After advancing from both the district and area meets, some members of the Leopard track and field team will be competing in this year’s 4A Regional Friday and Saturday at  Maverick Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas Arlington.

    “I think both the boys and the girls are ready to run, jump, or vault as fast as they can,” track coach Stefani Langhenning said.  “We’ve prepared for this all season, so we’re ready to go.”

    The team has high expectations, but with the recent transfer to 4A, the team has not yet faced many of the schools that will be at the regional meet.

    “We’re all going to go out there and run our best races,” senior Katie Ruhala said. “But this year is our first year in 4A, so we’ll see how that goes.”

    The team has been preparing diligently for the meet.

    “We’ve all been eating really healthy, drinking a lot of water, and giving 100 percent in workouts to get ready,” junior Lauren Sturm said.

    Team members pushed themselves in the hope of advancing.

    “I’m hoping to go to finals in the 100 hurdles, and I’m hoping to go to state in the 300 hurdles,” senior Ashley Bassett said.

    For some, the experience of making it this far is enough.

    “It’s so great that I’ve even made it to regionals,” junior Riley Goodell said. “I’m just so excited to be running against some of the best runners in the state.”

    After preparing as much and as hard as possible, the team hopes to see some great performances.

“I think we’ll just do our very best and hopefully come out with the gold,” junior Shani Rainey said.