, the team concept of track and field".
"From the very first event where we had to plug in an alternate at the last minute to the last event
where we also had to plug in an alternate and Kawana anchored with her first 400 ever, you did a great job of being a team and getting the job done".
Next they finished 2nd in the City Freshman Sophomore Championship behind Rampart 101 1/2 - 98. Then they won the Cheyenne Mountain Invitational with 130, again beating runner up George Washington (99 1/2) and 14 other teams. GW was one of those teams that had the superstar athlete that the paper loved to cover. Then they went to the Regional Championships and brought the title back to Sierra.
"Ladies congratulations on the completion of the best track season in Sierra's history. Your Regional Championship was an overwhelming victory. It was the 10th Regional Championship in Sierra's 14 year history. We talked early in the season about returning to the top of the Region as a team goal, you worked towards that goal and did what was necessary. Congratulations on a job well done".
As for Kawana and Autumn? Kawana qualified for state on the 4 x 100 relay and scored points in the triple jump while Autumn scored points in the 300 hurdles and just missed qualifying for state by finishing 4th in the 100 hurdles. They were both on the medley that was disqualified for dropping the baton.
And the "best season in school history" didn't end with the Championship at Region. The girls went on to finish 2nd at the State Championship meet held at the Air Force Academy. They finished just 10 points behind perennial champion private school, Mullen. In essence they were the first place public school in the state.
Freshman Joelise made her mark at this meet anchoring the State Champion 4 x 200 relay team, the 3rd place 4 x 100 team with Kawana running a leg, 5th place in the 200 meters and 4th in the long jump. Sophomore Tasha M. won the State Championship in the discus, junior Christina was 3rd and senior Liz who didn't get many opportunities to compete during the season because she was the 3rd thrower on our team finished 6th. We placed in 9 total events.
As proud as we are of your performances, we're more proud of the many positive comments we received about you throughout the two days at state. People commented on how much you enjoyed competing. The Gazette reporter commented on how polite and well spoken you are. People commented on how much you supported one another as a team. And on and on. Thank you for taking the lessons we teach to heart. You truly are student-athletes and you carry yourself with the class we expect of you. Speaking of student-athletes, the combined GPA of the 21 girls who went to state as competitors, alternates and managers was 3.12. Great start, we'd like to see it even higher next year".
The school recognized the team with a nice assembly for their accomplishments.
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