The men’s indoor track team completed its season on February 11, at the NCHSAA 4A Indoor State Championship, with ten athletes competing in six events. Although the women’s team didn’t qualify for the state championship, the men’s team placed first in the 4×400 meter relay with junior Declan Harden, senior Nigel Lawrence, senior Cameron Disser and sophomore Gideon Jones with a time of 3:32.72.
Harden also placed third in the boys 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:37.72.
The women’s team also excelled, with 14 athletes reaching new personal records across the various running and jumping events.
Sophomore Lyla Berman jumped 4′ 10″ in the high jump, one of the ten best marks in school history. Having only begun in December, Berman didn’t expect to compete in the event but found she was a quick study.
“I learned how to jump on that Wednesday and ended up competing in high jump that Saturday,” Berman said. “I really enjoyed the feeling of jumping and definitely wanted to continue that event. I ended the season with 4 ’10. I hope to get maybe 5’2 or 5’4 for the outdoor season!”
Sophomore Chloe Solum, who learned the basics of the triple jump on wikiHow, broke the 30-foot barrier in the triple jump, leaping 31’ 11’’ at the Spartan Last Chance Event on January 30, beating her personal record by a foot and a half. She also holds the current record for the 3,200-meter run with a time of 12:42.69.
Solum said she was “pretty happy” with her performance at the meet. She had already set a personal record on her second jump, so she was surprised when she set another PR.
“I kind of thought I was at my max [because] it was my last jump. You get three jumps, and I had already jumped twice; then I was like, I better go,” Solum said.
Another jumper from the men’s team, Lawrence, earned 12th place at the state meet with a height of 5’ 10”.
The last of the state qualifiers, the men’s 4×800-meter relay, consisting of senior Cogan McMichaels, junior Dylan Whitmire, junior Mitchell Abernethy and junior Hank Neal, also placed in 11th at the state meet, at 8:34.26.
Harden, one of the 4×400 meter runners, set a personal record at the JDL Fast Track, although he didn’t quite meet his goal of a 2:34.
“My best meet was definitely the JDL Fast Track Invitational; I tapped into my endurance and speed that I previously had been too cautious with and ended up qualifying,” Harden said.
Senior Yichen Sun also set the school record for the 3,200-meter this year at the JDL Fast Track Invitational with a time of 9:33.89. He placed in the top ten at the state meet, earning him all-state recognition with a time of 9:41.92, placing closely behind Liam Young from Green Hope High School.
Other records set this year include junior Owen Keister’s 200-meter time of 24.17 at the F.I.A Holiday Indoor Classic on December 30 and senior Cayden Forbes’s 55-meter time of 6.53 at the COROS Holiday Classic on December 17.
The indoor season provided numerous opportunities for the athletes to practice and hone their skills for the highly anticipated outdoor season.
“I ran a little bit during indoor, but I am actually going to try to focus on it more during outdoor,” Solum said. “I think that with long distance running, your times really depend on how much training you put in. And I am definitely going try to go to states for outdoor track! The team needs me, so I’ve got to go score points.”
