The track and field teams will host 14 other schools in the Lovejoy Track & Field Invitational this Saturday, March 2. Field events will begin at 8:30 a.m. and track events will begin at 9.

“This weekend at our home meet there will be some teams that we will see again at the district meet,” senior Carson Hockersmith said. “We will have the chance to see where we are compared to them and what we need to do to start preparing for district.”

Junior Carsen McFadden talked about the advantages that come with hosting a track meet.

“The biggest advantage is that we are working with our own equipment, whether it is a pole vault mat, blocks or hurdles,” McFadden said. “Another advantage is that you don’t have to get up so early to travel in a bus. Lastly, you are always more comfortable on your home turf.”

In their first meet, the McKinney Boyd Bronco Relays, the team had six first place finishes.

“We had some great times, clean relay handoffs, and some good things happen in the field events,” girls head coach Carly Littlefield said. “[Senior] Alaina Pierce set a new school record of 5-6 in the high jump and won the meet. We have a lot of youth on the team, so it was nice to get that first high school meet under their belt.”

Hockersmith weighed in on team and individual goals for this season.

“The girls won the district title last year, so that is a big goal for us going into this year,” Hockersmith said. “Individually, I would like to set some big [personal records] in the mile, and I hope to break both the mile and distance medley school records this season.”

After both girls and boys teams placed first in district last season, the program will look to come out strong versus McKinney North, the 2018 state team runner-up.

“We have the toughest opponent in the state of Texas in our district in McKinney North,” Littlefield said. “They are a back to back state championship team and runner-up last year. We will need to load up in our distance events and have our relays in tip top shape. We have to make sure everyone is healthy and competing at their highest level on April 3 and 4.”